SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
Hi Guys, been a bit busy recently. We continue our tour of the Chulachomklao Fort by taking a closer look at the warship HTMS Mae Klong, the last surviving warship built in an Imperial Japanese Navy shipyard (that I know about!). A bit of background to the Mae Klong and her sister the Taksin, the name ship of the class from text that I have written about this ship in the past.
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The Siamese Navy vessel Mae Klong was built by the Uraga Dock Company in Japan, a privately run ship building concern at Yokosuka at the mouth of Tokyo Bay. Ordered on 13 August 1935, the Mae Klong and her sister ship the Tachin were both named after the major Siamese rivers the Mekong and Thachin, the latter a tributary of the Chao Phraya River that flows through Bangkok. Costing 1.885 million baht, the ships were designed to Siamese specifications as heavily armed mine laying sloops that would also serve as training vessels.
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Main armament forward comprising two 4.7-inch guns. A keel-laying ceremony was held for the Mae Klong, at which Siamese King Rama VIII was in attendance, on 24 July 1936, with its hull launch four months later on 27 November that year. Fitting out took another seven months before the Mae Klong departed for Siam on 10 June 1937. Following arrival, the Mae Klong was commissioned into the Siamese Navy at Rajavaradit Dock, Bangkok on 26 September 1937 and served with the 1st Frigate Squadron.
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The forward superstructure housing the bridge and wardroom. Throughout World War Two, during which Thailand (officially named as such on 23 June 1939) allied itself with Japan, by then His Thai Majesty's Ship Mae Klong spent service patrolling the Gulf of Thailand. A notable engagement it took part in was the Battle of Koh Chang on 17 January 1941 during the Franco-Thai War with Vichy France over various territories in French Indo-China that the Thais sought to control following the fall of France in 1940. During the engagement, the Mae Klong was attached to the 2nd Flotilla, 4th Division but received no damage.
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Funnel and galley. Following World War Two's end and Japanese capitulation, the Mae Klong primarily served as a training vessel but was employed as a royal conveyance on numerous occasions. In this period, it is reputed that every Royal Thai Navy officer trained aboard the Mae Klong at some stage. Retired in 1995 (some sources state 1996), a decision was made to preserve it, having been the longest serving vessel in the Royal Thai Navy and the last serving Imperial Japanese built warship.
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Torpedo tubes, aircraft storage deck and twin Breda 20 mm AA gun. Mae Klong's sister Taksin was severely damaged on 1 June 1945 off Gauteng Island in Sattahip Bay during an air attack by 23 Consolidated Liberators of 99 and 159 Sqns, RAF and returned to shore, but was later scrapped.
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X and Y Turrets. Armament for a sloop the size of Mae Klong was heavy and resembled contemporary Japanese destroyers of larger size and displacement. Its main armament was the 4.7-in 45-calibre 3-Shiki quick firing high-angle gun as fitted to numerous contemporary Japanese warships, with blast shields around each gun as first seen aboard the Myoko Class heavy cruiser Nachi, built in 1924.
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Mine deck. Its four guns were distributed with two forward in the A and B positions and two aft in the X and Y positions and were superimposed at each ends. It was also fitted with a twin AA gun mounting aft of the funnel equipped with Breda 20 mm/65 Model 35 guns, and two 7.62-mm/87 RU guns were carried aboard, which were Japanese licence built British Lewis (.300-in) machine guns.
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The stern, showing the mine rails. In 1942 the Taksins had their light anti-aircraft armament improved with the addition of two Type 98 10-cm/65 (3.9-in) guns and two Type 91 40-mm HI mountings in place of their torpedo tubes, which were removed. The ships were initially fitted with two twin torpedo launchers, located each side amidships for launching Japanese Type 43 18-in torpedoes and were equipped with two mine laying rails that ejected mines over the transom, as well as depth charge dispensers each side of the stern.
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Starboard bow view. On 14 March 1954, Six Thorneycroft depth charge launchers were added inboard of each mine laying rail aft of Y turret, three each side. A year later two paravanes were located amidships for mine sweeping, as well as improved AA armament of twin Bofors 40-mm L/60 Mk.3 mounts. In 1966 the twin torpedo tubes were refitted in their original location; the Japanese AA mounts having been removed. By 1974 the ship's AA armament was increased, with the addition of four US Mk.22 3-in/50 (76-mm) and three Oerlikon 20-mm/70 (0.79-in) Mk.IV guns.
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Aboard the ship, showing Y Turret's exposed gun. To modernise the ship, navigation and fire control radars were fitted in the 1960s. The Taksins were initially equipped to carry a single Watanabe WS-103S single-seat floatplane, or Siam Navy Reconnaissance Seaplane in Japanese parlance, which was based on the Navy Type 96 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane (E9W1) designed for carriage aboard submarines. These were specifically manufactured for Siamese use aboard the newly ordered vessels in 1935 and six were built, of which the four not placed aboard ship were kept in reserve.
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The turret face. The aircraft was lowered into the water by crane, the ships not being fitted with catapults, although the seaplanes were stressed for catapult launching. In 1946 the Mae Klong's aircraft capability was removed, and the Watanabe seaplanes withdrawn from service, the Taksins having been the first Siamese/Thai naval vessels equipped for carrying aircraft. The navy also received a quantity of Nakajima E8N1 Type 95 Navy Reconnaissance Seaplanes, but it is not known whether any of these served aboard the Taksins at all.
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The fantail showing mines and depth charge launchers. Mae Klong's machinery amounted to two Volpi Tecno Energia triple-expansion oil fuelled reciprocating steam engines with two Kampon water-tube boilers, driving twin shafts, and steered by a single rudder. Mae Klong and her sister Taksin were unusual vessels, unlike any designed and built in Japan at the time. They had heavy armament for their size, but poor performance, reflecting their dual operational/secondary roles as armed sloops and training vessels when not active in wartime.
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Mine rails. Compared to contemporary Japanese designs, they look very different, with a balanced appearance of a larger ship because of their turrets mounted in superimposed mountings fore and aft and the slightly raked funnel mounted directly aft of the fore mast on the forward superstructure. This was uncommon among contemporary Japanese sloops, which typically had widely spaced funnels away from the forward superstructure and gun distribution at deck level rather than superimposed mountings.
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Looking forward from the fantail. Their unique appearance sets them apart, although they superficially resemble the Japanese minelayer Yaeyama in superstructure and armament distribution, although this ship was built by the Kure Naval Yard and was larger, lighter, and faster, but with less armament than the Tachins. Their superstructure and gun layout gives them a top-heavy appearance, with their boxy enclosed bridge, which was typical of Japanese destroyers and escort ships of the time.
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Paravanes amidships. Further cues to the Mae Klong's Japanese origins are the shape of its gun shields and raked tripod main mast, with a dumpy funnel and its characteristic vertically curved bow. The 4.7-in gun shields appear overly large for the size of ship and serve to emphasise its small dimensions. In terms of size and weight, the Tachins were greater than typical Japanese escort sloops, although the quantity of their armament matched that of contemporary Japanese destroyer classes. Their performance, however, was worse than contemporary Japanese warships and reflect the coastal nature of Siamese naval operations and their dual role.
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Starboard torpedo tubes.
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The galley.
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Breda twin 20 mm AA guns.
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Wardroom.
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The bow ahead of A Turret, with the Gulf of Thailand stretching out ahead of the shore.
Next, more to come from aboard the Mae Klong.
I love this stuff.
