Japanese destroyer Susuki (1921)


The Japanese destroyer Susuki was one of 21 s built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 1910s. In 1940, she was converted into a No.31-class patrol boat and renamed Patrol Boat No.34. She was sunk by American aircraft in July 1944.

Design and description

The Momi class was designed with higher speed and better seakeeping than the preceding second-class destroyers. The ships had an overall length of and were between perpendiculars. They had a beam of, and a mean draft of. The Momi-class ships displaced at standard load and at deep load. They were powered by two Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce, which would propel the ships at. The ships carried a maximum of of fuel oil which gave them a range of at. Their crew consisted of 110 officers and crewmen.
The main armament of the Momi-class ships consisted of three Type 3 guns in single mounts; one gun forward of the superstructure in a well deck, one between the two funnels, and the last gun atop the aft superstructure. The guns were numbered '1' to '3' from front to rear. The ships carried two above-water twin sets of torpedo tubes; one mount was in the well deck between the forward superstructure and the forward gun and the other between the aft funnel and aft superstructure.
In 1940, Susuki was converted into a patrol boat. Her torpedo tubes, minesweeping gear, and aft 12 cm gun were removed in exchange for two triple mounts for license-built Type 96 light AA guns and 60 depth charges. In addition one boiler was removed, which reduced her speed to from. These changes made her top heavy and ballast had to be added which increased her displacement to.

Construction and career

Susuki, built at the Ishikawajima shipyard in Tokyo, was laid down on 3 May 1920, launched on 21 February 1921 and completed on 5 May 1921. On 1 June 1921, she was assigned to Destroyer Division 15.