Japanese destroyer Kuwa (1944)

Designed for ease of production, the Matsu class was smaller, slower and more lightly armed than previous destroyers as the IJN intended them for second-line duties like escorting convoys, releasing the larger ships for missions with the fleet.[1] The ships measured 100 meters (328 ft 1 in) long overall, with a beam of 9.35 meters (30 ft 8 in) and a draft of 3.3 meters (10 ft 10 in).[2] Their crew numbered 210 officers and enlisted men.[3] They displaced 1,282 metric tons (1,262 long tons) at standard load and 1,554 metric tons (1,529 long tons) at deep load.[4] The ships had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of 19,000 shaft horsepower (14,000 kW) for a speed of 27.8 knots (51.5 km/h; 32.0 mph). The Matsus had a range of 4,680 nautical miles (8,670 km; 5,390 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).[5]

The main armament of the Matsu-class ships consisted of three 127-millimeter (5 in) Type 89 dual-purpose guns in one twin-gun mount aft and one single mount forward of the superstructure. The single mount was partially protected against spray by a gun shield. The accuracy of the Type 89 guns was severely reduced against aircraft because no high-angle gunnery director was fitted. The ships carried a total of twenty-five 25-millimeter (1 in) Type 96 anti-aircraft guns in 4 triple and 13 single mounts. The Matsus were equipped with Type 13 early-warning and Type 22 surface-search radars.[6] The ships were also armed with a single rotating quadruple mount amidships for 610-millimeter (24 in) torpedoes. They could deliver their 36 depth charges via two stern rails and two throwers.[2][6]

Authorized in the late 1942 Modified 5th Naval Armaments Supplement Program,[7] Kuwa was laid down by Fujinagata Shipyards on 20 December 1943 in its Osaka facility and launched on 35 May 1944.[8] Upon her completion on 25 July 1944, Kuwa was assigned to Desron 11 of the Combined Fleet for training.

Kuwa's assignment to Desdiv 43 was formalized shortly before the Battle of Leyte Gulf, where she was part of the escort for the Northern Force. After Zuihō sank, Kuwa rescued the majority of her survivors, so overloading the small destroyer that they had to be forbidden from moving until some could be transferred to other ships at Okinawa.

Afterwards, Kuwa returned to Kure for minor repairs, then escorted the battleships Ise and Hyūga during their transportation run to Manila. Massive air raids deterred the battleships from completing the journey; their cargo was transferred to fast transports at the Spratly Islands, which Kuwa and others escorted through to Manila Bay. Kuwa spent the next two weeks operating near Manila.

Kuwa's final operation was to escort convoy TA-7 from Manila to Ormoc Bay. Reaching the destination late on 2 December 1944, Kuwa took up a patrol position seaward of the unloading convoy, while her sister Take took on survivors from a previous convoy. Unfortunately for Kuwa, this meant that when three American destroyers attacked just after midnight, she was their first target. Charging to meet the enemy, Kuwa was savaged by gunfire, out of action by 0020 and sinking thereafter. She did not go down alone, however; USS Cooper was hit by a torpedo, broke in two, and also sank. The two remaining American destroyers fled, fearing Japanese reprisal; Take and the convoy also hastily departed, only rescuing eight of Kuwa's survivors as they passed. Many made it to shore, but some were still afloat when US forces returned to rescue Cooper's survivors, and were taken prisoner.

Kuwa was struck from the Navy List on 10 February 1945.

• Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Nevitt, Allyn D. & Tully, Anthony (December 2013). "IJN Kuwa: Tabular Record of Movement". www.combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Stille, Mark (2013). Imperial Japanese Navy Destroyers 1919–45 (2): Asahio to Tachibana Classes. Botley, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-987-6.
• Sturton, Ian (1980). "Japan". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.