Japanese cruiser Yūbari

Yūbari (夕張) was an experimental light cruiser built during the early 1920s for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) to test new concepts for reducing hull weights while strengthening it. Completed in 1923 the ship was generally used as the flagship for destroyer squadrons. She spent large portions of her peacetime career in reserve or used as a training ship. The ship participated in the First Shanghai Incident in 1932 and numerous combat operations during World War II before she was sunk by an American submarine in 1944. Designs pioneered on Yūbari had a major impact on future Japanese warship designs.

For other ships with the same name, see Japanese ship Yūbari.

Yūbari in 1924
History
Empire of Japan
NameYūbari (夕張)
NamesakeYūbari River
OrderedOctober 1921
BuilderSasebo Naval Arsenal
Laid down5 June 1922
Launched5 March 1923
Commissioned23 July 1923
FateTorpedoed and sunk by USS Bluegill, 28 April 1944
General characteristics (as built)
TypeLight cruiser
Displacement3,560 long tons (3,620 t) (normal)
Length139.45 m (457 ft 6 in) (o/a)
Beam12.04 m (39 ft 6 in)
Draft4.52 m (14 ft 10 in) (deep load)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed34.8 knots (64.4 km/h; 40.0 mph)
Range3,310 nmi (6,130 km; 3,810 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement328
Armament
Armor

Background and description

Construction of an experimental light cruiser was authorized by the revised 1917 8-4 Fleet Program, but construction was not approved by the Naval General Staff until October 1921 to evaluate naval architect Captain Yuzuru Hiraga's innovative design proposal. He incorporated the ship's belt and deck armor plates as structural members into the hull structure, eliminating the weight of the traditional plating and structure that backed the armor. Hiraga believed that this would allow him to design a ship that would have the combat potential of the standard 5,500-long-ton (5,600 t) Sendai-class cruiser, but with a much lighter displacement. Lieutenant Commander Kikuo Fujimoto designed Yūbari, under the direction of Hiraga, to have nearly the same speed, armament and radius of action as the Sendais while displacing less than 60% of the older ships. Yūbari introduced numerous features that were adopted by subsequent heavy cruiser designs.[1]

US Office of Naval Intelligence recognition drawings of Yūbari made during World War II

The cruiser was designed to displace 3,141 long tons (3,191 t) at normal load, but was significantly overweight for unknown reasons and actually displaced 3,560 long tons (3,620 t). She had an overall length of 139.45 meters (457 ft 6 in), a beam of 12.04 meters (39 ft 6 in), and a draft of 3.86 meters (12 ft 8 in), 0.34 meters (1 ft 1 in) deeper than designed. Her crew numbered 328 officers and enlisted men.[2] The forecastle was given significant flare to improve seakeeping.

Yūbari's propulsion system was derived from that of the Minekaze-class destroyers, enlarged by one additional propeller shaft, steam turbine and four Kampon water-tube boilers. The three turbines used steam provided by eight boilers that operated at a pressure of 18.3 kg/cm2 (1,795 kPa; 260 psi) and a temperature of 156 °C (313 °F). The turbines developed a total of 57,900 shaft horsepower (43,200 kW) and were intended to give the cruiser a speed of 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph), but the increase in draft adversely affected both her speed and range. Yūbari only reached 34.8 knots (64.4 km/h; 40.0 mph) from 61,336 shp (45,738 kW), rather than her intended 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph), when the ship ran her sea trials on 5 July 1923. The ship carried a maximum of 916 tonnes (902 long tons) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 3,310 nautical miles (6,130 km; 3,810 mi), reduced from her designed range of 5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi), at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). Hiraga trunked the forward funnel aft into the rear funnel to minimize the effects of hot exhaust gases on the bridge personnel.[3]

Armament and fire control

The cruiser's main battery consisted of six 50-caliber 14-centimeter (5.5 in) 3rd Year Type guns arranged in two twin-gun turrets and two single gun mounts protected by gun shields. One mount of each type was positioned forward and aft of the superstructure in a superfiring arrangement with the single mount positioned below the twin-gun turret. A pair of rotating Type 8 twin-tube mounts for 61-centimeter (24 in) torpedoes were located amidships on the ship's centerline. Each tube was provided with a single reload torpedo. A single 40-caliber 76-millimeter (3 in) 3rd Year Type anti-aircraft (AA) gun and two 7.7-millimeter (0.30 in) Lewis machine guns on a raised platform between the torpedo mounts for anti-aircraft defense. Yūbari was fitted with six rails at the stern that could accommodate 48 No. 1 naval mines in 24 compartments in the hull.[4]

