Japanese Cruiser Tenryū
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was the
lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...
in the two-ship of
light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
s 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 ...
. ''Tenryū'' was named after the
Tenryū River The is a river in central Honshū, Japan. With a length of , it is Japan's ninth longest river. Its source is Lake Suwa in the Kiso Mountains near Okaya in Nagano Prefecture. It then flows through Aichi Prefecture and western Shizuoka Prefec ...
in Nagano and Shizuoka prefectures.


Background

The ''Tenryū''-class was designed to act as
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...
s for
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
flotillas. The design represented an intermediate class between the light cruiser and the destroyer, which had few counterparts in other navies of the time, although it was inspired by a similar concept to the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
's and s.Gardner, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921''; page 237 The Imperial Japanese Navy and Japanese shipbuilding industry were still closely associated with the British due to the
Anglo-Japanese Alliance The was an alliance between the United Kingdom and the Empire of Japan which was effective from 1902 to 1923. The treaty creating the alliance was signed at Lansdowne House in London on 30 January 1902 by British foreign secretary Lord Lans ...
, and were able to improve on the British experience.


Design

The ''Tenryū''-class vessels, termed "small-model" (or "3,500-Ton") cruisers, were designed as fast flotilla leaders for the Imperial Navy's new first- and second-class destroyers. With improvements in oil-fired turbine engine technology and the use of Brown Curtiss geared turbine engines, the ''Tenryū'' class had more than twice the horsepower of the previous , and were capable of the high speed of , which was deemed necessary in their role as flagships for destroyer squadrons. However, by the time of their completion, newer Japanese destroyers, such as the had a design speed of 39 knots, and newer American cruisers, such as the also exceeded it in firepower.Stille, '' Imperial Japanese Navy Light Cruisers 1941-45 '', pages 12-15; However, in terms of weaponry, the ''Tenryū'' class was weaker than any other contemporary cruiser. The
main battery A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a naval gun or group of guns used in volleys, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, th ...
consisted of four 14 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns, which were also utilized as the secondary battery on the s. However, the guns were situated in single mounts on the centerline, with only a limited angle of fire, and could fire only one gun at a target immediately in front or aft of the vessel. A further weakness was the lack of room for
anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...
s. Despite awareness increasing about the growing threat of aircraft to surface ships, the secondary battery of the ''Tenryū'' class consisted of only a single dual-purpose
8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval gun The Type 41 naval gun otherwise known as the 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval gun was a Japanese dual-purpose gun introduced before World War I. Although designated as , its shells were in diameter. Design The Japanese Type 41 naval gun oth ...
s, plus two 6.5 mm machine guns. The class also was the first to use triple torpedo launchers, with two centerline-mounted Type 6 21-inch launchers. No reloads were carried.


Service history


Early career

''Tenryū'' was completed on 20 November 1919, at the
Yokosuka Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was located at Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture on Tokyo Bay, south of Yokohama. History In 1866, the Tokugawa shogunate govern ...
, and was assigned as flagship of the 2nd Destroyer Squadron based at
Kure Naval District was the second of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the Inland Sea of Japan and the Pacific coasts of southern Honshū from Wakayama to Yamaguchi prefectures, eastern and northern K ...
, under the
IJN 2nd Fleet The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) created as a mobile strike force in response to hostilities with Russia, and saw action in every IJN military operation until the end of World War II. History Established on 27 October 1903, ...
. The following year, ''Tenryū'' was assigned to patrols of the east coast of
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, providing support to Japanese troops in the Siberian Intervention against the
Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
. She was transferred to the reserves at Kure on 20 April, but was reactivated from 1 December 1921 - 1 December 1922, and again from 1 December 1923 – 1 December 1925, alternating active duty periods with her
sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...
''Tatsuta'' as flagship of the 1st Destroyer Squadron. From 5 February 1927, she was assigned to patrols of the mouth of the
Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
.
''Tenryu Tabular Record of Movement'';
After minor renovation in late 1927, ''Tenryū'' once again became flagship of the 1st Destroyer Squadron. From 1 December 1928, she was assigned back to Kure, serving as a training vessel for the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy and Submarine School. In 1930, she was given a tripod foremast. On 9 October 1931, ''Tenryū'' was assigned to patrols of the Yangtze River in China as part of the
IJN 3rd Fleet The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), which was created, and subsequently disbanded on six separate occasions and revived on five separate occasions. History Russo-Japanese War First established on 28 December 1903, the 3rd Flee ...
, and was thus in combat during the
January 28 Incident The January 28 incident or Shanghai incident (January 28 – March 3, 1932) was a conflict between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. It took place in the Shanghai International Settlement which was under international control. Japa ...
at
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
in 1932. She returned to Japan in October 1933, and from November 1934 was again based at Kure. On 26 September 1935, during fleet maneuvers in a
typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...
, ''Tatsuta'' (along with several other vessels) suffered hull damage in what later came to be known as the Fourth Fleet Incident. Repair work at Kure Naval Arsenal lasted until May 1936. From November 1936, ''Tenryū'' was paired with her sister ship ''Tatsuta'' in the 10th Cruiser Squadron of the IJN 3rd Fleet, replacing the cruiser . As the situation between Japan and China deteriorated into the
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...
, ''Tenryū'' supported the landings of the
Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
and Japanese naval forces in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, and the blockade of the Chinese coast. As a component of the
IJN 5th Fleet The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, active during the early portions of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and again in World War II, primarily in the Aleutian campaign, during which it was augmented and designated the Northern Area Force. ...
, on 10 May 1938 she covered the landing of Japanese forces at
Amoy Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...
and on 1 July 1938 supported operations in
Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
. ''Tatsuta'' and ''Tenryū'' operated in Chinese waters until 14 December 1938, when they were withdrawn from front line service and assigned to the reserves. From 1 December 1939, ''Tenryū'' was based at
Maizuru Naval District was one of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the entire Sea of Japan coastline from northern Kyūshū to western Hokkaidō. History The strategic importance of the location of Maizur ...
as a guard ship and training vessel for the Imperial Japanese Navy Engineering Academy. However, from 15 November 1940, in preparation for the upcoming hostilities with the United States, ''Tenryū'' and ''Tatsuta'' were extensively modernized and renovated. Their coal/oil boilers were replaced with oil-fired boilers and a steel roof replaced the former canvas covering of the bridge. The two Type 93 AA machine guns (which had been added in 1937) were replaced with two twin-mount Type 96 25 mm AA guns.


