Japanese light cruiser Jintsū, circa 1924-25
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History | |
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Empire of Japan | |
Name: | Jintsū |
Namesake: | Jinzū River |
Ordered: | 1920 Fiscal Year |
Builder: | Kawasaki Shipyards, Kobe, Japan |
Laid down: | 4 August 1922 |
Launched: | 8 December 1923 |
Commissioned: | 31 July 1925 |
Struck: | 10 September 1943 |
Fate: |
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General characteristics | |
Class and type: | Sendai-class cruiser |
Displacement: | 5195 tons (standard) |
Length: | 152.4 m (500 ft) |
Beam: | 14.2 m (47 ft) |
Draught: | 3.9 m (13 ft) |
Propulsion: | |
Speed: | 35.3 knots (65.4 km/h) |
Range: | 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h) |
Complement: | 452 |
Armament: |
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Armor: | |
Aircraft carried: | 1 x floatplane |
Aviation facilities: | 1x aircraft catapult |
Jintsū (神通?) was the second vessel completed in the three-ship Sendai-class light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), named after the Jinzū River in the Gifu and Toyama prefectures of central Japan. She was active in World War II in various campaigns including the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the Battle of the Java Sea, and Battle of Midway. On 13 July 1943 in the Battle of Kolombangara, she was discovered during a night attack American ships and sunk in combat.
The Sendai-class vessels were part of the Eight-eight fleet program, with the first four of eight planned vessels authorized in 1921. However, due to the Washington Naval Treaty, the final four vessels were never authorized, and the fourth vessel was cancelled during construction, as the Japanese Navy decided to concentrate on heavy cruiser procurement instead.Jintsū, as with other vessels of her class, was intended for use as the flagship of a destroyer flotilla.
The Sendai-class vessels were a development of the preceding 5500 ton Nagara-class cruiser, retaining basically the same hull design, engines and main weaponry. However, their boilers were better located, and they had four funnels instead of three, and could attain 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph). Sendai and Jintsū could be identified by their raked bow; Naka was completed later, and had a flared bow similar to heavy cruiser designs then under construction.