IJN · PG

Hira

Damaged

River gunboat, named for the Hira mountains, one of the four Seta-class boats. Mitsubishi, Kobe. She spent her life on the Yangtze. On 13 December 1937 she was with the gunboats at Xiaguan. Tsuneo Sakamoto was killed aboard her on 31 May 1943. On 26 November 1944 she and Hozu ran aground near Anking. Hozu was sunk. Hira was badly damaged and broken up in 1945. Struck 10 May 1945.

Type	Gunboat (PG)
Builder	Mitsubishi, Kobe
Launched	1923-03-14
Commissioned	1923-08-24
Fate	Damaged. Seta-class river gunboat. The launch is also given as 14 March 1922 and as 24 March 1923. Completed 24 August 1923, shipped in sections, and reassembled at Hankow. Badly damaged with Hozu near Anking on 26 November 1944. The officer list calls her sunk that day, at 30°30′N, 117°00′E. Broken up in the spring of 1945. Struck 10 May 1945. One table puts the discard on 30 September 1945.
Command	Kubota, Toshi Captain from 25 September 1939; Relieved on 15 October 1940 Sakamoto, Tsuneo Captain from 20 August 1941; Killed in an air attack upriver from Hankow, 31 May 1943 Murakami, Tadaomi Captain from 4 June 1943

Laid down, displacement, length, beam, draft, speed, and complement are not stored for each hull, so this table leaves them out.

Hira in 1923. Imperial Japanese Navy photograph. Public domain.

The pictures on this page are the originals.

Command

TKKubota, ToshiCaptain from 25 September 1939Relieved on 15 October 1940 TSSakamoto, TsuneoCaptain from 20 August 1941Killed in an air attack upriver from Hankow, 31 May 1943 TMMurakami, TadaomiCaptain from 4 June 1943

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