Early Pacific War

From 12 September 1941, ''Tatsuta'' and ''Tenryū'' were redeployed to Truk, in the
Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the cen ...
, as CruDiv 18 of the Fourth Fleet. At the time of the
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
, CruDiv 18 had deployed from Kwajalein as part of the
Wake Island Wake Island (), also known as Wake Atoll, is a coral atoll in the Micronesia subregion of the Pacific Ocean. The atoll is composed of three islets – Wake, Wilkes, and Peale Islands – surrounding a lagoon encircled by a coral reef. The neare ...
invasion force. ''Tenryū''
bombarded A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or cities and buildings. Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...
shore installations during the first
Battle of Wake Island The Battle of Wake Island was a battle of the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on Wake Island. The assault began simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor naval and air bases in Hawaii on the ...
, and also participated in the second (successful) invasion attempt on Wake Island on 21 December. On 20 January 1942, ''Tatsuta'' and ''Tenryū'' were assigned to cover troop transports during the invasion of
Kavieng Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2009, it had a population of 17,248. Kavi ...
, New Ireland and Gasmata,
New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...
from 3–9 February, and patrolled from Truk in late February. During a refit at Truk on 23 February, two additional Type 96 twin-mount 25 mm AA guns were installed aft, as part of the heightened awareness of the threat posed by American aircraft.


Solomon Islands and New Guinea campaigns

From March, '' Tenryū'' with CruDiv 18 covered numerous troop landings throughout the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
and
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
, including
Lae Lae (, , later ) is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River on the northern coast of Huon Gulf. It is at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is ...
and
Salamaua Salamaua () was a small town situated on the northeastern coastline of Papua New Guinea, in Salamaua Rural LLG, Morobe province. The settlement was built on a minor isthmus between the coast with mountains on the inland side and a headland. The c ...
, Buka, Bougainville,
Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...
, Shortland, and
Kieta Kieta is a port town located on the eastern coast of the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, near the township of Arawa. After extensive destruction during the 1990 Civil Uprising on Bougainville, Kieta has few inhabitants now, and is kno ...
, and
Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...
,
Admiralty Islands The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 40 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-cov ...
, and
Tulagi Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 1896 t ...
returning to Truk on 10 April. ''Tatsuta'' and ''Tenryū'' were both assigned to the aborted "
Operation Mo or the Port Moresby Operation was a Japanese plan to take control of the Australian Territory of New Guinea during World War II as well as other locations in the South Pacific. The goal was to isolate Australia and New Zealand from the Allie ...
" (the occupation of
Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...
, and covered the establishment of a seaplane base at Rekata Bay at
Santa Isabel Island Santa Isabel (also known as Isabel, Ysabel and Mahaga) is the largest island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split ...
from 3–5 May. The operation was cancelled following the
Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the battle ...
, and ''Tatsuta'' was recalled to
Maizuru Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. History The Maizuru Naval District was established at Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture in 1889, as the fourth of the naval districts responsible for the defen ...
in Japan for repairs on 24 May, remaining for a month. On 23 June, she returned to Truk. ''Tatsuta'' and ''Tenryū'' escorted a convoy to
Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...
on 6 July, which contained an engineering battalion assigned to build an airstrip.Lacroix and Wells, ''Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War''; p.18 and p.363-367 On 14 July 1942, in a major reorganization of the Japanese navy, CruDiv 18 under
Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...
Mitsuharu Matsuyama came under the newly created Eighth Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral
Gunichi Mikawa was a vice admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Mikawa was the commander of a heavy cruiser force that defeated the United States Navy (USN) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) at the Battle of Savo Island in Ironb ...
and based at Rabaul. On 20 July, ''Tenryū'' was assigned to cover Japanese troop landings in the invasion of Buna, New Guinea ("Operation RI"). The invasion force was attacked by
USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...
and
Martin B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in ...
bombers on its return to Rabaul, but ''Tenryū'' was unharmed.