The main guns were controlled by a Type 13 director located at the top of the tripod mast. A pair of 3-meter (9 ft 10 in) rangefinders were located on the bridge, one on each broadside to determine the distance to the target.[5]

Protection

Incorporating the ship's armor plating into the hull reinforced the longitudinal strength of the hull, allowed Hiraga to eliminate the hull plates formerly installed behind the armor and the girders that traditionally provided the necessary longitudinal strength. This cut the weight of the Yūbari's displacement devoted to the hull to 31.2 percent from the roughly 38 percent of the Sendai class and permitted Hiraga to substantially increase the amount of Yūbari's armor protection. The ship was fitted with 349 tonnes (343 long tons) of armor, almost exactly double the weight in the Sendais.[6]

Yūbari's armor was designed to protect against American 4-inch (102 mm) shells and the cruiser was equipped with an internal waterline 38-millimeter (1.5 in) New Vickers Non-Cemented (NVNC) armor belt that sloped outwards 10° from top to bottom. The belt was 4.15 meters (13 ft 7 in) high, had a length of 57.91 meters (190 ft), and connected to the armored deck at the top and the double bottom below. Forming the top of the armored citadel, the deck had 25.4-millimeter-thick (1 in) NVNC armor plates that were reinforced by 22-millimeter (0.87 in) plates of high-tensile steel along the centerline. The boiler uptakes were protected up to a height of 0.76 meters (2 ft 6 in) by NVNC plates 32 millimeters (1.3 in) thick.[2]

Modifications

The funnel was raised by 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) to reduce the amount of exhaust gases reaching the bridge and fire-control director at high speed in 1924. Additional ballast was also added to increase stability. During her 1932–1933 refit, the 76 mm AA gun was removed and the torpedo mounts were raised and received spray shields. The following year, Yūbari's mine storage equipment was removed, her hull girders reinforced and ballast installed during a refit from 17 May to 20 July 1934 after the top-heavy Japanese torpedo boat Tomozuru capsized during a storm. In 1935, a twin mount for 13.2-millimeter (0.52 in) Type 93 machine guns was fitted where the 76 mm AA gun had been and splinter plating was installed around the portions of the bridge. The 13.2 mm machine gun mount was replaced by four 2.5-centimeter (1 in) Type 96 AA guns in twin mounts in 1940.[7]

Yūbari had a significant refit in early 1944 when the two single 140 cm main guns were removed and replaced by one Type 10 12 cm (4.7 in)/45 gun (in the "A" position) and six twin and one triple mounts for Type 96 AA guns together with a Type 22 search radar and two depth charge launchers.[8]

Construction and career

Yūbari, named after the Yūbari River,[9] was laid down on 5 June 1922 at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal, launched on 5 March 1923 and completed, and commissioned on 31 July 1923,[10] under the command Captain Masao Sugiura. Completed just prior to the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake on 1 September, Yūbari was quickly pressed into service to help evacuate refugees from the Shinagawa area. Crown Prince Hirohito boarded the vessel for a tour from Yokohama to Yokosuka on 10 October. The ship was transferred to the 3rd Cruiser Division of the 1st Fleet on 1 December and Masao was replaced by Captain Yamaguchi Nobuichi.[11] Accompanied by the light cruisers Tama and Isuzu, Yūbari cruised off the Chinese coast in March 1924. Upon her return in April, the cruiser had her funnel raised. After serving as the flagship for a destroyer squadron during the annual fleet maneuvers in late 1924, she was placed in reserve on 1 December.[12]

Yūbari made a lengthy cruise during April–June 1925 in the Western Pacific, including a visit to Australia, and observed the fleet exercises of the United States Navy west of the Hawaiian Islands. The ship was based in Japanese Taiwan in August–November and then became flagship of the 1st Destroyer Squadron of the 1st Fleet on 1 December. Twelve months later she was transferred to the 2nd Destroyer Squadron of the 2nd Fleet where her squadron exercised in Taiwanese waters during March–April 1927 and was assigned to the Combined Fleet during the Special Great Maneuvers held near the Ryukyu and Bonin Islands. Yūbari was placed in reserve on 1 December and was attached to the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy as a training ship until mid-1931. She was refitted at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal from 4 September to 23 January 1932.[13]

