Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Japanese destroyer Okinami

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Name
  
Okinami

Struck
  
10 January 1945

Length
  
119 m

Completed
  
10 December 1943

Class and type
  
Yūgumo-class destroyer

Draft
  
3.75 m

Fate
  
Sunk in action, 13 November 1944

Displacement
  
2,520 long tons (2,560 t)

Wreck of japanese destroyer okinami in coron bay philippines during world war hd stock footage


Okinami (沖波, "High Seas Waves") was a Yūgumo-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Contents

Design and description

The Yūgumo class was a repeat of the preceding Kagerō class with minor improvements that increased their anti-aircraft capabilities. Their crew numbered 228 officers and enlisted men. The ships measured 119.17 meters (391 ft 0 in) overall, with a beam of 10.8 meters (35 ft 5 in) and a draft of 3.76 meters (12 ft 4 in). They displaced 2,110 metric tons (2,080 long tons) at standard load and 2,560 metric tons (2,520 long tons) at deep load. The ships had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of 52,000 shaft horsepower (39,000 kW) for a designed speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph).

The main armament of the Yūgumo class consisted of six Type 3 127-millimeter (5.0 in) guns in three twin-gun turrets, one superfiring pair aft and one turret forward of the superstructure. The guns were able to elevate up to 75° to increase their ability against aircraft, but their slow rate of fire, slow traversing speed, and the lack of any sort of high-angle fire-control system meant that they were virtually useless as anti-aircraft guns. They were built with four Type 96 25-millimeter (1.0 in) anti-aircraft guns in two twin-gun mounts, but more of these guns were added over the course of the war. The ships were also armed with eight 610-millimeter (24.0 in) torpedo tubes in a two quadruple traversing mounts; one reload was carried for each tube. Their anti-submarine weapons comprised two depth charge throwers for which 36 depth charges were carried.

Construction and career

On 29 February 1944 while escorting a troop convoy, Okinami assisted with sinking the submarine USS Trout, and assisted in the rescue of 1,720 survivors of the Sakito Maru sinking. On 5 November 1944 she was damaged by near misses and strafing during an air attack. There were 28 casualties.

On 13 November 1944, Okinami was sunk in a U.S. air raid on Manila. Suffering one direct bomb hit and several near-misses; she sank upright in shallow water 8 miles (13 km) west of Manila (14°35′N 120°50′E). There were 14 crewmen killed and 19 wounded.

References

Japanese destroyer Okinami Wikipedia