Muroto-class collier
 Muroto in 1932 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Muroto-class collier |
| Builders: | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| Operators: |
 Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Built: | 1918 – 1919 |
| In commission: | 1918 – 1944 |
| Planned: | 2 |
| Completed: | 2 |
| Lost: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Collier |
| Displacement: | 8,215 long tons (8,347 t) standard 8,750 long tons (8,890 t) stading |
| Length: | 105.16 m (345 ft 0 in) Lpp |
| Beam: | 15.24 m (50 ft 0 in) |
| Draught: | 7.06 m (23 ft 2 in) |
| Propulsion: | 1 × three expansion stages reciprocating engine 2 × scotch boilers single shaft, 2,500 shp 1930 3 × Miyahara model water tube boilers |
| Speed: | 12.5 knots (14.4 mph; 23.2 km/h) 1930 14.0 knots (16.1 mph; 25.9 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 6,000 tons coal |
| Complement: | 124 |
| Armament: | 1918 • 2 × 120 mm (4.7 in) L/45 naval guns 1932 • 2 × 76.2 mm (3.00 in) L/40 AA guns |
The Muroto-class colliers (室戸型給炭艦, Muroto-gata Kyūtankan) were a class of collier of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), serving from roughly the end of World War I into World War II. Two vessels were built in 1918-19 under the Eight-four fleet plan.
Background
- In 1917, World War I was stagnant. The lengthy war led to an increase in shipping and a shortage of merchant ships.
- The IJN utilized steamship companies to perform coal transportation duties. However, this expedient was very costly. The IJN decided to build new colliers under the Eight-four fleet plan.
- Their design was ordinary, because the IJN did not impose any special requirements on them.
Service
- In the 1920s, they engaged in coal transportation duties.
- In February 1932, the Muroto was remodeled, becoming an auxiliary hospital ship. She was refitted as a supply ship in 1941.
- In World War II, the value of coal as fuel fell. The ships engaged in transporting goods and troops.
Ships in class
| Ship | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Fate |
| Muroto (室戸) | Mitsubishi, Kōbe Shipyard | 4 July 1918 | 23 October 1918 | 7 December 1918 | Sunk by USS Sea Dog north of Amami Ōshima 29°10′N 129°44′E / 29.167°N 129.733°E on 22 October 1944. |
| Noshima (野島)[1] | Mitsubishi, Kōbe Shipyard | 16 July 1918 | 3 February 1919 | 31 March 1919 | Sunk during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea on 3 March 1943. |
Footnotes
- ↑ 15 December 1917, Administrative order No. 147, Named one transport vessel., Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of the Navy of Japan.
Bibliography
- Monthly Ships of the World, Special issue Vol. 47, "Auxiliary Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy", "Kaijinsha"., (Japan), March 1997
- The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No. 34, "Japanese Auxiliary vessels", "Ushio Shobō". (Japan), December 1979
- Series 100 year histories from Meiji Era, Vol. 180, Histories of Naval organizations #8, Author: Ministry of the Navy, original plot in January 1940, reprinted in October 1971
- IJN Nojima: Tabular Record of Movement, <http://www.combinedfleet.com/NojimaS_t.htm>
- IJN Muroto: Tabular Record of Movement, <http://www.combinedfleet.com/Muroto_t.htm>
Noshima in 1935
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