Hiburi-class escort ship

Daitō or Shōnan[1]
Class overview
Name:	Hiburi class escort ship
Builders:	Hitachi Zōsen Corporation
Operators:	Imperial Japanese Navy Japan Meteorological Agency Japan Maritime Safety Agency Republic of China Navy People's Liberation Army Navy
Preceded by:	Mikura class
Succeeded by:	Ukuru class
Cost:	5,112,000 JPY (as the Etorofu class under the Maru Kyū Programme) 6,200,000 JPY (as the Ukuru class under the Kai-Maru 5 Programme)
Built:	1944–1945
In commission:	1944–1990
Planned:	11 (converted from 3 of the Mikura class, and 8 of the Ukuru class)
Completed:	9
Lost:	5
Retired:	4
General characteristics
Displacement:	940 long tons (955 t) standard
Length:	78.77 m (258 ft 5 in) overall
Beam:	9.10 m (29 ft 10 in)
Draught:	3.06 m (10 ft 0 in)
Propulsion:	2 × Kampon Mk.22 Model 10 diesels 2 shafts, 4,200 bhp
Speed:	19.5 knots (22.4 mph; 36.1 km/h)
Range:	5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 16 kn (18 mph; 30 km/h)
Complement:	150
Armament:	Hiburi, June 1944 3 × 120 mm (4.7 in) L/45 AA guns 6 × Type 96 25 mm AA guns 120 × Type 95 depth charges 2 × Type 94 depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge throwers 1 × 22-Gō surface search radar 1 × Type 93 active sonar 1 × Type 93 hydrophone 2 × Paravanes Shisaka, 1945 3 × 120 mm (4.7 in) L/45 AA guns 16 × Type 96 25 mm AA guns 120 × Type 2 depth charges 3 × Type 94 depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge throwers 1 × Type 3 81 mm mortar 1 × 22-Gō surface search radar 1 × 13-Gō early warning radar 2 × Type 3 active sonars 1 × Type 93 hydrophone

The Hiburi class escort ship (日振型海防艦, Hiburi-gata Kaibōkan) was a sub class of the Mikura class escort ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), serving during and after World War II.^[2]

Background

• In 1943, the Japanese Navy General Staff (Gunreibu) promoted the building of Escort ship Type-A, the Etorofu class and Escort ship Type-B, the Mikura class. However, the Navy General Staff also noted that too many man-hours of work were needed for their building.

Design

• The Navy Technical Department (Kampon) used the Ukuru's basic designs for the new drawings. It was a chimera of Mikura and Ukuru classes.
• The new drawings had the following characteristic.
  • Armaments and under waterline designs were same as Mikura.
  • Everything else was same as in the Ukuru.
• The Kampon estimated man-hours for building will be between 42,000 to 40,000.^[3]
• The new drawing was sent to the Hitachi Zōsen Corporation, Sakurajima Shipyard. The Mikura class and the Ukuru class that had not been started were converted to the Hiburi class. The Hitachi Zōsen build all of the Hiburi class vessels.^[4]

