Japanese minelayer Shirataka
Shirataka in 1938
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Japan
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| Name: | Shirataka |
| Ordered: | fiscal 1923 |
| Builder: | Tōkyō Ishikawajima Shipyard |
| Laid down: | November 24, 1927 |
| Launched: | January 25, 1929 |
| Commissioned: | April 9, 1929 |
| Struck: | October 10, 1944 |
| Fate: | Sunk in action, August 31, 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | minelayer |
| Displacement: | 1,345 long tons (1,367 t) standard, 1540 tons normal |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 11.55 m (37 ft 11 in) |
| Draught: | 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2-shaft reciprocating steam engine, 2 boilers, 2,200 hp (1,600 kW) |
| Speed: | 16 knots (18 mph; 30 km/h) |
| Range: | 2,000 nmi (3,700 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) |
| Complement: | 148 |
| Armament: |
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Shirataka (白鷹 "White Hawk"?) was a medium-sized minelayer of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which was in service during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. She was the world's first purpose-built anti-submarine netlayer. Also, unlike any other warship in the Japanese Navy, she had two chrysanthemum crests due to her unusual bow configuration.
Under the fiscal 1923 budget, the Imperial Japanese Navy authorized a new type of minelayer (Project H2) to supplement its aging minelayers, the former cruisers Aso, and Tokiwa. The new vessel was designed to carry either 100 Type 5 naval mines, or to function as a netlayer based on design features developed through operational experience to counter German submarines gained in World War I. At first the project plans called for Shirataka to be 5,000 ton dedicated netlayer, and to be paired with a 3,000 ton class minelayer (project number H1, later called Itsukushima). However, due to budgetary limitations and in response to the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, the designs of both vessels were scaled down, and Shirataka was called on to serve as a dual-purpose netlayer/minelayer.
Shirataka was launched by the Tōkyō Ishikawajima Shipyard on January 25, 1929, and was commissioned into service on April 9, 1929.
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