Japanese destroyer Mochizuki (1927)

The Mutsuki class was an improved version of the s and was the first with triple torpedo tubes. The ships had an overall length of and were between perpendiculars. They had a beam of , and a mean draft of . The Mutsuki-class ships displaced at standard load and at deep load. They were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce , which would propel the ships at . The ships carried of fuel oil which gave them a range of at . Their crew consisted of 150 officers and crewmen. The main armament of the Mutsuki-class ships consisted of four Type 3 guns in single mounts; one gun forward of the superstructure, one between the two funnels 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-centimeter torpedo 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. They carried 18 depth charges and could also carry 16 mines. They could also fitted with minesweeping gear. ==Construction and career==

Mochizuki, built by the Uraga Dock Company at their shipyard in Uraga, was laid down on 23 March 1926, and completed on 31 October 1927. Originally commissioned simply as Destroyer No. 33, the ship was assigned the name Mochizuki on 1 August 1928. After taking heavy losses (including Kisaragi and Hayate), the Japanese force withdrew without landing. This was the first Japanese defeat of the war, and also the only occasion in World War II when an amphibious assault was repulsed by shore-based guns. Mochizuki returned on December 23 with the second Wake Island invasion force before sailing back to Kwajalein. During the Battle of the Coral Sea from 7–8 May 1942, Mochizuki was assigned to the Operation Mo invasion force for Port Moresby. After that operation was cancelled, it returned to Truk, escorting airfield construction convoys between Truk, Lae and Guadalcanal until recalled to Japan in mid-July for refitting. Throughout November, Mochizuki made numerous “Tokyo Express” troop transport runs to Guadalcanal. On one of these runs (8 November), she was hit by a dud torpedo from PT-61. On another run (13–15 November), she assisted in rescuing 1500 survivors from the torpedoed Nagara Maru and Canberra Maru transports. On 1 December 1942, Mochizuki was reassigned to the IJN 8th Fleet. In the remainder of the month, she served as escort to the cruisers and in the Admiralty Islands operations, and landings of troops at Buna and Finschhafen in New Guinea. Mochizuki came under air attack on several occasions, suffering minor damage. After making two Tokyo Express runs from Rabaul to Kolombangara and Rekata Bay in January 1943, Mochizuki returned to Sasebo for repairs. She returned to Rabaul at the end of March, assisting the torpedoed Florida Maru along the way. Through the end of June 1943, Mochizuki was used as a Tokyo Express transport to Rekata, Buna, Tuluvu and Kolombangara. During the Battle of Kula Gulf on 5–6 July, Mochizuki engaged the destroyers and , taking minor damage from shell hits on her No. 1 gun turret and torpedo tubes. The damage was severe enough to warrant a return to Sasebo to the end of August. After returning to Rabaul at the end of September, Mochizuki resumed Tokyo Express operations. During one such operation, on 24 October 1943 while en route from Rabaul to Jacquinot Bay (New Britain) Mochizuki came under attack by U.S. Navy PBY Catalinas, south-southwest of Rabaul , sinking after a direct bomb hit into engineering. Most of the crew were rescued by her sister ship . The ship was struck from the Navy List on 5 January 1944. ==Notes==