The Shohatsu (小発) or 10m landing craft was a small

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force ( infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are large ...

used by the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It was used for landing personnel and stores. It was designated the "Type B" landing craft by the United States.

Design

The Shohatsu class were long, wide, and had a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a ves ...

of . The class had a maximum speed of , and a range of , assuming they were travelling at top speed. The ship could hold 35 men, or 3.5 tons of cargo. It was built of steel, and had a single bow with no landing ramp.

Service history

It was carried by destroyers and smaller vessels as a cargo boat. Japan ordered 20 of the Shohatsu class land crafts, but it is not known how many of them were actually finished and delivered.

Design

Service history

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