Japanese Escorts


Builders and Year Completed:	Various 1943
Displacement:	860-tons standard.
Dimensions:	255' x 32.5' x 10'
Propulsion:	2-shaft geared diesel engines, 4200 b.h.p, speed 19.7 knots
Armament:	3 x 4.7-inch 120-mm)/45 cal HA, Type 96 25-mm AA (3x3), (2x1) 36 type 2 depth charges. By August 1943, the class was rearmed with 15x Type 96 25-mm AA guns, a 3-inch trench mortar, Type 22 radar, Type 93 sonar, 6 depth charge throwers and 60 Type 2 depth charges.

Etorofu Class Escort Vessels
(Etorofu Class Escort FUKUE in 1940- colorized by Irootoko, Jr)

The 14 units of the Etorofu Class were an improved version of the Shimushu Class. The first unit was laid down in 1942 and completed in March 1943. The offensive-minded IJN did not accord a high priority to the construction of escort vessels for protection of their merchant shipping. The Etorofu Class and the four Shimushu Class escorts were thought to be sufficient to meet their needs. In 1942 and the first-half of 1943, the abysmally poor performance of the USN Bureau of Ordnance's inadequately-tested Mark-14 torpedoes validated Japanese thinking.

Builders and
Year Completed: Various
1943

Displacement: 860-tons standard.

Dimensions: 255' x 32.5' x 10'
Propulsion: 2-shaft geared diesel engines, 4200 b.h.p, speed 19.7 knots
Armament: 3 x 4.7-inch 120-mm)/45 cal HA, Type 96 25-mm AA (3x3), (2x1) 36 type 2 depth charges. By August 1943, the class was rearmed with 15x Type 96 25-mm AA guns, a 3-inch trench mortar, Type 22 radar, Type 93 sonar, 6 depth charge throwers and 60 Type 2 depth charges.