Japanese Destroyer Wakaba (1934)

was the third of six s, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy under the Circle One Program (''Maru Ichi Keikaku''). Three were laid down in JFY 1931 and the next three in JFY 1933. The remaining six ships in the plan were built as the .

History

Construction of the advanced ''Hatsuharu''-class destroyers was intended to give the Imperial Japanese Navy smaller and more economical destroyers than the previous and destroyers, but with essentially the same weaponry.GlobalSecurity.org
IJN ''Hatsuharu'' class
/ref> These conflicting goals proved beyond contemporary destroyer design, and the resulting ships were top-heavy design, with severe stability problems and with inherent structural weaknesses. After the "''Tomozuru'' Incident" of 1934 and "IJN 4th Fleet Incident" in 1935, ''Wakaba'' underwent extensive modifications on completion to remedy these issues.

The ''Hatsuharu''-class destroyers used the same 50 caliber 12.7 cm gun as the ''Fubuki'' class, but all turrets could elevate to 75° to give the main guns a minimal ability to engage aircraft. During the war the single turret was removed on all surviving ships after 1942. The only anti-aircraft guns were two water-cooled, license-built Vickers (''pom pom''). These guns were deemed to be too heavy, slow-firing and short-ranged and were replaced by license-built French Hotchkiss ''Type 96'' anti-aircraft guns in single, double and triple mounts from 1943 for the surviving ships. These powered mounts were still unsatisfactory because their traverse and elevation speeds were too slow to engage high-speed aircraft and more single mounts were fitted to ships in the last year of the war.

The 61 cm Type 90 torpedo was mounted in triple tube ''Type 90 Model 2'' launchers It was traversed by an electro-hydraulic system and could traverse 360° in twenty-five seconds. If the backup manual system was used the time required increased to two minutes. Each tube could be reloaded in twenty-three seconds using the endless wire and winch provided.
''Wakaba'' was laid down on December 12, 1931, launched on March 18, 1934 and commissioned on October 31, 1934.

Operational history

On completion, ''Wakaba'' was assigned to the IJN 2nd Fleet. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, from 1937, ''Wakaba'' covered landing of Japanese forces in Shanghai and Hangzhou. From 1940, she was assigned to patrol and cover landings of Japanese forces in south China, and participated in the Invasion of French Indochina.

World War II history

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, ''Wakaba'' was assigned as flagship of Destroyer Division 21 of Destroyer Squadron 1 of the IJN 1st Air Fleet together with her sister ships , , and , and remained in Japanese home waters on anti-submarine patrol. From the end of January 1942, she deployed with the invasion force for the Netherlands East Indies as part of "Operation H", covering landing operations at Kendari on Sulawesi on 24 January, Makassar on 8 February, and Bali and Lombok on 18 February. She returned to Sasebo Naval Arsenal at the end of March for maintenance.

From May 1942, ''Wakaba'' was reassigned to northern operations, and deployed from Ōminato Guard District in support of "Operation AL" as part of Admiral Boshiro Hosogaya’s Northern Force in the Aleutians campaign, patrolling around Attu, Kiska and Amchitka Island until mid-July. After returning briefly to Yokosuka Naval Arsenal for maintenance, she continued to patrol in the Chishima Islands, deploying out of Paramushiro or Shumushu to Attu and Kiska, making numerous transport runs to deploy supplies and reinforcements until December.

''Wakaba'' returned to Sasebo at the end of 1942, and during a refit, her aft (''pom pom'') was replaced by twin ''Type 96'' anti-aircraft guns.

''Wakaba'' returned to northern waters from January 1943, continuing patrols and resupply transport missions to the Aleutians. On 26 March, she participated in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands as part of the IJN 5th Fleet, and unsuccessfully engaged United States Navy forces at long range with torpedoes. She collided with the destroyer on 30 March, and was withdrawn together with the cruisers and to Yokosuka for repairs.

''Wakaba'' rejoined the IJN 5th Fleet in northern waters at the end of April, escorting convoys between Paramushiro and Ōminato to early July. In July, she participated in the evacuation of the Aleutians as part of a screening force consisting of the destroyers ''Hatsushimo'', , and . On 26 July, she was rammed by ''Hatsushimo'' in the stern, suffering heavy damage, which necessitated a return to Sasebo for two months of repairs. While at Sasebo, a Type 22 radar was installed, the "X"-turret was removed, and additional 25 mm anti-aircraft guns were added. She was able to return to active duty with the northern fleet in mid-October.

From 24 November, ''Wakaba'' escorted , from Kure to Truk via Manila, Singapore, Tarakan and Palau, returning with the aircraft carriers and to Yokosuka at the end of the year.

At the start of 1944, ''Wakaba'' was reassigned directly to Combined Fleet headquarters, and continued in escort missions between Yokosuka and Truk. She returned to northern waters from the end of February to the end of June, with additional 25 mm anti-aircraft guns added during maintenance refits at Ōminato at the end of May and Yokosuka at the end of June. In July, she made two troop transport runs to Iwo Jima as part of the Japanese preparations against the American landings. A Type 13 Radar was added at the end of July. In August through October, she escorted troop convoys from Kure to Taiwan and Luzon.

On 24 October 1944, in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, ''Wakaba'' was sunk by aircraft from , struck by one or two bombs off the west coast of Panay (). ''Hatsuharu'' rescued 78 survivors and ''Hatsushimo'' 74 survivors.

On 10 December 1944, ''Wakaba'' was removed from the navy list.

Notes

References

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OCLC 77257764
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakaba (1934)
Hatsuharu-class destroyers
Ships built by Sasebo Naval Arsenal
1934 ships
Second Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan
World War II destroyers of Japan
Shipwrecks in the Sulu Sea
World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean
Ships of the Aleutian Islands campaign
Maritime incidents in October 1944
Ships sunk by aircraft during the Battle of Leyte Gulf