 Yayoi in February 1927 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Empire of Japan | |
| Name | Yayoi |
| Namesake | March |
| Builder | Uraga Dock Company,Uraga |
| Laid down | 11 January 1924 asDestroyer No. 23 |
| Launched | 11 July 1925 |
| Completed | 28 August 1926 |
| Renamed | AsYayoi, 1 August 1928 |
| Stricken | 20 October 1942 |
| Fate | Sunk by American aircraft, 11 September 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Mutsuki-classdestroyer |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | |
| Beam | 9.16 m (30 ft 1 in) |
| Draft | 2.96 m (9 ft 9 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2 × Kampon gearedsteam turbines |
| Speed | 37.25knots (68.99 km/h; 42.87 mph) |
| Range | 4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 150 |
| Armament |
|
| Service record | |
| Part of: | Destroyer Division 30 |
| Operations: | |
TheJapanese destroyerYayoi (弥生,"March") was one of twelveMutsuki-classdestroyers built for theImperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1920s. During thePacific War, she participated in theBattle of Wake Island in December 1941 and the occupations ofNew Guinea and theSolomon Islands in early 1942.
TheMutsuki class was an improved version of theKamikaze-classdestroyers and was the first with triple 61-centimeter (24 in)torpedo tubes. The ships had anoverall length of 102.4 meters (335 ft 11 in)[1] and were 94.54 meters (310 ft 2 in)between perpendiculars. They had abeam of 9.16 meters (30 ft 1 in), and a meandraft of 2.96 meters (9 ft 9 in). TheMutsuki-class ships displaced 1,336 metric tons (1,315 long tons) atstandard load and 1,800 metric tons (1,772 long tons) atdeep load.[2] They were powered by twoParsons gearedsteam turbines, each driving onepropeller shaft, using steam provided by fourKamponwater-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 38,500shaft horsepower (28,700 kW), which would propel the ships at 37.25knots (68.99 km/h; 42.87 mph). The ships carried 420 metric tons (413 long tons) offuel oil which gave them a range of 4,000nautical miles (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). Their crew consisted of 150 officers and crewmen.[3]
The main armament of theMutsuki-class ships consisted of four12-centimeter (4.7 in) Type 3 guns in single mounts; one gun forward of thesuperstructure, one between the twofunnels and the last pair back to back atop the aft superstructure. The guns were numbered '1' to '4' from front to rear. The ships carried two above-water triple sets of 61-centimetertorpedo tubes; one mount was between the forward superstructure and the forward gun and the other was between the aft funnel and aft superstructure. Four reload torpedoes were provided for the tubes.[3] They carried 18depth charges and could also carry 16mines. They could also fitted withminesweeping gear.[4]
Yayoi waslaid down by theUraga Dock Company at its shipyard inUraga on 11 January 1924,[2]launched on 11 July 1925[4] and completed on 28 August 1926. Originally commissioned simply asDestroyer No. 23, the vessel was assigned the nameYayoi on 1 August 1928.[3] In the late 1930s,Yayoi participated in combat during theSecond Sino-Japanese War and later in theInvasion of French Indochina in 1940.
At the time of theattack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941,Yayoi was assigned to DestroyerDivision 30 under DestroyerSquadron 6 of the4th Fleet. Shesortied fromKwajalein on 8 December as part of theWake Island invasion force. This consisted of thelight cruisersYūbari,Tenryū, andTatsuta, the destroyersYayoi,Hayate,Mutsuki,Kisaragi,Oite, andMochizuki, two oldMomi-class vessels converted to patrol boats (Patrol Boat No. 32 andPatrol Boat No. 33), and two troop transports containing 450Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF) troops.
The Japanese approached the island early on the morning of 11 December, and the warships began to bombard the island at a range of 8,200 meters (9,000 yd) at 05:30. As none of the six American5-inch (12.7 cm) coast-defense guns replied,Rear AdmiralSadamichi Kajioka, commander of the invasion forces, ordered his ships to close the island, believing that the American guns had been destroyed by the earlier aerial attacks. Encouraging this, MajorJames Devereux, commander of theUnited States Marine garrison, had ordered his men to hold their fire until he gave the order to do so. After the Japanese ships had closed to a range of 4,100 meters (4,500 yd), he ordered his guns to open fire. They did so with great effect, sinkingHayate, near-missing Kajioka'sflagshipYubari, and causing to him to order his forces to disengage.[5] During this time,Yayoi was hit by a 5-inch shell, which killed one man and wounded 17 others.Yayoi returned on 23 December with the second (and ultimately successful) Wake Island invasion force before returning to Kwajalein.[6]
The ship escorted a convoy from Kwajalein to the naval base atTruk in January 1942, where asponson was installed for a pair of license-built13.2 mm (0.5 in) Type 93anti-aircraft machineguns on the forward side of thebridge.Yayoi then escorted a troop convoy from Truk toGuam later that month, and then joined the invasion of theSolomon Islands, covering the landings of Japanese forces duringOperation R (the invasion ofRabaul,New Ireland andNew Britain), and duringOperation SR (the invasion ofLae andSalamaua on New Guinea) in January–March. From 28 March to 1 April, she participated in the initial occupation of theShortland Islands andBougainville in the Solomon Islands. Later that month, the ship supported the occupation of theAdmiralty Islands.[6]
During theBattle of the Coral Sea from 7–8 May 1942,Yayoi was assigned to theOperation Mo invasion force forPort Moresby. After that operation was cancelled, she returned to Japan in July for refitting at theSasebo Naval Arsenal.[6]
After repairs were completed in mid-JulyYayoi was reassigned to theIJN 8th Fleet and participated in the bombardment ofHenderson Field on 24 August 1942.[7] During theBattle of the Eastern Solomons on 25 August 1942,Yayoi rescued survivors from hersister shipMutsuki, which had been sunk in an attack byUSAAFB-17 Flying Fortress bombers.[8]
At the end of August,Yayoi made a number ofTokyo Express troop transport runs toMilne,New Guinea. From early September, it began participating inOperation Ke, the evacuation of Japanese forces fromGuadalcanal. On 11 September 1942, after departing Rabaul on an evacuation mission toGoodenough Island,Yayoi came under attack byAlliedB-17 Flying Fortress andB-25 Mitchell bombers, 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9 mi) northwest ofVakuta Island at coordinates08°45′S151°25′E / 8.750°S 151.417°E /-8.750; 151.417. The attack also killed the commander of Destroyer Division 30,Captain Shiro Yasutake. Taking on water uncontrollably,Yayoi'scaptain,Lieutenant Commander Shizuka Kajimoto, gave the decision to abandon ship. The destroyersMochizuki andIsokaze later rescued 83 survivors from nearbyNormanby Island.Yayoi was struck from theNavy List on 20 October 1942.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in September 1942 | |
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