Japanese destroyer Mochizuki



Mochizuki (望月) was one of twelve Mutsuki-class destroyer destroyers, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. Advanced for their time, these ships served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, but were considered obsolescent by the start of the Pacific War.

History
Construction of the Mutsuki-class destroyers was authorized as part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's build up following the abandonment of the Washington Naval Treaty from fiscal 1923. The class was a follow-on to the earlier Minekaze-class destroyer and Kamikaze class destroyers, with which they shared many common design characteristics. Mochizuki, built at the Uraga Dock Company was laid down on March 23, 1926, launched on April 28, 1927 and commissioned on October 31, 1927. Originally commissioned simply as “Destroyer No. 33”, it was assigned the name Mochizuki on August 1, 1928.

In the late 1930s, Mochizuki participated in combat actions in the Second Sino-Japanese War, covering the landings of Japanese troops in central and southern China.

World War II history
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mochizuki was part of Desron 30 under Destroyer Division 6 in the IJN 4th Fleet, and deployed from Truk as part of the Wake Island invasion force. After being repulsed in the First Battle of Wake Island on December 11, 1941, Mochizuki returned on December 23 for the second, and ultimately successful attempt.

In January 1942, Mochizuki escorted a troop convoy from Kwajalein Atoll to Truk, and then to Guam, and then from February through March joined the invasion of the Solomon Islands, covering the landings of Japanese forces during ”Operation R” (the invasion of Rabaul, New Ireland and New Britain), and during ”Operation SR” (the invasion of Lae and Salamaua on New Guinea), and in April, covering landings on the Admiralty Islands. During the Battle of the Coral Sea from May 7–8, 1942, Mochizuki was assigned to the "Operation Mo" invasion force for Port Moresby. After that operation was cancelled, it returned to Truk, escorting airfield construction convoys between Truk, Lae and Guadalcanal until recalled to Japan in mid-July for refitting.

After repairs were completed at Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Mochizuki was reassigned to the IJN 8th Fleet. At the end of September, Mochizuki sortied with JAPANESE DESTROYER Isokaze to rescue survivors from the destroyer JAPANESE DESTROYER Yayoi on Normanby Island. On October 14–15, Mochizuki provided cover for the cruisers JAPANESE CRUISER Kinugasa and JAPANESE CRUISER Chōkai during a bombardment of Henderson Field. Throughout November, Mochizuki made numerous “Tokyo Express” troop transport runs to Guadalcanal. On one of these runs (November 8), she was hit by a dud torpedo from PT-61. On another run (November 13–15), she assisted JAPANESE DESTROYER Amagiri in rescuing 1500 survivors from the torpedoed Nagara maru and Canberra maru transports.

On December 1, 1942, Mochizuki was reassigned to the IJN 8th Fleet. In the remainder of the month, she served as escort to the cruisers JAPANESE CRUISER Kumano and JAPANESE CRUISER Suzuya in the Admiralty Islands operations, and landings of troops at Buna and Finschhafen in New Guinea. Mochizuki came under air attack on several occasions, suffering minor damage

After making two “Tokyo Express” runs from Rabaul to Kolombangara and Rekata Bay in January 1943, Mochizuki returned to Sasebo for repairs. She returned to Rabaul at the end of March, assisting the torpedoed Florida maru along the way. Through the end of June 1943, Mochizuki was used as a “Tokyo Express” transport to Rekata, Buna, Tuluvu and Kolombangara. During the Battle of Kula Gulf on July 5–6, Mochizuki engaged USS Radford (DD-446) and USS Nicholas (DD-449), taking minor damage by shell hits on her No.1 gun turret and torpedo launchers. The damage was severe enough to warrant a return to Sasebo to the end of August. After returning to Rabaul at the end of September, Mochizuki resumed “Tokyo Express” operations

During one such operation, on October 24, 1943 while en route from Rabaul to Jacquinot Bay (New Britain) Mochizuki came under attack by U.S. Navy PBY Catalinas, 90 mi south-southwest of Rabaul -5.7°N, 151.66667°W, sinking after a direct bomb hit into engineering. Most of the crew were rescued by her sister ship JAPANESE DESTROYER Uzuki.

Mochizuki was struck from the navy list on January 5, 1944.