Ōtori-class torpedo boat: Difference between revisions

|Class before=[[{{sclass|Chidori-class |torpedo boat|''Chidori'' class]]4}}

|Class after={{sclass-|Matsu|destroyer|4}} (small destroyers)

*3 × [[12 cm 11th Year Type naval gun|{{convert|12012|mmcm|in|abbr=on}}/45]] 11th Year Type guns]] (3×1)

*1 × [[Vickers 40 mm AA]] gun<ref>''Kari'' was equipped 2 × [[Type 96 25&nbsp; mm AT/AA Gun|Type 96 {{convert|25|mm|in|abbr=on}}]] AA guns.</ref>

*2 × {{convert|12 |cm|in|abbr=on}}/45 (4.7 inch) 11th Year Type guns (2×1)

*11 × [[Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun|Type 96 {{convert|25 |mm|in|abbr=on}}]] [[Anti-aircraft warfare|AA guns]]

The {{nihongo|'''''Ōtori''-class torpedo boat'''|鴻型水雷艇|Ōtori-gata suiraitei}} were a class of eight fast [[torpedo boat]]s of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] built before and operated during [[World War II]].

To circumvent the terms of the 1930 [[London Naval Treaty]], which limited its total destroyer tonnage the Imperial Japanese Navy designed the {{sclass-|Chidori|torpedo boat|4}} torpedo boat, but planned to arm it with half the armament of a {{sclass-|Fubuki|destroyer|4}} destroyer. The resultant design was top-heavy and unstable, resulting in the 1934 [[Tomozuru Incident|''Tomozuru'' Incident]], in which one of the ''Chidori''-class vessels capsized. The subsequent investigation revealed the fundamental design flaw, and the four vessels in the class which had been completed were extensively rebuilt, and the remaining sixteen vessels projected were cancelled in favor of a new design which would address these design issues from the beginning. Sixteen ''Ōtori''-class vessels were ordered in the 1934 [[2nd Naval Armaments Supplement Programme]], of which eight were completed between 1936 and 1937. The remaining eight were cancelled in favor of building additional [[submarine chaser]]s.<ref name="Stille">{{cite book |last1=Stille |first1=Mark |title=Imperial Japanese Navy Antisubmarine Escorts 1941–45 |date=2017 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978 -1 -4728 -1817 -1 |pagepages=18-2018–20}}</ref><ref>The cancelled units, Torpedo boats #13 to #20 under the 1934 Programme, were projected to have been named ''Hatsutaka'', ''Aotaka'', ''Wakataka'', ''Kumataka'' ("bear hawk"), ''Yamadori'' ("mountain bird"), ''Mizudori'' ("water fowl"), ''Umidori'' ("seabird") and ''Komadori''; however, no contracts were placed by the time the order was changed in 1937 in favour of Submarine chasers #4 to #11.</ref>

Benefiting from the redesign of the ''Chidori''-class, the ''Ōtori''-class had a slightly longer hull with an increased beam. The bridge structure was also lower than on the ''Chidori''-class to help keep the center-of-gravity low. Two [[Kampon]] geared turbines powered by two Kampon water-tube boilers produced a total of {{convert|19000|shp|kW}}, which gave the ships more power than the ''Chidori''-class, and thus a slightly higher maximum speed of {{convert|30.0|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}<ref name="Stille"/>

The armament of the ''Ōtori''-class was almost the same as for the rebuilt ''Chidori''-class with a [[main battery]] of three single [[12 cm/45 3rd Year Type naval gun]]s which tocould elevate to 55 degrees for a limited anti-aircraft capability. The torpedo mount was ungradedupgraded from a twin to a triple torpedo launcher, and a single Type 94 [[depth charge]] launcher was carried. However, anti-aircraft weaponry was only a single license-built Vickers [[QF 2 pounder naval gun#QF 2-pounder Mark II|40 mm (2 pounder pom pom)]].<ref name="Stille"/>

The ''Ōtori''-class were used extensively from the start of the Pacific War to escort invasion convoys to the Philippines, Dutch East Indies and the Solomon Islands. {{ship|Japanese torpedo boat|Hiyodori||2}} sank the {{USS|Amberjack|SS-219}} during the [[Solomon Islands campaign]] on 16 February 16, 1943. Seven of the eight ships in the class were sunk by submarines or air attack in the Pacific or the [[South China Sea]] and only {{ship|Japanese torpedo boat|Kiji|1937|2}} survived to the end of the war.

{| class="wikitable" width="70%sortable plainrowheaders"

|! widthscope="12%col" | '''Ship'''

! scope="row" | {{nihongoship|[[Japanese torpedo boat Ōtori (1935)|''Ōtori'']]|鴻1935|2}}

! scope="row" | {{nihongoship|[[Japanese torpedo boat Hiyodori|''Hiyodori'']]|鵯|2}}

! scope="row" | {{nihongoship|[[Japanese torpedo boat Hayabusa (1935)|''Hayabusa'']]|隼1935|2}}

! scope="row" | {{nihongoship|[[Japanese torpedo boat Kasasagi (1935)|''Kasasagi'']]|鵲1935|2}}

! scope="row" | {{nihongoship|[[Japanese torpedo boat Kiji (1937)|''Kiji'']]|雉1937|2}}

! scope="row" | {{nihongoship|[[Japanese torpedo boat Kari (1937)|''Kari'']]|雁1937|2}}

! scope="row" | {{nihongoship|[[Japanese torpedo boat Sagi (1937)|''Sagi'']]|鷺1937|2}}

! scope="row" | {{nihongoship|[[Japanese torpedo boat Hato (1937)|''Hato'']]|鳩1937|2}}

*[http://homepages.fh-giessen.de/~hg6339/data/jp/torpedoboats/1934_ctb_otori-type.htm Japanese "Otori" Class Torpedo Boats] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070905170331/http://homepages.fh-giessen.de/~hg6339/data/jp/torpedoboats/1934_ctb_otori-type.htm |date=5 September 2007 }}

{{WWII Japanese Shipsships}}