Japanese battleship Ise
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 Battleship Ise |
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| Career (Japan) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Ise |
| Ordered: | 1913 |
| Builder: | Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Japan |
| Laid down: | 1915-05-10 |
| Launched: | 1916-11-12 |
| Commissioned: | 1917-12-15 |
| In service: | 1917 |
| Out of service: | 1945 |
| Struck: | Sunk by air attack 1945-11-20 |
| Fate: | 1945-07-28 |
| Status: | Scrapped in place by 1947 |
Ise (伊勢 (戦艦） Ise (senkan)?), was the lead ship of the two-vessel Ise class battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which saw combat service during the Pacific War. Ise was named after Ise Province, one of the traditional provinces of Japan, now part of Mie Prefecture.
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[edit] Operational History
[edit] Early history
Originally planned to be the third Fusō-class battleship, experience gained in the construction of the Fusō-class revealed a number of design issues, including weak armament and protection, which forced a redesign and new classification.
Ise was laid down at the Kawasaki Heavy Industries shipyard in Kobe on 1915-05-05, launched on 1916-11-12, and completed on 1917-12-01 and assigned to the Kure Naval District.
Completed too late for service in World War I, in the early 1920s, Ise participated in numerous patrols off the Siberia coast and in northern waters in support of Japan's Siberian Intervention against the Bolshevik Red Army.
On 1922-04-12, while at Yokohama, Ise hosted a delegation which included the Prince of Wales (future King Edward VIII), who was accompanied by his second cousin, the future Lord Mountbatten. From the mid-1920s through the late 1930s, Ise patrolled mostly off of the China coast.
From 1928-1929, Ise was rebuilt was Kure Naval Arsenal, with its foremast increased in height in the distinctive "pagoda" style similar to Haruna. The fore funnel was fitted with a curved smoke cap, and a flying off platform for Yokosuka E1Y2 Type 14 floatplanes was fitted atop No. 5 main turret. Later, from 1930-1931, additional searchlights and a derrick was installed at the stern for handling floatplanes.
However, more complete upgrade occurred from 1931-11-20 to 1932-02-10 at Kure Naval Arsenal, which involved shortening the mainmast top section, replacing all the 3-in/40 AA guns with eight Type 89 127-mm/40 AA guns (4 x 2), and adding four Vickers Type 40 mm AT/AA Guns (2 x 2). The shielded 140-mm/50 secondary guns from the forecastle deck were removed and a catapult and aircraft handling crane were fitted to the fantail. On 1933-05-14, a second catapult and three Type 90 seaplanes were added.
From 1935-08-01, Ise was drydocked at Kure Naval Arsenal and underwent an extensive reconstruction and modernization. The 24 mixed-fired boilers were replaced by eight new Kampon oil-fired boilers and new Kampon geared turbines were fitted. Maximum speed increased to 25.4 knots (25.21 knots was reached during trials). The fore funnel was removed and stern lengthened by 25 feet. Anti-torpedo bulges were added and her six submerged torpedo tubes were removed. The elevation of Ise's main battery (with the exception of the aftermost turret No. 6) was increased to 43 degrees. Two forward 5.5-in casemate guns were removed. The elevation of secondary guns was increased from 20 degrees to 30 degrees and range increased to 19,100 meters (from 15,800 meters). Four 40mm Vickers AA guns were replaced by ten Type 96 twin 25 mm AA guns. The aircraft catapult was replaced by a Kure Type No. 2 Mod. 5 catapult and the aircraft handling deck was extended. Reconstruction was completed by 1937-03-27.
[edit] Start of the Pacific War
Despite these efforts at modernization and upgrading, Ise was still considered obsolete by the start of the Pacific War due to her relatively slow speed, large crew, and high fuel consumption, and never saw combat as a battleship. Ise participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor (albeit on a sortie from Hashirajima as far as the Bonin Islands and pursued but did not catch the American carrier force that had launched the Doolittle Raid on 1942-04-18.
In May, Ise had an accident which flooded her No.2 engine room. During repair work, Ise was fitting with one of the first experimental model Type 21 radar sets in the Japanese navy.
[edit] Reconstruction
To partially compensate for the loss of carrier strength at the Battle of Midway, Navy Aircraft Department began plans to convert the Ise-class battleships to full-sized aircraft carriers each carrying 54 planes. This concept was abandoned due to lack of time and resources and a hybrid battleship/carrier concept was adopted. Ise was dry-docked, and her aft No.5 and No.6 main turrets were removed and replaced by a hangar surmounted by a 70 meter long flight deck and a "T"-shaped aircraft elevator. This was long enough to permit the launch of aircraft, but not their recovery. Plans called for the new hangar to carry nine planes inside, with 11 on deck and two on each catapult; however it was later realized that a single faulty aircraft engine could ruin the whole concept. To prevent jams, the deck was fitted with two rails, 12 turntables, trolleys and tie-downs. Two 25-meter Model 11 catapults were installed on tall supports on the port and starboard sides forward of the flight deck. A collapsible derrick crane was fitted port abaft. The new deck was covered with 200-mm of concrete to compensate for the unbalanced condition created after removal of the aft armament. A one-meter thick layer of concrete was also poured around the main steering and reserve steering rooms and a 150-mm horizontal armor cover was added.
