SOKAITEI!
( colorized photo of W-33 [(W-19 class] by irootoko jr)
IJN Minesweeper W-33:
Tabular Record of Movement
© 2008-2010 Bob Hackett and Peter Cundall
Revision 2
E 1942:
Yokohama. Laid down at Yokohama Dock, K. K.
1943:
Launched and numbered W-33.
31 July 1943:
Completed and registered in the IJN. Lt Fukuda Moichiro is the Commanding Officer.
1 December 1943:
W-33 is assigned to the 1st Minesweeper Division.
E 14 December 1943:
W-33 departs Moji with destroyer SHIOKAZE escorting an unidentified convoy consisting of oilers SARAWAK and TENEI MARUs, OGURA MARU No. 2, FUSHIMI MARU No. 3, and cargo ships BATAVIA, NICHIREI and HIROTA MARUs and eight other unidentified merchant ships.
17 December 1943:
S of the Ryukyus. At 2226, LtCdr Henry C. Stevenson’s USS ASPRO (SS-309) torpedoes and damages SARAWAK MARU at 24-10, 124-40E. About the same time, ASPRO torpedoes and damages TENEI MARU at the same place. SHIOKAZE counterattacks, but ASPRO evades and escapes.
August 1944:
Lt Kojima Takeo assumes command.
10 May 1945:
W-33 is reassigned to an unknown unit.
9 August 1945:
Onagawa Bay, NE Honshu. W-33, supply ship SOYA, target ship OHAMA. kaibokan AMAKUSA and INAGI and subchaser CH-42 are at anchor when they are attacked by F-4U Mark IV "Corsair" fighter-bombers of Vice Admiral (later Admiral) Sir Bernard J. Rawlings, RN, Task Force 37’s (British Pacific Fleet) carrier HMS FORMIDABLE. W-33 is sunk in the attack. AMAKUSA, INAGI and OHAMA are also sunk.
The fate of Lt Kojima and the crew of W-33 is unknown.
During the attack, Lt Robert H. Gray, RCNVR, lead pilot of FORMIDABLE’s 1841st Squadron flight of Corsairs, sinks his target, a "destroyer" (kaibokan), but is brought down by heavy AA fire and crashes flames. Gray is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the fourth and last Commonwealth naval airman to be so honored.
Nagasaki. That same day, the CO of the 393rd Bomb Squadron of the 509th Composite Group, Major (later Brig Gen, ANG) Charles W. Sweeney, piloting a B-29 nicknamed "BOCKSCAR", drops "Fat Man", the second atomic bomb. Within a week, otherwise irresolute Japan agrees to an end of hostilities.
15 September 1945:
Removed from the Navy List.
Author’s Note:
Little data were found detailing W-33's movements, probably because she was used for minesweeping rather than escort duties. Nevertheless, readers with access to any movement data are requested to post the information on the Discussion
& Questions board or the IJN Ship Message Board.
Thanks go to Matthew Jones of Tennessee for information on COs.
Photo credit goes to Gakken via J. Ed Low.
-Bob Hackett and Peter Cundall.
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