Shirataka Class Minelayer


(Tsugaru by Takeshi Yuki scanned from "Color Paintings of Japanese Warships")

Completed in 1929, the SHIRATAKA was a minelayer that could also be employed as a netlayer. In 1940, despite her relatively slow speed, she was reconstructed as an escort vessel and equipped with depth charge racks. During the war, she was pressed into convoy duty as a result of the IJN's critical shortage of escort vessels. The SHIRATAKA was torpedoed and sunk in the Luzon Strait in August 1944.

Builder and Year Completed: Ishikawajima Shipyard, 1929.
Displacement: 1,345-tons.
Dimensions: 275' x 38’ x 9’
Propulsion and Speed: 2 coal burning VTE, 2 Kampon Boilers, 2 shafts, 2,000 ihp; 13 knots.
Armament: 3 x 120-mm (4.7-inch) 40 cal guns, 25-mm Type 96 AA, 150 mines, 36+ DCs.