Anti-aircraft weapons were improved to better fight off aerial attack. The eight single 127-mm DP guns were replaced with eight twin-mounts. The Type 96 25-mm AA guns were increased from twenty to 57 (including 19 triple-mounts). Type 21 air-search radar and two Type 22 surface search radars were also installed. As modified, Ise could carry 22 aircraft. The operational concept envisioned Ise accompanying the Carrier Strike Force, and launching its 11 Yokosuka D4Y2 Suisei ("Judy") dive-bombers and 11 Aichi E16A Zuiun ("Paul") seaplanes that are capable of diving attacks to add another 44 bombers to the Strike Force. The Suisei had to land either on a conventional carrier or on land bases whereas the E16A could be hoisted back on board after landing near the ship by using a crane. Ise's final aircraft allowance called for 14 E16A and eight D4Y2.
The rebuild was officially completed on 1943-10-08; however, as training with the new pilots was not completed by autumn 1944, Ise was never used in its new configuration in an operational mission. It aircraft were offloaded to land bases, and Ise continued to be used as a pure battleship in the cover force.
Ise made a sortie to Truk in October 1943, conveying a detachment of the IJA 52 Division and supplies.
In a refit in Kure in May 1944, 47 additional Type 96 25 mm AA guns (12 triple, 11 single mount) were added, bringing the total to 104 barrels. Two Type 2 IFF units were also installed. In July, two Type 13 air search radar and an E27 Radar detector were installed. From the end of September 1944, six racks of 30-tube, 127-mm anti-aircraft rocket launchers were added. The rockets had multiple incendiary shrapnel charges and a timed fuse.
[edit] Battle of Leyte Gulf and afterwards
Ise was slightly damaged in the Battle off Cape Engaño, during which Ises gunners shot down five of the ten attacking dive bombers, suffering from one small hit on the No.2 turret. Ises anti-aircraft cover was ineffectual, and by the end of the battle, USN aircraft had sunk the Japanese aircraft carriers Zuikaku, Zuiho, and Chitose and the destroyer Akizuki. Towards the end of the battle, in the fourth attack, Ise was attacked by 85 dive bombers. After 34 near misses, Ises hull plates near the waterline ruptured and port boiler rooms were damaged; a bomb damaged the port catapult, and some five crewmen were killed, with 71 wounded.
After returning to Japan, from 29 October, the aft catapults were removed to improve the firing arcs of the No.3 and No.4 turrets.
Ise was dispatched south to Lingga and Singapore in early 1945 for Operation Kita. On the approach to Singapore, Ise was slightly damaged by a naval mine. In Operation Kita, Ise, her sister ship Hyuga, and cruiser Oyodo were loaded with critically needed strategic war supplies (oil, rubber, tin, zinc, and mercury) and evacuate 1150 oil field personnel back to Japan. Ise arrived back safely in Moji on 1945-02-19, having evaded or escaped pursuit by 23 Allied submarines along the way.
[edit] Final role
From 1945-02-25 until the surrender of Japan, Ise remained docked at Kure, without fuel or aircraft, and repainted in a camouflage olive green with splotches. The camouflage was not effective against USN Task Force 58 carrier-based aircraft on 1945-03-19, when more than 240 aircraft attacked Kure and Ise was hit by two bombs. Re-designated as a 4th class reserve ship on 20 April, Ise was towed to Ondo Seto (between Kure and Kurahashijima) to serve as a floating anti-aircraft battery. She was attacked again on 24 July by 60 aircraft from the USS Ranger, whose bombs hit the starboard bow flight deck, main deck, No.3 turret and bridge, killing Captain Mutaguchi, other bridge officers and around 50 crewmen. On 28 July, in another attack Ise was struck by five 1000-lbs bombed dropped by F4U Corsairs from the USS Hancock, and eleven more bombs dropped by other aircraft from TF-58. Ise listed starboard and sank in shallow water at . She was removed from the Navy list on 1945-11-20.
Ise's underwater hulk section was for some time left where it was and she was scrapped without being raised by the Kure Dockyard of the Harima Zosen Yard at 1946-10-09 - 1947-07-04.
