Cha-194 or No. 194 (Japanese: 第百九十四號驅潜特務艇) was a No.1-class auxiliary submarine chaser of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served during World War II and with Japan during the post-war period.

History

Her construction was authorized under the Maru Sen Programme (Ship # 2001–2100). She was laid down on 31 January 1944 as ship 2044 at the Miho Shipyard in Shimizu City (jp:清水市, now part of Shizuoka City)[1] and launched on 29 June 1944.[2]

She was completed and commissioned on 21 August 1944,[2] fitted with armaments at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, and assigned to the Chishima Area Base Force, Northeast Area Fleet under captain Someya Sakuji (染谷　作次)[2] and tasked with patrolling around the Kuril Islands. On 18 June 1945, she was assigned to the Tsugaru Defense Force and tasked with defending the Tsugaru Strait.[2] Cha-194 survived the war and was decommissioned on 30 November 1945.[2][3]

On 1 December 1945, she was enrolled as a minesweeper by the occupation forces,[2] one of 269 Japanese ships that served as a minesweeper under the Allied forces after the war.[4] She conducted minesweeping operations based out of Ominato and later Shimonoseki.[2] On 1 August 1947, she was demobilized[2] and on 1 January 1948, she was released to the Ministry of Transportation.[2]

On 1 May 1948, she was assigned to the Japan Maritime Safety Agency, a sub-agency of the Ministry of Transportation, and designated on 1 August 1949 as patrol vessel Mizutori (みずとり) (PB-42).[2] On 1 July 1950, she was re-designated as patrol vessel Mizutori (PS-42).[2] In August 1952, she ran aground near Sakata and was abandoned as a total loss.[2] She was delisted on 1 April 1953.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Toda, Gengoro S. (21 September 2019). "驅潜特務艇 (Cha - Stats)". Imperial Japanese Navy - Tokusetsukansen (in Japanese).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Toda, Gengoro S. "第百九十四號驅潜特務艇の艦歴 (No. 194 submarine chaser - Ship History)". Imperial Japanese Navy -Tokusetsu Kansen (in Japanese).
  3. ^ Japanese Naval Vessels at the End of the War (PDF). 25 April 1947. pp. 113–115.
  4. ^ Hackett, Bob; Cundall, Peter; Casse, Gilbert (2012). "Kakyakusen: IJN Escort CD-76: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 30 March 2020.