Hwangsongnan-class torpedo boat

File:TB Hwangsongnan 1935.png The Hwangsongnan at the outbreak of war.
Class overview
Name:	Hwangsongnan-class torpedo boat
Operators:	Greater Menghean Empire
Preceded by:	Myŏnma-class torpedo boat
Built:	1932-1937
In service:	1934-1945
Planned:	20
Completed:	20
Lost:	15
Retired:	5
General characteristics Hwangsongnan, 1935
Type:	Torpedo boat
Displacement:	842 tonnes standard 1,200 tonnes full load
Length:	84.15 m at waterline 85.82 m overall
Beam:	8.9 m
Draught:	3.07 m (normal)
Propulsion:	2 steam turbines, 22,000 shp total 2 oil-fueled boilers 2 shafts
Speed:	32 knots
Range:	2,000 nm (3,700 km) at 14 knots
Complement:	138
Armament:	2 × 2 100mm L/40 Type 29 naval gun 4 × 12.5mm machine gun 1 × 3 550mm trainable torpedo tube

The Hwangsongnan-class torpedo boats (Menghean: 황송난급 어뢰함 / 黃松蘭級魚雷艦, Hwangsongnan-gŭb ŏroeham) were a group of twenty large torpedo boats or small destroyers built by the Greater Menghean Empire during the early-to-mid 1930s. The successors to the Myŏnma-class torpedo boats, they originated from a provision in the Septentrion Nine-Power Naval Treaty which omitted warships displacing under 600 tons from regulation. They were primarily intended for anti-surface duties, with a secondary role as anti-aircraft escorts, in anticipation of a defensive war in which they would sortie from Menghe's shores to attack an intruding enemy fleet; as such, their anti-submarine capabilities were weak.

Development

Like the Bŏdŭl-class gunboats, the Hwangsongnan-class torpedo boats emerged in response to a perceived loophole in the 1930 amendment to the Septentrion Nine-Power Naval Treaty, which only applied to warships displacing over 600 long tons at standard load. As the Imperial Menghean Navy and the Menghean Navy before it had already built warships in a category of torpedo boats (Ŏroeham) resembling small destroyers, they took the new limit as an opportunity to design a "maximized" torpedo boat which could be produced in unlimited numbers without regard to the treaty.

The Navy solicited a number of proposals shortly after the treaty went into effect, setting high standards for speed and armament while also requiring that the ships be able to operate safely in heavy seas. This required a number of compromises between opposing needs, as too many weapons on the deck would result in a high center of gravity and poor stability. The first ship in the class was laid down in 1932, and twenty would be produced before Menghe's withdrawal from the treaty.

Description

The Hwangsongnan class of warships that emerged from the program exhibited a fairly good balance of speed, armament, and stability. Their gun battery consisted of four 100mm L/40 guns in dual-purpose turrets, one forward and one aft. This gave them one more 100mm barrel than the earlier Jindo-class destroyers, which on paper displaced twice as much water. More importantly, the dual-purpose guns gave the Hwangsongnan very good anti-aircraft capability for the time, especially considering its small size. Up to the middle of the war, the type remained effective as anti-aircraft escorts, especially when fitted with additional small-caliber AA guns.

In terms of torpedo armament, the Hwangsongnans were also fairly formidable, with three 550mm launch tubes for the Type 23-II torpedo. Some earlier proposals would have carried a quadruple launcher, but the Navy eventually settled for a lighter three-tube launcher. No torpedo reloads were carried, as they would have added further weight on the deck, and the ship's short range meant that it could launch a single torpedo spread and return to a friendly port to re-arm.

As built, the Hwangsongnans could be fitted with a single depth charge rack containing eight depth charges, but they lacked sonar or hydrophones and would have had to rely on direction from other ships in order to engage suspected submarine contacts. Sources disagree on whether any Hwangsongnan-class torpedo boats where fitted with sonar during the war, and in any event their poor ASW armament limited their usefulness as escorts. All ships did, however, carry paravanes on folding arms on the quarterdeck, allowing them to be used as improvised minesweepers.

All these improvements, however, came at a cost; as built, the Hwangsongnans were considerably overweight. Internal Navy documents reveal that they had a standard displacement of some 840 tonnes, a full 40% higher than the "official" 600-ton limit that they were intended to follow. This problem stemmed partially from the heavy armament, and partly from changes that the design team made to the hull during construction, including the welding of cast-iron weights to the keel in an effort to improve stability. This oversize tonnage problem was kept a closely guarded secret by the Imperial Menghean Navy, even as foreign engineers correctly guessed that there was no way a ship with the Hwangsongnan's capabilities could displace under 600 tons.

Ships in the class

Menghean shipyards laid down a total of 20 Hwangsongnan-class torpedo boats between 1932 and 1935. The Navy initially anticipated further construction, with a few early documents proposing that as many as a hundred such torpedo boats be laid down before 1940, but with the outbreak of the Pan-Septentrion War and the collapse of the Nine-Power Naval Treaty, the IMN re-allocated those shipyards to the construction of escort ships and "full" destroyers.

Name	Meaning	Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Hwangsongnan	Tamra gastrolichus	1932	1933
Pungran	Vanda falcata	1932	1933
Galgŭn	Kudzu	1932	1934
Sangsurinamu	Oak tree	1932	1934
Boksanamu	Peach tree	1933	1934
Bakdalnamu	Birch tree	1933	1934
Chŏmnangnan	Phalaenopsis braceana	1933	1934
Mugunghwa	Hibiscus syriacus	1933	1935
Gaenari	Forsythia	1933	1935
Chanamu	Camellia mengheanis	1933	1935
Ttokgalnamu	White oak	1934	1935
Dongsaekduran	Paphiopedilum concolor	1934	1935
Nabinan	Phalaenopsis	1934	1935
Jebikkot	Viola kilinensis	1934	1936
Baenamu	Pear tree	1934	1936
Chamdanggwi	Angelica gigas	1934	1936
Jŏnnamu	Fir tree	1935	1936
Gamunbinamu	Spruce tree	1935	1936
Sŏmchorongkkot	Campanula takesimana	1935	1937
Doraji	Platycodon	1935	1937

See also

• Jindo-class destroyer