The was a class of submarine chasers of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

(IJN), serving during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Nine vessels were built between 1937 and 1939 under the Maru 3 Programme.

Design

Developed under project number was K7, the ''No.4'' class submarine chaser was an improved variant of the ''No.3'' class, with increased

freeboard In sailing and boating, a vessel's freeboard is the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship. In commercial vessels, the latter criterion measured relativ ...

. Other general features were the same as the ''No.3'' class. Their design was elaborate, because the Navy Technical Department (Kampon) devoted itself to making them small. However, the design was not able to accept additional anti-aircraft guns and depth charges.

Ships in class

Footnotes

Bibliography

*''Ships of the World special issue Vol.45, Escort Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy'', , (Japan), February 1996 *''The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.49, Japanese submarine chasers and patrol boats'', (Japan), March 1981 * {{DEFAULTSORT:4 World War II naval ships of Japan Submarine chasers of the Imperial Japanese Navy Submarine chaser classes