Tategami-class salvage tugboat

The Tategami-class salvage tugboats (立神型救難船兼曳船,, Tategami-gata Kyūnansen-ken-eisen) were a class of rescue ship/tugboat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), serving during World War II. The Miura-class (三浦型) was a wartime variant which introduced measures to simplify production. The official IJN designation for all vessels was 800-ton salvage tugboat (八〇〇瓲救難船兼曳船,, 800-ton Kyūnansen-ken-eisen).^[12]

Class overview
Name	800-ton salvage tugboat
Builders	Maizuru Naval Arsenal Harima Zōsen Corporation Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Operators	Imperial Japanese Navy Japan Maritime Safety Agency  Royal Thai Navy Nippon Salvage Company Tōyō Salvage K.K. Kawanami Kōgyō Corporation Kambara Kisen Company
Preceded by	Yodohashi as Tategami class Kasashima class as Miura class
Succeeded by	Kasashima class as Tategami class
Subclasses	Tategami class Miura class
Cost	700,000 JPY as Tategami [1]
Built	1936–1940 as Tategami class 1944–1947 as Miura class
In commission	1937–1968 (Japan) 1958–1979 (Thailand)
Planned	6
Completed	5 (+ 1, postwar)
Lost	2 (+ 1, postwar)
Retired	3
General characteristics Tategami class
Type	Salvage tugboat
Displacement	Tategami 812 long tons (825 t) [2][3] Nagaura 800 long tons (813 t) [4]
Length	53.5 m (175 ft 6 in) o/a [2][5] 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in) wl [5] 49.0 m (160 ft 9 in) lpp [5]
Beam	9.5 m (31 ft 2 in) [5]
Draught	3.3 m (10 ft 10 in) [5] Tategami 4.8 m (15 ft 9 in) [3] Nagaura 4.812 m (15 ft 9.4 in) [4]
Propulsion	2 × reciprocating engines,[2][3][4] 2 × mix-fired water tube boilers,[3][6] 2 shafts,[6] Tategami 2,278 ihp [3] Nagaura 2,375 shp [4]
Speed	Tategami 15.37 knots (17.69 mph; 28.47 km/h) [3] Nagaura 15.25 knots (17.55 mph; 28.24 km/h) [4]
Range	approx. 1,000 nmi (1,900 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) [5][7]
Endurance	Fuel: 100 tons coal and 70 tons oil [8]
Complement	64 [7] 9 officers and warrant officers 55 ratings (sailors, engineers and divers)
Armament	latter part of the Pacific War [2][9] 2 × Type 96 25 mm AA guns 6 × depth charges
General characteristics Miura-class
Type	Salvage tugboat
Displacement	883 long tons (897 t) [9]
Length	53.5 m (175 ft 6 in) o/a [10] 49.0 m (160 ft 9 in) lpp [9]
Beam	9.5 m (31 ft 2 in) [9]
Draught	3.4 m (11 ft 2 in) [9] or 5.03 m (16 ft 6 in) [11]
Propulsion	[10] 2 × reciprocating engines, 2 shafts, 2,200 shp
Speed	11.0 knots (12.7 mph; 20.4 km/h) [9]
Armament	[9] 2 × Type 96 25 mm AA guns 6 × depth charges

Background

After the Russo-Japanese War, the IJN purchased many steamships and converted them to salvage vessels. However, by the beginning of the 1930s, replacements were needed, to this end the IJN introduced the Tategami-class.

Ships in classes

Tategami class

The IJN was going to build the Tategami class one by one for three years from fiscal year 1936, at first. However, the plan came to a deadlock for budget shortage by the second year. The IJN postponed building of second ship Oshima for two years.

Ship	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Tategami (立神)[13] ex-Salvage tugboat No. 941	Harima Zōsen	27 May 1936 as Salvage tugboat No. 941 [3][14]	29 August 1936 [3]	25 January 1937 as Tategami [3]	Renamed Tategami on 22 January 1937.[14] Survived war; decommissioned on 30 November 1945. Sold to Nippon Salvage Company and renamed Tategami Maru (立神丸) in 1945. Retired in 1968.
one vessel [15]					Converted to Kasashima class, because naval budget was short.[15]
Oshima (雄島)	Maizuru Naval Arsenal			fiscal year 1939 [15][16]	Sunk in an accident in Truk (Tonowas) on 10 October 1943.[17]
Nagaura (長浦)	Harima Zōsen	11 January 1940 [4]	16 May 1940 [4]	21 October 1940 [4]	Sunk by USN Destroyer Squadron 23 off Kavieng 00°54′S 148°38′E with minelayer Natsushima on 22 February 1944.

Miura class

To simplify and speed-up construction of the Tategami class, the Kampon introduced wartime standard ship structures into the Tategami design.^[18]

Ship	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Miura (三浦)	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Shimonoseki shipyard	5 May 1944	7 September 1944	25 December 1944	Survived war; decommissioned on 30 November 1945; renamed Miura Maru (三浦丸) in postwar. Transferred to Japan Maritime Safety Agency on 4 August 1949; renamed Miura (みうら PL-01, later PL-101) on 15 December; retired on 3 June 1967.
Yumihari (弓張)	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Shimonoseki shipyard	15 July 1944	16 December 1944	12 March 1945	Survived war; decommissioned on 30 November 1945. Transferred to Tōyō Salvage K.K. and renamed Yumihari Maru (弓張丸) in 1945, sold to Kawanami Kōgyō Corporation in 1947. Sold to Thailand and renamed Rangkwien in 1958.[19] Decommissioned on 30 April 1979.[20]
Hanashima (花島)	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Shimonoseki shipyard	23 October 1944 as Hanashima	5 December 1945 as Akama Maru	28 February 1947	Incomplete until the end of war; transferred to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and renamed Akama Maru (赤間丸) in 1945.[19] Sold to Kambara Kisen Company and renamed Tensya Maru No. 3 (第三天社丸, Daisan Tensya Maru) in 1954, aground and broken in February 1962 at Kitan Strait.