The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia

Shiretoko Class, Japanese Oilers

Photograph of Shiretoko-class oiler

Tonnage	14,050 tons
Dimensions	470'8" by 58'0" by 26'6" 143.46m by 17.68m by 8.08m
Maximum speed	14 knots
Complement	160
Armament	2 5.5"/50 guns 2 3"/40 AA guns 4 13mm/76 machine guns
Machinery	2-shaft triple expansion reciprocating (5,850 shp) 4 Miyazaki boilers
Bunkerage	1350 tons coal 1000 tons oil
Cargo	8000 tons oil

The Shiretokos were older but still serviceable oilers equipped for underway replenishment. They were constructed by Kawasaki-Kobe in 1920-1924. The class is sometimes known as the Notoro class, after the first unit launched, but Notoro had been converted to a seaplane tender by the time war broke out in the Pacific.

Because there was regular heavy tanker traffic between Japan and the U.S. West Coast during the interwar years, the Japanese Navy installed extensive electronics gear on the Shiretokos for signals intelligence. These oilers regularly conducted clandestine monitoring of U.S. fleet activities betwee 1924 and 1939.

Units in the Pacific:

Shiretoko	Kwajalein
Erimo	Magong	Torpedoed and beached 1942-3-4 at Bali by S-39
Shiriya	Midway Neutralization Force	Torpedoed 1943-9-21 off Keelung by Trigger
Sata	Sasebo	Sunk by aircraft 1944-3-30 at Palau
Tsurumi	Hahajima	Torpedoed 1942-8-5 off Davao by Cero
Iro	Wake Invasion Force	Sunk by aircraft 1944-3-30 at Palau

References:

CombinedFleet.com (accessed 2009-11-7)

Evans and Peattie (1997)

Jentschura, Jung, and Mickel (1977)

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