The were a class of rescue ship/tugboat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), serving during World War II. The was a wartime variant which introduced measures to simplify production. The official IJN designation for all vessels was .JACAR C05110830400, p. 2
Background After the Russo-Japanese War, the IJN purchased many steamships and converted them to salvage vessels. However, by the beginning of the 1930s, replacements were needed, to this end the IJN introduced the Tategami-class.
Ships in classes
Tategami class The IJN was going to build the Tategami class one by one for three years from fiscal year 1936, at first. However, the plan came to a deadlock for budget shortage by the second year. The IJN postponed building of second ship Oshima for two years.
Ship Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate Other proposed names were and . JACAR C05110830400, p. 3ex-Salvage tugboat No. 941 Harima Zōsen 27 May 1936 as Salvage tugboat No. 941 JACAR C05110830400, p. 3 29 August 1936 25 January 1937as Tategami Renamed Tategami on 22 January 1937. Survived war; decommissioned on 30 November 1945. Sold to Nippon Salvage Company and renamed in 1945. Retired in 1968. one vessel Editorial Committee of the Navy (1981), p. 191 Converted to Kasashima class, because naval budget was short. Maizuru Naval Arsenal fiscal year 1939 Woshima was registered to naval ship list on 12 August 1939. Other informations were not left. Sunk in an accident in Truk (Tonowas) on 10 October 1943.JACAR C08030664200, p. 20 Harima Zōsen 11 January 1940 16 May 1940 21 October 1940 Sunk by USN Destroyer Squadron 23 off Kavieng with minelayer Natsushima on 22 February 1944.
Miura class To simplify and speed-up construction of the Tategami class, the Kampon introduced wartime standard ship structures into the Tategami design.Shizuo Fukui (1961), p. 197 Ship Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Shimonoseki shipyard 5 May 1944 7 September 1944 25 December 1944 Survived war; decommissioned on 30 November 1945; renamed in postwar. Transferred to Japan Maritime Safety Agency on 4 August 1949; renamed on 15 December; retired on 3 June 1967. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Shimonoseki shipyard 15 July 1944 16 December 1944 12 March 1945 Survived war; decommissioned on 30 November 1945. Transferred to Tōyō Salvage K.K. and renamed in 1945, sold to Kawanami Kōgyō Corporation in 1947. Sold to Thailand and renamed Rangkwien in 1958.Shizuo Fukui (1994), second separate volume p. 927 Decommissioned on 30 April 1979. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Shimonoseki shipyard 23 October 1944 as Hanashima 5 December 1945 as Akama Maru 28 February 1947 Incomplete until the end of war; transferred to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and renamed in 1945. Sold to Kambara Kisen Company and renamed in 1954, aground and broken in February 1962 at Kitan Strait.
Footnotes
Bibliography The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No. 53, Japanese support vessels, (Japan), July 1981 Editorial Committee of the Navy, Navy Vol. 11, "Part of small vessels, auxiliary vessels, miscellaneous service ships and converted merchant ships", Seibunsha K.K. (Japan), August 1981 30 year History of Japan Maritime Safety Agency, Policy and Legal Affairs Division-Japan Maritime Safety Agency (JMSA), May 1979 50 year History of Harima Zōsen, Harima Zōsen Corporation, November 1960 75 year History of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-Shimonoseki shipyard, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-Shimonoseki shipyard, 1964 Monthly Ships of the World No. 613, Special issue Vol. 62 "All ships of Japan Coast Guard 1948–2003", , (Japan), July 2003 Jirō Kimata, Introductory book of the Japanese small vessels, Kōjinsha (Japan), December 1999 Shizuo Fukui Japanese Naval Vessels Survived "Their post-war activities and final disposition", Shuppan Kyodosha (Japan), May 1961 FUKUI SHIZUO COLLECTION "Japanese Naval Vessels 1869–1945", KK Bestsellers (Japan), December 1994 , National Archives of Japan Reference code: C05034279700, No. 35, 1935 March 13 Staff for construction of the tug boat and salvage boat Reference code: C05034885500, May 1936 Instructions for Production of Electric Equipment for 800-ton Type Steel Salvage Tug Boat (1) Reference code: C05034885600, May 1936 Instructions for Production of Electric Equipment for 800-ton Type Steel Salvage Tug Boat (2) Reference code: C05034940200, Fleet Activity Command No. 6084 May 21, 1936 Newly Constructed Factotum Vessels by Fiscal Year 1936 Provisional Factotum Vessels Production Fee Reference code: C05110830400, [Data in English is under preparation] 官房306号 12．1．22 雑役船の公称番号及船種変更の件 Reference code: C08030664200, Detailed engagement report and wartime log book from October 1, 1943 to February 5, 1944, Special Service Vessel Hakkai-Maru (1)