During her refit, Yūbari was transferred to the 1st Fleet and was assigned as the flagship of the 1st Destroyer Squadron on 1 December 1931. The cruiser and her destroyers was ordered to Shanghai, China on 26 January after rioting had begun that prefaced the First Shanghai Incident. The squadron escorted troopships carrying Imperial Japanese Army troops past Chinese forts at the mouth of the Whangpoo River in Wusong on 8 February. After the troops had disembarked, the squadron began bombarding the forts as the troops assaulted them and nearby Chinese positions in the Chapei and Hongkou Districts through the following day.[11] The muzzle blast from her own guns damaged Yūbari and she repaired at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal from 22 March to 31 January 1933. The squadron make a training cruise off the Chinese coast in July-August and participated in a naval review at Yokohama on 25 August. She was reduced to reserves on 13 November and was assigned to the Sasebo Guard Squadron when it was formed on 11 December.[14]

On 15 November 1934, Captain Tadashige Daigo assumed command, and Yūbari was reassigned to the Yokosuka Guard Squadron of the Yokosuka Naval District, where she was refitted 9 July–15 November 1935. Afterwards, she was assigned to the 5th Destroyer Squadron of the 3rd Fleet and conducted patrols off of the China coast and visiting the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies in 1936. With the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in August 1937, Yūbari assisted in the evacuation of Japanese civilians from coastal cities in southern China. On 14 September Yūbari and the destroyers Hayate and Oite were entering the Pearl River Delta at Bocca Tigris when they encountered the elderly protected cruiser Chao Ho and the sloop Hai Chow (formerly the Arabis class HMS Pentstemon). The Japanese ships engaged the Chinese ones and the forts defending the area with little effect and both sides retreated. As Yūbari steamed back to the Japanese base, she was attacked by Northrop A-17 light bombers of the Chinese Air Force. Although the ship was not struck, near misses wounded five sailors.[11]

Subsequently, she was sent north to cover landings by the Imperial Japanese Army at Hangzhou on 20 October.


She returned to Yokosuka and was reassigned to the reserves in December of the same year. She was sent from March through October 1939 to the Ōminato Guard District to patrol the coast of Sakhalin.[11] At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Yūbari was flagship of the 6th Destroyer Squadron of the 4th Fleet, tasked with the defense of the South Seas Mandate, and was based out of Truk from late 1941 through 1942.[15]

The Pacific War

Early in the war, Yūbari was the flagship for the Japanese invasion force during the invasion of Wake Island. She led both invasion attempts on 11 and 23 December 1941.[16] During shore bombardment operations, she was bracketed by gunfire from the USMC defenders, but took no damage.[11]

Subsequently, Yūbari and her destroyers participated in the capture of Rabaul and New Ireland in the Solomon Islands, followed by the Invasion of Salamaua–Lae on 8 March 1942. On 10 March, she was attacked by two Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, which scored two severe near-misses that killed a number of her anti-aircraft gun crews. She was then strafed by four Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighters from Lexington, which killed her executive officer and several crewmen on her bridge. The following morning she was attacked again by aircraft from USS Yorktown. Yorktown's SBD-3s detonated gunpowder bags near her No. 2 turret, which set the protective mattresses around the bridge on fire, and an F4F-3 strafing run detonated gasoline drums stored in her port lifeboat. Firefighting teams found the fire hoses too short due to a design error and the fire threatened the forward torpedo mount. The captain ordered the torpedoes jettisoned but the mount would not rotate due to a power failure, forcing the crew to use pulleys and ropes to dump the torpedoes manually. During this battle Yūbari evaded 67 bombs and 12 torpedoes, suffering 13 killed and 49 wounded. She was bombed again on 10 March by four USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress bombers while returning to Rabaul with four near-misses opening three large holes in her stern. She returned to Truk for repairs on 25 March.[11]

Yūbari was next assigned as the flagship of the Port Moresby Attack Force during Operation MO on 4 May. On 7 May she escaped an attack by four B-17 bombers without damage and rescued a number of survivors from the aircraft carrier Shōhō, which had been sunk earlier.[11] She returned to Truk on 13 May when the operation was cancelled following the Battle of the Coral Sea.[17] She returned to Yokosuka for refit from 19 May to 19 June[11]

Beginning 29 June 1942, Yūbari took part in the Solomon Islands Campaign, including landing personnel on Guadalcanal to construct an airfield. From 17 June, she started to develop problems with her engines, and was limited to 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph) on two shafts. Yūbari participated in the Battle of Savo Island on 9 August.[18][19] She scored several hits on the American destroyer USS Ralph Talbot, and one of the torpedoes that sank the heavy cruiser USS Vincennes has been attributed to her.

