Atami-class gunboat

The Atami class were improved versions of the preceding . Designed for use on Chinese rivers, the gunboats measured long overall and between perpendiculars and at the waterline with a beam of and a draught of . The vessels had a light displacement and a standard displacement of . The gunboats were powered by a triple expansion engine fed steam by two Kampon boilers turning two shafts creating . This gave the ships a maximum speed of . They had capacity for of coal and of oil for fuel. The Atami class were initially armed with one /28 cal. anti-aircraft gun, one Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun| gun and five machine guns. ==Ships in class==

Two ships were authorised under the 1927 Programme. They were both constructed by Fujinagata at Osaka between 1928 and 1930. Both gunboats sailed from Japan to China for service on the Yangtze River. On 14 June 1933, Futami ran aground on an uncharted rock. The gunboat was refloated in August and sent to Shanghai for repairs. In 1937, at the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War, both gunboats were assigned to the 11th Gunboat Division, with Atami acting as the force's flagship. The 11th Gunboat Division evacuated Japanese civilians from interior China to Shanghai in August. On 13 August, the division landed additional troops during the Second Battle of Shanghai and bombarded shore positions. In 1940, the two gunboats were rearmed with five guns replacing the machine guns and one 79 mm/40 cal. anti-aircraft gun. On 10 June 1943, Atami was damaged by Chinese aircraft on the Yangtze River near Tung Ting Lake. By 1945, the two gunboats had been stripped of their guns, which were used ashore. Both ships were surrendered by the Japanese in August 1945. Transferred to the Republic of China, Atami was renamed Yung Ping and Futami renamed Yung An. Both ships were captured by Communist China in 1949 during the Chinese Civil War. ==Notes==