 Minesweeper No. 7 near Singapore, 23 September 1942 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Japan | |
| Name | W-7 |
| Builder | Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding |
| Laid down | 27 October 1937 |
| Launched | 16 June 1938 |
| Out of service | 10 June 1944 |
| Homeport | Sasebo, Nagasaki |
| Fate | Sunk, 10 June 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | W-7-classminesweeper |
| Displacement | 750 tons |
| Length | 72.2 m (236 ft 11 in) |
| Height | 7.9 m (25 ft 11 in) |
| Depth | 2 m (6 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power | 3,850 hp (2,870 kW) |
| Propulsion | Steam |
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Range | 2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) |
| Complement | 88 |
| Armament |
|
No.7 (第七号掃海艇,Dai Nana Gō Sōkaitei), also sometimes calledW-7 was aNo.7-classminesweeper for theImperial Japanese Navy. It was laid down on 27 October 1937, and completed on 16 June 1938.
W-7 was laid down on 27 October 1937. On 16 June 1938, the ship was launched, and numberedW-7. On 25 December, it was attached to theSasebo Naval District. On 1 June 1941, it was assigned to MineSweepDiv 21 withW-8,W-9,W-10,W-11 andW-12.
On 27 November 1941,W-7 departed fromSasebo, and arrived atPeleliu on 4 December. On 8 December, it departedPeleliu and joined the Fourth Surprise Attack Unit. On 12 December,W-7 participated in the successfulinvasion of Legaspi. On 19 December 1941, after assisting briefly with operations inBorneo, came back to thePhilippines to do someminesweeping. On the way to the Philippines,W-7 andW-8 helped escort a convoy toLamon Bay, in the Philippines. The convoy arrived at Lamon Bay late at night, and conducted mine-sweeping operations. Two days later,W-7 andW-8 left Lamon Bay, and arrived atDavao on 31 December.
On 7 January,W-7 and MineSweepDiv 21's remaining ships,W-8,W-9,W-11 andW-12 (W-10 having been sunk duringactions off Vigan) departed fromDavao and arrived at nearby Magunaga Bay.
On 17 December,W-7, along with support fromW-8, provided cover for thecruisersKumano andSuzuya,light cruisersYura andKinu,seaplane tenderKamikawa Maru,destroyersFubuki,Shirakumo,Murakumo,Shinonome, andSagiri, the troop transportHiyoshi Maru and a fewsubchasers during theinvasion of Miri.
On 9 January 1942, MineSweepDiv 21's remaining ships left Magunaga Bay, with thelight cruiserNagara, thesubmarine chasersCH-1,CH-2, andCH-3, andpatrol boatsP-1,P-2, andP-34. On 11 January, the convoy reached the city ofKema, and landed onMadano an hour later. On 20 January, MineSweepDiv 21 left Mandano, and on 21 January, conductedminesweeping operations around the area ofKendari. On 23–24 January, MineSweepDiv 21, along with other ships, helped escort the Kendari invasion force. On 29 January,W-7 helped escort the Ambon Seizure Convoy, and on 31 January, assists in the invasion. On 3 February,W-7 andW-8 leftAmbon Island, heading back towardsStaring Bay, in Kendari. It arrived there on 5 February. On 6 February,W-7 assisted in escorting the Makassar Occupation Force, and escorted the Kupang Seizure Convoy. On 14 February,W-7 andW-8 departedMakassar, and assisted in operations offTimor between 17 and 20 February. On 25 February,W-7 andW-8 departed from Kendari, and helped escort toSurabaya. After its operations in theDutch East Indies,W-7 was assigned a series ofescort andminesweeping jobs.[3]
After over two years of safe escorting and minesweeping operations (between 25 February 1942 and 15 April 1944),W-7 was spotted by the British submarineHMS Storm while escorting amerchant ship fromPort Blair,Andaman Islands.Storm fired twotorpedoes at the merchant ship, but both missed, and at least one hitW-7. After hittingW-7,Storm went after the merchant vessel. After some time, a submarine chaser and an aircraft arrived on the scene and picked up survivors fromW-7. Almost an hour after being hit,W-7 "emitted a huge sheet of flames and slowly sank" at11°34′N93°08′E / 11.567°N 93.133°E /11.567; 93.133, according to HMSStorm's log. On 10 JuneW-7 was removed from the Navy's list.[4]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in April 1944 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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