Japanese gunboat Kotaka

History
Name:	Kotaka
Namesake:	general term of small accipitridae (example: Eurasian sparrowhawk)[1]
Ordered:	fiscal year 1929 [2]
Builder:	Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, Tama shipyard
Cost:	246,561 JPY [3]
Laid down:	2 September 1929
Launched:	18 January 1930
Completed:	1 November 1930
Commissioned:	1930–1944
Struck:	1944
Homeport:	Shanghai
Fate:	sunk by air raid on 31 May 1944
General characteristics
Type:	River gunboat
Displacement:	50 tons standard 60.67 long tons (62 t) standing [4]
Length:	30.5 meters 30 m (98 ft 5 in) lpp [4]
Beam:	4.90 m (16 ft 1 in) [5]
Draught:	0.64 m (2 ft 1 in) [4]
Propulsion:	2 × Niigata Iron Works diesels, 540 bhp [4]
Speed:	15.5 knots (17.8 mph; 28.7 km/h)
Range:	1,000 nmi (1,900 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) [3]
Armament:	3 × Type 92 7.7 mm machine guns [4][6] 1942: Reduced to 2 × Type 92 7.7 mm machine guns

Kotaka (小鷹) was a river gunboat of the Imperial Japanese Navy, part of the 11th Gunboat Sentai, that operated on the Yangtze River in China during the 1930s, and during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Participated in the Battle of Wuhan, June-Sept., 1938. Participated in Battle of Madang and Battle of Jiujiang, June, 1938. Nanchang Campaign: February–May, 1939. 1942: In service as passenger ship. Sunk May 31, 1944 on the Yangtze River while serving as a communications ship.^[7] The IJN official designation was 60-ton traffic ship (Motored river exclusive-Special type) (六拾瓲交通船 (内火式河用特型),, 60-ton kōtsūsen (Uchibishiki kawayou-Tokugata)).^[1][4]

Footnotes

Bibliography

• The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.53, Japanese support vessels, "Ushio Shobō".  (Japan), July 1981
• Daiji Katagiri, Ship Name Chronicles of the Imperial Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, Kōjinsha (Japan), June 1988, ISBN 4-7698-0386-9
• "Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAR)". , National Archives of Japan
  • Reference code: A09050130100, Explanatory document on addition of fiscal 1929 estimated expense in 56th Diet
  • Reference code: C05021206200, Inquiry, Response, Notification (6)
  • Reference code: C05022903500, Military Affairs 1, No. 88 June 21, 1933, Traffic ship, Kotaka
  • Reference code: C05021645000, No. 2026 June 15, 1931 Sasebo Navy Arsenal No.10-26, Establishing part of equipment for traffic ship Kotaka

Sources

• Japanese gunboats (with photos) (Japanese)
• Vessels of the IJN
• Monograph 144 Chapter II

Imperial Japanese Navy
Admirals Aircraft Battles Fleets Ships Weapons

Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in May 1944
Shipwrecks	1 May: U-277 2 May: U-674, U-959 3 May: USS Donnell, U-852 4 May: U-371, U-846 5 May: USS Fechteler 6 May: U-66, U-473, U-765 7 May: HMCS Valleyfield 9 May: USS PC-558 10 May: Karukaya, Totila 13 May: RO-501 14 May: Inazuma, U-1234 15 May: U-731 16 May: I-176 17 May: U-616 19 May: U-960, U-1015 21 May: USS LST-353, USS LST-480, U-453 22 May: Asanagi, Hashidate, Ro-106 24 May: U-675 25 May: U-476, U-990 27 May: U-292 28 May: UJ 2210 29 May: USS Block Island, U-549 31 May: Ishigaki, Kotaka, U-289 Unknown date: U-240
Other incidents	2 May: USS Parrott 4 May: HMS Elgin 12 May: U-1102 16 May: U-616 21 May: West Loch disaster 24 May: U-476 Unknown date: USS Medusa
1943 1944 1945 April 1944 June 1944