The ships were provided with a Model 93 sonar and a Type 93 hydrophone later units received the Type 3 Model 2 sonar, and some would later receive an 8 cm (3 in) trench mortar. The Ukuru class was initially armed with 120 depth charges with two Type 94 depth charge projectors, sixteen Type 3 depth charge throwers and two depth charge chutes at the stern. The Ukuru-class was equipped with the Type 22 and Type 13 radar. Some units received additional single-mount Type 96s, which were located on the forecastle. Anti-aircraft protection was by five triple-mount Type 96 25-millimeter (1.0 in) anti-aircraft guns with two abreast the bridge, one of each side of the smokestack, and one aft on the deck house, along with a single-mount in front of the bridge. The main battery was the same as on the Mikura-class, with three dual-purpose Type 10 120 mm AA guns one forward, and a twin mount aft, but the later ships in the class were fitted with modified gun shields. These changes reduced construction time to under four months, although construction was often hindered by the lack of diesel engines. Internally, individual crew quarters were eliminated, becoming a communal area, and overall the construction was very spartan. The curved plates on the bridge were also eliminated, and the smoke stacks were made of hexagonal elements instead of with a circular or oval cross-section. The hull was constructed using prefabricated sections which avoided the use of shaped steel or curved plates, which greatly reduced construction time. The Ukuru-class was a further simplification of the Mikura design. In addition to these, nine units and two additional unfinished ships belong to a sub-class called the Hiburi class and are included in the table below.
Twenty vessels were commissioned two more ( Urumi and Murotsu) were launched by Uraga Dock and completed in August 1945 but were still uncommissioned by the war’s end. The first five of the new Ukuru-class were authorized under the 1941 Rapid Naval Armaments Supplement Programme and an additional six in the 1942 Modified 5th Naval Armaments Supplement Programme and nine under the 1944 Wartime Naval Armaments Supplement Programme. Furthermore, operational experience had shown that the Mikura-class was still very weak in its anti-aircraft capability. Despite being a simplified design, the Mikura-class vessels still took too long to construct, and due to the high attrition of Japan's destroyer and escort ships, action needed to be urgently taken to produce more ships in a quicker time. The Mikura class escort ship was developed after the start of the Pacific War, it became apparent that a design more capable of anti-submarine warfare than the previous Shimushu and Etorofu class kaibōkan was needed. The class was also referred to by internal Japanese documents as the "Modified B-class" coastal defense vessel ( 改乙型海防艦, Kai-Otsu-gata kaibōkan), and they were the fourth class of kaibōkan. The Ukuru-class escort ships ( 鵜来型海防艦, Ukuru-gata kaibōkan) were a class of twenty kaibōkan escort vessels built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Shiga while she was preserved in Chiba City.
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