Shipbucket

Planned as a replacement of the older and timeworn Natsushima and Sokuten-classes, the Sokuten-class minelayer (no error, a newer Sokuten replaced an older Sokuten...) was a class of minelayers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), serving during and after World War II.
The first five vessels were ordered under the Maru 3 Program under the designation H11. They were built and commisisoned between 1937 and 1940. The second production model of the Sokuten-class, numbered H11B, was built between 1939 and 1943 under the Maru 4 Programme. The ships were equipped with a 76mm anti-aircraft gun in place of the twin 40mm machine gun of the earlier 5 ships. The Nuwajima had its ballast tank replaced with a fuel tank for convoy escort operations. These nine vessels were classed in the Sokuten-class in the IJN official documents. A tenth unit was canceled in August 1943.

Sokuten as built:


Hirashima as built:

As stated above, she replaced the twin 40mm machine gun with a 76mm single AA-gun, except for some minor details, she and the other ships built after her looked exactly like the other Sokutens.

Ishizaki as of 1943:

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My Worklist
Sources and documentations are the most welcome.

-Koko Kyouwakoku (Republic of Koko)
-Koko's carrier-based aircrafts of WWII
-Koko Kaiun Yuso Kaisha - KoKaYu Line (Koko AU spinoff)
-Koko - Civil Aviation

really great to see these lesser known gems of the IJN once again, good work

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Shipbucket mainsite, aka "The Archive"
New AU project "Aravala"

Awesome!

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Splendid addition.

Added Hirashima and Ishizaki.
As far I can tell from the pictures I have, that's all for now, there is no significative differencies between other ships (except the names spelled in kanji on their sides) to warrant more drawings.

_________________
My Worklist
Sources and documentations are the most welcome.

-Koko Kyouwakoku (Republic of Koko)
-Koko's carrier-based aircrafts of WWII
-Koko Kaiun Yuso Kaisha - KoKaYu Line (Koko AU spinoff)
-Koko - Civil Aviation

Job well done. A real treat to see these less known warships done.

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Thank you Kim for the crest

"Never fear to try on something new. Remember that the Titanic was built by professionals, and the Ark by an amateur"

Awesome work, my friend!

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Very nicely done.

Many thanks. Nice to see more of the smaller warships -
the unsung heroes of WWII.

Very nice work, its nice to see more of these lesser known IJN ships filling the bucket.

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Hood's Worklist
English Electric Canberra FD
Interwar RN Capital Ships
Super-Darings
Never-Were British Aircraft