IJN Jintsu

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IJN Jntsu The Jintsu was the third ship of the Sendai-class light cruisers. Here is some data about this ship:

Specifications

Launched

December 12, 1923

Completed

July 31, 1924

Builder

Mitsubishi, Yokohama

Power plant

Twelve boilers, four geared turbines, four propellers

Maximum speed

35.2 knots

Displacement

5,195 tons standard, 5,595 tons normal, 7,100 tons loaded

Main armament

Seven 5.5-inch guns mounted in seven single-gun turrets

Secondary armament – when built

Two 3-inch AA guns, two machine guns, eight 24-inch torpedo tubes mounted in two four-torpedo mounts

Secondary armament –modified in 1943

Two 5-inch AA guns, 44 25-mm AA guns, six 13.2-mm AA guns, and 24-inch torpedo tubes mounted in two four-torpedo mounts

Crew complement

450 officers and enlisted men

The Jintsu served in the fleet with the other light cruisers for the next three years. During one of the many realistic combat-like exercises the Japanese Navy conducted on August 24, 1927 preparing for night surface battles, the cruiser collided with the destroyer Warabi and severely damaged her bow. After repairs, the light cruiser became a destroyer squadron flagship — a designation she carried for the rest of her existence. While she frequently participated in fleet exercises, she visited the waters off the Chinese Coast several times in the 1920s and 1930s. in mid-1937, the Jintsu supported Japanese military operations in it war with China.

She escorted the Midway invasion’s shipping in June 1942 and headed back to Japan after the Japanese defeat there. After the Allied invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi, the Navy ordered her to Truk to take part in the Japanese attempts to recapture Guadalcanal. As the cruiser escorted transports down the Slot on August 25, 1942, an American bomb hit her and inflicted serious damage to the ship. She limped back to Japan for repairs for the remainder of the year.

The Jintsu came back to Truk in January 1943 as a destroyer squadron flagship. She stayed at this naval base and ready to meet any mission the navy would assign to her. In early July, she steamed south to Rabaul to help reinforce Japanese forces on bases in the central Solomons. While escorting destroyer-transports taking troops to Vial on Kolombangara, a more powerful Allied force of cruisers and destroyers met her. In a brief battle, Allied gunfire from the cruiser USS Honolulu, USS St. Louis, and HMNZS Leander and one torpedo pounded her. The cruiser broke apart amidships in two pieces and sank, taking almost 500 of her crew.