From 20 August, Yūbari was based out of Truk, making patrols between Truk and the Marshall islands, Gilbert Islands, and Palau. She was based at Tarawa from 20 October to 20 November as a guard ship.[11] She returned to Yokosuka at the end of December, where her middle turbine was repaired and additional anti-aircraft weaponry was installed in February 1943. She returned to Rabaul on 1 April and was assigned to the Southwest Area Fleet. On 2 July, Yūbari and her destroyers bombarded the American beachhead established at Rendova Island, but with little effect. On her return to Buin, Yūbari struck a naval mine, damaging her bow and wounding 26 crewmen. The damage also limited her speed to 22 knots and forced a return to Yokosuka for repairs from August through October. In addition to repairs, additional anti-aircraft guns, a Type 22 surface search radar and Type 94 sonar were installed. She returned to Rabaul on 3 November. On 4 November, she rescued 196 troops and three artillery pieces from the transport Kiyosumi Maru, which had been damaged by a bombing attack the previous day. On 6 November, she undertook a "Tokyo Express" transport run with 700 troops from the IJA 17th Division and 25 tons of supplies to Bougainville Island. Yūbari was damaged slightly by a strafing attack in the 11 November Carrier Raid on Rabaul, and again on 14 November. On 18 November, she attempted another troop transport run to Garove Island in New Britain, but the mission was cancelled after Yūbari was damaged in an attack by USAAF B-24 Liberators and USN PBY Catalinas. She returned to Yokosuka on 19 December for repairs and the installation of yet more anti-aircraft guns. She returned to Saipan on 30 March 1944, and Palau on 25 April[11]

Yūbari was sighted on 27 April 1944 off Palau by the American submarine Bluegill on her first war patrol.[20] Bluegill fired six torpedoes, of which Yūbari managed to evade four, but two hit on her starboard side near her Number 1 boiler room. Soon afterwards, her Number 2 boiler room was also flooded. She attempted to get underway using only her middle shaft, but the attempt failed, as did an attempt by the accompanying destroyer Samidare to take her in tow. Yūbari sank almost 24 hours after being torpedoed, at position 05°20′N 132°16′E, with the loss of 19 crewmen. She was stricken from the navy list on 10 June 1944.

Notes
  1. Lacroix & Wells, pp. 16, 41–42
  2. Lacroix & Wells, pp. 799–800
  3. Lacroix & Wells, pp. 46, 800
  4. Lacroix & Wells, pp. 42, 46–47
  5. Lacroix & Wells, p. 47
  6. Lacroix & Wells, p. 41, 45–46
  7. Lacroix & Wells, pp. 41, 45, 164–165
  8. Lacroix & Wells, pp. 368–369
  9. Lacroix & Wells, p. 41
  10. Stille, p. 31
  11. Hackett & Kingsepp
  12. Lacroix & Wells, pp. 162–163
  13. Lacroix & Wells, p. 163
  14. Lacroix & Wells, pp. 163–164
  15. Lacroix & Wells, pp. 363–366
  16. Dull, pp. 24-25
  17. Lacroix & Wells, p. 364
  18. Lacroix & Wells, p. 368
  19. Dull, p. 187
  20. U. S. Navy Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, "U.S.S. Bluegill, SS-242", Web. 23 February 2013. http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b7/bluegill-i.htm Archived 3 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yūbari (ship, 1923).
  • Ahlberg, Lars & Nevitt, Allyn D. (1986). "Question 10/84". Warship International. XXIII (3): 317–318. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
  • Hackett, Bob & Kingsepp, Sander. "IJN Yubari: Tabular Record of Movement". www.combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  • Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 978-0-87021-893-4.
  • Lacroix, Eric & Wells II, Linton (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
  • Roscoe, Theodore (1949). United States Submarine Operations in World War II. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-731-3.
  • Stille, Mark (2012). Imperial Japanese Navy Light Cruisers 1941-45. Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84908-562-5.
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