Battle of Savo Island

On 9 August 1942, ''Tenryū'' was in the
Battle of Savo Island The Battle of Savo Island, also known as the First Battle of Savo Island and in Japanese sources as the , and colloquially among Allied Guadalcanal veterans as the Battle of the Five Sitting Ducks, was a Naval warfare, naval battle during the So ...
, together with the cruisers , , , , , and , and the destroyer , which attacked US Task Group 62.6 that was screening transports with Allied invasion forces for Guadalcanal. During nighttime gun and torpedo action, ''Tenryū'' sank the cruiser with two torpedoes. She also contributed to sinking the cruisers , , and . In addition, the cruiser and destroyers and were damaged. ''Tenryū'' was hit by ''Chicago'', with 23 crewmen killed. ''Tenryū'' remained based out of Rabaul through the end of August, escorting convoys of troops and supplies., On 25 August, ''Tenryū'' covered of the landing of 1,200 troops of the Kure No. 5 Special Naval Landing Force at
Milne Bay Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, south-eastern Papua New Guinea. More than long and over wide, Milne Bay is a sheltered deep-water harbor accessible via Ward Hunt Strait. It is surrounded by the heavily wooded Stirling Range (Papu ...
, New Guinea (" Operation RE"), and on 6 September, was part of the force assigned to evacuate the surviving troops after their defeat, and in the process
bombarded A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or cities and buildings. Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...
the Gili Gili wharves and sank the 3,199-ton British freighter ''Anshun''. On 2 October, ''Tenryū'' was hit by a bomb dropped by a B-17 of the 19th Bomb Group,
Fifth Air Force The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organ ...
while at Rabaul. The bomb killed 30 crewmen, but the ship was not severely damaged. ''Tenryū'' was then tasked with
Tokyo Express The Tokyo Express was the name given by Allied forces to the use of Imperial Japanese Navy ships at night to deliver personnel, supplies, and equipment to Japanese forces operating in and around New Guinea and the Solomon Islands during the ...
transport runs from Rabaul to Tassafaronga, Guadalcanal, through early November, evacuating 190 members of the Sasebo No.5 Special Night Operations Landing Force on 26 OctoberDull, ''A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy''; p.179 and narrowly escaping a torpedo launched by on 3 November off Santa Isabel Island. On 8 November, ''Tenryū'' was attacked by
PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, and it was valued for its maneuverability and speed. However, PT boats were hampe ...
s (''PT-37'', ''PT-39'', and ''PT-61'') off Cape Tassafaronga, but escaped without damage.


Naval Battles of Guadalcanal

On 13 November 1942, ''Tenryū'' departed Shortland for Guadalcanal as part of the Japanese task force for the bombardment of Henderson Field. The task force was attacked the next day by and
Grumman TBF Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval a ...
torpedo-bombers from and Guadalcanal. During the subsequent battle, ''Kinugasa'' was sunk and ''Chōkai'' was slightly damaged. A
Douglas SBD Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main Carrier-based aircraft, ...
dive bomber crashed into the cruiser . ''Tenryū'' was undamaged and returned to Shortland. On 16 December 1942, ''Tenryū'' departed for
Madang Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. History Nicholai Miklukho-Maklai was probably the first Eur ...
, New Guinea, in an attack force with the destroyers , , , and and the
armed merchant cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...
s ''Aikoku Maru'' and '' Gokoku Maru'', successfully landing its forces on 18 December. The following day, as ''Tenryū'' was departing, it was attacked by the submarine , which fired three torpedoes each at a transport and what it identified as a destroyer. The torpedoes missed the transport, but one hit ''Tenryū'' in the stern. ''Tenryū'' sank at 23:20 on 19 December 1942, at .Chesneau, p. 237. Twenty-three crewmen were lost, but ''Suzukaze'' rescued the survivors, including Captain Mitsuharu Ueda. ''Tenryū'' was struck from the
navy list A Navy Directory, Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a co ...
on 20 January 1943.


Gallery

File: IJN Tenryu in 1919 under construction.jpg, File: IJN Tenryu in 1919 under trials.jpg, File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in Yokosuka 1919.jpg, File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in 1921.jpg, File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in 1920s.jpg, File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in 1926 postcard.jpg, File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in 1930.jpg, File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in Inland Sea 1930-32.jpg, File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu 1930-31.jpg, File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in Shanghai 1932.jpg, File: IJN Tenryu in Shanghai Feb 1934.jpg, File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu docked at Shanghai Feb 1934.jpg, File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in 1936.jpg,


References


Notes


Books

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External links

* * * * Gallery
US Navy Historical Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenryu Tenryū-class cruisers Ships built by Yokosuka Naval Arsenal 1918 ships Second Sino-Japanese War cruisers of Japan World War II cruisers of Japan Maritime incidents in December 1942 Ships sunk by American submarines Shipwrecks in the Bismarck Sea World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean