Wa-1

History

Small trawler-hulled auxiliary minesweepers (215 tons, 33m, single diesel, 9.5 knots), developed 1941-43 under the Maru Rin and Maru Kyū building programmes in response to losses of larger minesweepers to drifting mines on the Yangtze - deliberately designed so they could double as fishing vessels after the war. 22 units built, all completed. About 7 were lost, roughly 15 survived the war.

Ships in this class

ShipKanjiRemark
Wa-1Lead ship of the class; sunk by air raid at Savo, May 1942.
Wa-2Also sunk by air raid at Savo, May 1942.
Wa-4Lost off Timor, July 1944.
Wa-6Lost at Yamada Bay, August 1945.
Wa-8Lost in the Visayan Sea, October 1944.
Wa-10Sunk by a US destroyer off Vigan, January 1945.
Wa-14 / Wa-19 / Wa-22Survived the war, ceded to the Republic of China; some later defected to Communist forces.

Builds of this class

No build for this ship class yet.

Available kits

ShipScaleManufacturerItem numberFirst releaseStatusConfigurationRemarks