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IJN No. 1 Class Landing Ship (1st Class Transporter)

1944 WORLD WAR 2

History of IJN Class #1 DropShip

The No. 1-class landing ship (Type 1 transport ship, Dai 1 Go-gata Yusokan) is a class of amphibious assault ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) that served during and after World War II. The IJN also called them Transporter 1st Class (1-To Yusokan).

IJN lost too many destroyers when used as transports ("Tokyo Express") at the Battle of Guadalcanal. Therefore, the Japanese Navy wanted a transport that could penetrate the front lines. This was achieved shortly after the Ko operation.

IJN nominated Wu Naval Arsenal as lead builder and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as supporting builder.

The lead ship (LandingShip #1) was built at Mitsubishi, laid 5 November 1943, launched 8 February 1944, completed 10 May 1944. Wu Naval Arsenal completed 15 ships and Mitsubishi completed 6 ships. Wu Naval Arsenal is serious. They made full-scale wood samples and learned the workflow.

They used the pier of the Yamato and built two ships again and again. As a result, most of Wu's vessels were completed within 80 days of laying. The completed ships were sent to the front one by one.

Their primary role is transport, but due to their powerful weapons, they can be used as frontline multipurpose ships, transports, minelayers, and escorts. Most of these ships were sent to the Battle of Leyte and the Bonin Islands for transport services. By this time, the Japanese Navy had lost both air and sea superiority (naval superiority) in these areas, and the ships suffered heavy casualties.

5 ships survived the war and were handed over to the Allies.