Japanese escort Kunashiri

Career
Name:	Kunashiri
Builder:	Nihon Kokan, Tsurumi
Laid down:	1 March 1939
Launched:	6 May 1940
Commissioned:	3 October 1940
Struck:	5 November 1945
Fate:	wrecked, 4 June 1946
General characteristics
Class and type:	Shimushu-class escort ship
Displacement:	870 long tons (884 t)
Length:	77.7 m (255 ft)
Beam:	9.1 m (29 ft 10 in)
Draught:	3.05 m (10 ft)
Speed:	19.7 knots (22.7 mph; 36.5 km/h)
Complement:	150
Armament:	• 3 × 120 mm (4.7 in)/45 cal DP guns • Up to 15 × 25 mm (0.98 in) AA guns • 6 × depth charge throwers • Up to 60 × depth charges • 1 × 80 mm (3.1 in) mortar

Kunashiri (国後) was an escort ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

In July 1943 Kunashiri participated in the Kiska evacuation aspect of Operation Ke. During the war Kunashiri operated mostly in the Kuriles and Hokkaido area escorting various convoys. On July 28, 1944 she was reported "damaged" by unknown cause-USS Tambor. After the end of World War II Kunashiri returned to Sasebo and was later used by the Allied Repatriation Service. On 4 June 1946 while en route to Uragi the vessel ran aground and was later abandoned. In attempts to rescue her, the Japanese destroyer Kamikaze (1922) also ran aground, while at the same time, she too was repatriating Japanese troops from Singapore.^[1]

References