[edit] Specifications
| As Built （1917） |
After Refit （1937） |
Final （1944） |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Displacement | nominal：31,260 tons actual：32,062 tons |
nominal：36,000 tons actual：40,169t |
nominal：35,350 tons actual：38,676 tons |
| Length | 208.18 metres (683.0 ft) | 215.8 metres (708.0 ft) | 219.62 metres (720.5 ft) |
| Beam | 28.65 metres (94.0 ft) | 33.83 metres (111.0 ft) | ← |
| Draught | 8.74 metres (28.7 ft) | 9.21 metres (30.2 ft) | 9.03 metres (29.6 ft) |
| Propulsion | 2 x 4-shaft Brown-Curtiss geared turbines 45,000 shp (33560 kW) | 2 x 4-shaft Kampon geared turbines 80,000 shp (59660 kW) | ← |
| Speed | 23 knots (43 km/h) | 24.5 knots (45 km/h) | ← |
| Range | 9,680 nautical miles (18,000 km) @14 knots (26 km/h) | 7,870 nautical miles (15,000 km) @16 knots (30 km/h) | 9,500 nautical miles (18,000 km) @16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Fuel | coal：4000 tons oil：1300 tons |
oil：5313 tons | |
| Complement | 1360 | 1385 | 1463 |
| Sensors | 1x Type 21 radar | 1x Type 21 radar 2xType 22 radar |
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| Main battery | 12x Type 41 356 mm(6X2) | ← | 8x Type 41 356 mm(4X2) |
| Secondary | 20x Type 41 140 mm | 16x Type 41 140 mm | none |
| DP guns | 8x 80 mm | 8x 127mm | 16x 127mm |
| AA guns | none | 10x Type 96 25mm | 31x Type 96 25mm tripe 11x Type 96 single 6x 120-mm 28-AA rocket launchers |
| Torpedoes | 6 x 53cm | none | ← |
| Armor | waterline 305mm deck 55+30mm con 356mm turrets 305mm |
← | ← |
| Aircraft | none | 3 1 x catapult |
22 2 x catapult |
[edit] Commanding Officers
- Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Saburo Hyakutake - 1 September 1916 - 1 December 1916
- Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Yoshima Akizawa - 1 December 1916 - 15 December 1917
- Capt. Yoshima Akizawa - 15 December 1917 - 1 December 1918
- Capt. Shozo Kuwashima - 1 December 1918 - 20 November 1919
- Capt. Hiroshi Furukawa - 20 November 1919 - 20 November 1920
- Capt. Hisashi Yokoo - 20 November 1920 - 1 December 1921
- Capt. Naotaro Nagasawa - 1 December 1921 - 1 December 1922
- Capt. Norikazu Kanna - 1 December 1922 - 1 December 1923
- Capt. Heizaburo Fukuyo - 1 December 1923 - 1 December 1924
- Capt. Kenikichi Wada - 1 December 1924 - 22 August 1925
- Capt. Sueki Yonemura - 22 August 1925 - 1 December 1925
- Capt. Katsutaro Taoka - 1 December 1925 - 1 December 1926
- Capt. Togo Kawano - 1 December 1926 - 1 December 1927
- Capt. Michijiro Nambu - 1 December 1927 - 10 December 1928
- Capt. Kanekoto Iwamura - 10 December 1928 - 5 October 1929
- Capt. Keitaro Hara - 5 October 1929 - 1 December 1930
- Capt. Rokuro Hani - 1 December 1930 - 1 December 1931
- Capt. Mineichi Koga - 1 December 1931 - 1 December 1932
- Capt. Hiroyoshi Tabata - 1 December 1932 - 15 November 1933
- Capt. Koki Yamamoto - 15 November 1933 - 1 November 1934
- Capt. Mitsumi Shimizu - 1 November 1934 - 31 October 1935
- Capt. Gunpei Sekine - 31 October 1935 - 16 November 1936
- Capt. Sanjiro Takasu - 16 November 1936 - 1 December 1937
- Capt. Tamon Yamaguchi - 1 December 1937 - 15 November 1938
- Capt. Gisaburo Yamaguchi - 15 November 1938 - 15 November 1939
- Capt. Sentaro Omori - 15 November 1939 - 15 October 1940
- Capt. Gihachi Takayanagi - 15 October 1940 - 25 September 1941
- Capt. Isamu Takeda - 25 September 1941 - 25 April 1943
- Capt. / RADM Shinzaburo Hase - 25 April 1943 - 25 December 1943
(Promoted to Rear Admiral on 1 November 1943.)
- Capt. / RADM Noboro Nakase - 25 December 1943 - 25 February 1945
(Promoted to Rear Admiral on 15 October 1944.)
- Capt. / RADM* Kakuro Mutaguchi - 25 February 1945 - 24 July 1945 (KIA)
(Posthumously promoted to Rear Admiral on 24 July 1945)
- No CO Assigned - 24 July 1945 - 28 July 1945
[edit] References
- Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870211927.
- Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0689114028.
- Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 087021893X.
- Toland, John (1970). The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936-1945. Random House. ISBN 0812968581.
[edit] External links
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