JAPANESE DESTROYER MATSU

Matsu was a Japanese destroyer whose keel was laid in 1943, launched in February 1944, and commissioned in the Imperial Japanese Navy in April 1944. The length of the ship at the time of launching was 100 m, width 9.4 m, and full displacement - 1,500 tons. Destroyer Matsu's top speed was up to 28 knots. At the time of the launch, the main armament was 3 127 mm guns in single mounts, and the additional armament was 20 25 mm cannons, depth charge launchers and four 610 mm torpedo tubes. Matsu was the first destroyer of the type with the same name - the Matsu. The ships of this type were built during the war in the Pacific, struggling with problems with the supply of strategic raw materials. Therefore, the best cost-effect ratio was achieved. The result was ships much smaller than previous Japanese destroyers, with a slower maximum speed, but much better equipped with anti-aircraft weapons and anti-submarine armament (ZOP). Destroyer Matsu's combat career turned out to be very short. On July 29, 1944, the destroyer set out on its maiden voyage, as a cover for the convoy headed to the port of Chichi-Jima on the Bonin Islands, on its way back from this voyage - on August 5 - it was sunk as a result of an artillery exchange with American ships. Only 6 sailors out of the crew of 210 survived.