Wakatsuki (若月) was an Akizuki-class destroyer (1942) destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Her name means "Young Moon".

Design and description

The Akizuki-class ships were originally designed as anti-aircraft escorts for carrier battle groups, but were modified with torpedo tubes and depth charges to meet the need for more general-purpose destroyers. The ships measured 134.2 m overall, with beams of 11.6 m and drafts of 4.15 m. They displaced 2744 t at standard load and 3470 t at deep load. Their crews numbered 300 officers and enlisted men. Each ship had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of 52000 shp for a designed speed of 33 kn. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them ranges of 8300 nmi at speeds of 18 kn. The main armament of the Akizuki class consisted of eight 100 mm Type 98 dual-purpose guns in four twin-gun turrets, two superfiring pairs fore and aft of the superstructure. They each carried a dozen 25 mm Type 96 anti-aircraft (AA) guns in four triple-gun mounts. The ships were also each armed with four 610 mm torpedo tubes in a single quadruple rotating mount amidships; one reload was carried for each tube. The first batch of ships were each equipped with two depth charge throwers for which 54 depth charges were carried. Wakatsuki was equipped with a Type 21 early-warning radar on her foremast.

Construction and career

The ship was commissioned on 31 May 1943 into the 11th Destroyer Squadron. Wakatsuki participated in rescuing sailors from JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Shōkaku (June 1944) and JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Zuikaku (October 1944) when each was sunk by US forces. Both of these carriers participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor. On 11 November 1944, Wakatsuki was escorting a troop convoy to Ormoc, Philippines. She was sunk by aircraft of Task Force 38 in Ormoc Bay, west of Leyte (10.83333°N, 124.58333°W).

Rediscovery

Wakatsuki's wreck was discovered in early December 2017 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's research vessel RV Petrel 869 ft (265 m) below the surface of Ormoc Bay. She was found to be heavily damaged from both her sinking and impact with the seafloor, resting on her starboard side.