Ships in class

Ship #	Ship	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate
328	Hiburi (日振)	03-01-1944	10-04-1944	27-06-1944	Sunk by USS Harder at west of Manila, 22-08-1944.
333	Daitō (大東)	23-02-1944	19-05-1944	07-08-1944	Sunk by naval mine at Tsushima Strait, 16-11-1945.
339	Shōnan (昭南)	23-02-1944	24-06-1944	13-07-1944	Sunk by USS Hoe at south of Hainan Island, 25-02-1945.
5252	Kume (久米)	26-05-1944	15-08-1944	25-09-1944	Sunk by USS Spadefish at Yellow Sea 33°54′N 122°55′E / 33.900°N 122.917°E, 28-01-1945.
5254	Ikuna (生名)	30-06-1944	04-09-1944	15-10-1944	Decommissioned on 30-11-1945. Transferred to Meteorological Agency 26-12-1947, and renamed Ikuna-maru. Transferred to Maritime Safety Agency 01-01-1949, and renamed Ojika (PS-102). Decommissioned on 25-05-1963.
5257	Shisaka (四阪)	21-08-1944	31-10-1944	15-12-1944	Decommissioned on 15-09-1945. Surrendered to Republic of China on 06-07-1947, and renamed Huian. Escape to People's Liberation Army 23-04-1949. Sunk by aircraft at Yanziji, 28-04-1949. Repairs were completed on 24-12-1953, and given the pennant number 218. Decommissioned in 1990.
5259	Sakito (崎戸)	07-09-1944	29-11-1944	10-01-1945	Decommissioned on 20-11-1945. Scrapped January 1947.
5263	Mokuto (目斗)	05-11-1944	07-01-1945	19-02-1945	Sunk by naval mine at Kanmon Straits, 04-04-1945.
5264	Habuto (波太)	03-12-1944	28-02-1945	07-04-1945	Decommissioned on 23-10-1945. Surrendered to United Kingdom on 16-07-1947, later scrapped.
5265	Ōtsu (大津)	12-01-1945	10-05-1945		Not completed until the end of the war (95%). Scrapped on 25-03-1948.
5266	Tomoshiri (友知)[5]	05-03-1945			Not completed until the end of the war (20%). Scrapped on 23-10-1947.

Appendix

• Classification of the Kaibōkan classes in IJN official documents
  • The Shimushu, Etorofu, Mikura, Hiburi and Ukuru were classed in the Shimushu class.
  • The IJN changed their classification on 5 June 1944, because the shipyards and commanders were confused.
  • The Escort ship Type-B and Modified Type-B were combined to the Escort ship Type-A, and Type-Bs became extinct thereby.

Before 5 June 1944			>>	And after 5 June 1944
Plan names	Official class names	Common class names		Plan name	Official class names	Common class names
Type-A	Shimushu class	Shimushu class		Type-A	Shimushu class	Shimushu class
		Etorofu class				Etorofu class
Type-B		Mikura class			Mikura class	Mikura class
		Hiburi class				Hiburi class
Modified Type-B		Ukuru class			Ukuru class	Ukuru class
Type-C	No.1 class	No.1 class		Type-C	No.1 class	No.1 class
Type-D	No.2 class	No.2 class		Type-D	No.2 class	No.2 class

Photos

(changes of the equipments, and under waterline designs)

• 

  Ikuna in October 1944.

• 

  Shisaka in December 1944.

• 

  Habuto in April 1945.

• 

  Ōtsu in 1945.

See also

• Shimushu class escort ship
• Etorofu class escort ship
• Mikura class escort ship
• Ukuru class escort ship
• Type C escort ship
• Type D escort ship
• Destroyer escort
• Tacoma class frigate
• Flower class corvette

Footnotes

1. The vessel on the photograph has been identified as two different vessels.
   First option: Daitō in August 1944, by Ships of the World special issue Vol.45, Escort Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
   Second option: Shōnan in July 1944, by the Yamato Museum.
2. The 11 vessels described in this article are classified to the Ukuru class escort ship in many books, because the Hiburi class closely resembles the Ukuru class. The IJN's official documents, however, call them the Mikura class.
3. This value was reduced to around 35,000 man-hours by an effort of the shipyard.
4. Therefore Hitachi Zōsen did not participate in building of the Ukuru class.
5. "Tomoshiri Island".

Bibliography

• "Rekishi Gunzō"., History of Pacific War Vol.51, The truth histories of the Imperial Japanese Vessels Part.2, Gakken (Japan), June 2002, ISBN 4-05-602780-3
• Ships of the World special issue Vol.45, Escort Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy, "Kaijinsha"., (Japan), February 1996
• Model Art Extra No.340, Drawings of Imperial Japanese Naval Vessels Part-1, "Model Art Co. Ltd.". (Japan), October 1989
• The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.28, Japanese escort ships, "Ushio Shobō". (Japan), June 1979