Pacific ships

Photos and the story

Mochizuki

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ClassMutsuki class
TypeDestroyer (DD)
FateSunk. by American aircraft east of New Britain, 24 October 1943.
Armament (class)Four single guns and two funnels. All of them were lost.
Command
  • Sugama, Ryokichi Captain from 15 December 1938; Relieved on 15 October 1940
  • Terauchi, Saburo Captain from 15 October 1940; Relieved on 6 April 1942
  • Iwabuchi, Goro Captain from 15 October 1943; In command when she was lost, 24 October 1943

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

The armament line is the class drawing, not a measurement of this hull.

Mochizuki
Shizuo Fukui. Mochizuki, with the name on the hull. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Mochizuki was a Mutsuki-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Captain Ryokichi Sugama commanded her from 15 December 1938 until he was relieved on 15 October 1940. Captain Saburo Terauchi succeeded him that day and remained in command until 6 April 1942.

On 11 December 1941, with Terauchi still captain, she was with the attack force at Wake Island and is not recorded as hit. She was with the force again for the landing on 23 December.

At the Battle of Kula Gulf on 6 July 1943 she was in the first transport group and landed her troops. On the way out, Nicholas and Radford fired on her. Accounts disagree on whether she was hit.

Captain Goro Iwabuchi took command on 15 October 1943. On 24 October, American aircraft sank Mochizuki east of New Britain. Iwabuchi was in command when she was lost.

The pictures on this page are the originals.