was the second vessel completed in the three-ship light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), named after the Jinzū River in the Gifu and Toyama prefectures of central Japan. She was active in World War II in various campaigns including the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the Battle of the Java Sea, and Battle of Midway. On 13 July 1943 in the Battle of Kolombangara, she was discovered during a night attack by American ships and sunk in combat.
Background
The Sendai-class vessels were part of the Eight-eight fleet program, with the first four of eight planned vessels authorized in 1921. However, due to the Washington Naval Treaty, the final four vessels were never authorized, and the fourth vessel was cancelled during construction, as the Japanese Navy decided to concentrate on heavy cruiser procurement instead. Jintsū, as with other vessels of her class, was intended for use as the flagship of a destroyer flotilla.
Design
The Sendai-class vessels were a development of the preceding 5500 ton , retaining basically the same hull design, engines and main weaponry. However, their boilers were better located, and they had four funnels instead of three, and could attain . Sendai and Jintsū could be identified by their raked bow; Naka was completed later, and had a flared bow similar to heavy cruiser designs then under construction. After the August 1927 Mihonoseki Incident, where Jintsū rammed and sank the destroyer , Jintsū replaced her original bow with a 'yacht' bow identical to Naka.
Each ship was designed with a flying-off platform and hangar over the bow, but did not actually carry aircraft until modified to install a conventional aircraft catapult system was installed in 1929. This was later removed, and moved to the rear deck between 1934 and 1937.
The armament of the Sendai class consisted of seven 14 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns, in which the operating teams were protected by shields, two open 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval guns and two Type 93 13.2 mm anti-aircraft machine guns. As completed, the torpedo armament consisted of four twin Type 8 torpedo tubes (two mounts and four tubes per side) with sixteen torpedoes (eight in the tubes and eight reloads). These were capable of launching the Type 8 and later Type 90 torpedoes. As part of a series of upgrades to Destroyer Squadron flagships, from March to May 1941 Jintsū replaced her four Type 8 torpedo tubes with two Type 92 quadruple mounts (one per side), allowing the ship to operate the new Type 93 oxygen torpedo in addition to the older types. RV Petrel'''s footage from 26 April 2019 confirmed these launchers on the wreck.
The armor protection was limited to a belt armor of and a steel deck armor of steel.
Service career
Early careerJintsū was laid down on 4 August 1922, launched on 8 December 1923 and completed at Kawasaki Shipyards in Kobe on 21 July 1925. During a night training exercise off of Jizosaki Lighthouse in Shimane Prefecture on 24 August 1927, she inadvertently rammed and sank the destroyer at night, and had to be taken to Maizuru Naval Arsenal for major repairs, during which time her raked bow was replaced by a flared bow. Her commander, Captain Keiji Mizushiro, subsequently committed suicide over the accident. Jintsū was transferred to Kure Naval Arsenal for further repairs on 5 September.
In 1928, Jintsū was assigned to cover landings of Japanese troops in Shandong province during the Jinan incident, and was later based out of Qingdao. From 1929 to 1937, Jintsū was assigned to patrols of the China coast and subsequently provided cover and support for the landings of Japanese forces in China from 1937 onwards after the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War. She was commanded by Captain Raizō Tanaka from 1 December 1938 to 15 December 1938.
Early stages of the Pacific War
On 26 November 1941, Jintsū became the flagship of Rear Admiral Raizō Tanaka and DesRon 2 under the Philippine Seizure Force, Southern Force, of the Japanese Third Fleet. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Jintsū was based out of Palau and engaged in the invasion of the Mindanao, escorting transports with the IJA 16th Infantry Division and Kure No. 1 Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF) from forward bases in Palau to Davao, Legaspi and Jolo. After the Philippines was in Japanese hands by the end of December, Jintsū was reassigned to Rear Admiral Kyūji Kubo's Eastern Netherlands East Indies Seizure Force with DesDiv 15 and DesDiv 16.