Ships in Class
24
Weaponry
1x1 450mm torpedo tube, firing 16-inch torpedoes
1x1 20mm anti-aircraft cannon, based off the American Mark 4 design
6 Type 95 depth charges, launched from stern rails
Dimensions and General Info
122 ft long
48.5 feet high
21 feet wide
Steel hull
18 crew: 4 officers, 14 men.
![[ img ]](https://i.imgur.com/iS0eomJ.png)
Rather bad sea boats, the Ta-class patrol boats are an exhilarating first command. The 24 boats of the class, from Ta 1 to Ta 24, are well-known for the engagement that turned the tide of the US advance in the Pacific: the Battle of Guadalcanal.
Ever since the attack on Pearl Harbor, American forces had run wild in the Pacific. On November 14, 1942, the American invasion of Guadalcanal was well under way. Around midnight on November 14, the Japanese force under Admiral Kondo Nobutake advanced on the island, with intent to shell Henderson Field (the American-held airstrip on Guadalcanal). American forces included the battleships South Dakota and Washington, as well as destroyers Sims, Preston, Benham, and Gwin. The Japanese forces, which included two transports modified to carry Ta-class torpedo boats, came around Savo Island in four groups. The Americans, lying in wait in the area between Savo and Guadalcanal, opened fire on Japanese destroyer Ayanami and the Sendai group. Almost immediately, the two Kinosakis opened fire on the American Washington, sinking her after 18 minutes in a catastrophic magazine detonation. Ta 1, Ta 6, Ta 13, and Ta 21 used their torpedoes to great effect, crippling USS Gwin.
On her first firing pass, Ta 1 struck South Dakota once, blowing the port-side propellers off their shafts and jamming the rudder. She was hit by five-inch retaliation fire and pulled out of the battle, its 450mm torpedo tube obliterated. An unidentified destroyer fired both of its remaining torpedoes, scoring a hit. As South Dakota rolled over, one of its five-inch secondary guns fired on Ta 13, scoring two hits. One shell struck the wheelhouse, decimating it, and the other hit the machinery spaces, entering on the waterline. The patrol vessel sunk in five minutes, taking all of her crew with her. She was the only IJN loss of the battle.
![[ img ]](https://i.imgur.com/JKQq2e1.png)