The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia

Photograph of W-21, a W-19 class fast minesweeper

CombinedFleet.com. Fair use may apply.

Tonnage	648 tons standard displacement
Dimensions	237'10" by 25'9" by 8'7" 72.49m by 7.85m by 2.62m
Maximum speed	20 knots
Complement	92
Armament	3 4.7"/45 dual-purpose guns 2 25mm/60 AA guns Depth charges
Machinery	2-shaft geared turbine (3850 shp) 2 Kampon boilers
Range	2000 nautical miles (3700 km) at 14 knots
Modifications	1944: Minesweeping gear removed. Armament: 2 4.7", 9 25mm, 36 depth charges

The W-19s were completed from 1941 to the end of the war. The Japanese settled on this as their definitive wartime minesweeper design, but most ended up being converted to escort duty.

Units in the Pacific:

W-19	with First Surprise Attack Force at Magong (Hara)	Beached after air attack 1941-12-10 on north Luzon
W-20	Completed 1941-12-15	Torpedoed 1945-5-4 off Korea by Trepang
W-21	Completed 1942-6-30
W-22	Completed 1942-7-31	Mined 1944-11-11 at Palau
W-24	Completed 1943-1-25	Sunk by aircraft 1945-7-15 near 141.0E 41.6N
W-23	Completed 1943-3-31
W-26	Completed 1943-3-31	Sunk by aircraft 1944-2-17 at Rabaul
W-25	Completed 1943-4-30	Sunk by aircraft 1944-7-4 141.1E 28.6N
W-28	Completed 1943-6-28	Torpedoed 1944-8-29 off Menado by Jack
W-27	Completed 1943-7-31	Torpedoed 1945-7-10 near 142.1E 39.3N by Runner
W-33	Completed 1943-7-31	Sunk by aircraft 1945-8-9 at Onagawa Bay
W-29	Completed 1943-10-22	Mined 1945-5-7 near 34.0N 130.9E
W-30	Completed 1944-2-5	Sunk by aircraft 1944-11-11 off Leyte
W-34	Completed 1944-5-29	Torpedoed 1945-5-21 off Kepulauan by Chub
W-39	Completed 1944-5-31	Torpedoed 1945-7-20 off Korea by Threadfin
W-38	Completed 1944-6-10	Torpedoed 1944-11-20 off Formosa by Atule
W-41	Completed 1944-7-17	Beached and abandoned near Takao after air attack 1945-1-4

References

CombinedFleet.com (accessed 2007-12-14)

Jentschura, Jung, and Mickel (1977)

Worth (2001)

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W-19 Class, Japanese Fast Minesweepers

Units in the Pacific: