Hozu around 1935
History
Japan
Name	Hozu
Builder	Mitsubishi Zosensho, Kobe, Japan
Laid down	15 August 1921
Launched	9 April 1923
Completed	1923, disassembled & shipped to China 11 November 1923. Reassembly completed 1 December 1923.[1]
Stricken	10 May 1945
Fate	Sunk 5 December 1944 December by air attack
General characteristics
Type	Seta-class gunboat
Armament	2 × 8 cm (3.1 in)/40 3rd Year Type guns 3 or 6 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) Hotchkiss M1929 machine guns

Hozu (保津) was a river gunboat of the Imperial Japanese Navy, part of the 11th Gunboat Sentai, that operated on the Yangtze River in China during the 1930s, and during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

On August 13, 1937 Hozu and other IJN ships bombarded Chinese positions at Shanghai. On December 13 Hozu and other ships engaged Chinese positions at Xiaguan and attacked Chinese boats and rafts on the Yangtze River. On December 5, 1944 Hozu and the gunboat Hira ran aground near Anking. They were subsequently bombed by Chinese aircraft, Hira was damaged and Hozu was sunk. The wreck was scrapped 1945.^[1]

Sources

• Japanese gunboats (with photos) (in Japanese)
• Vessels of the IJN
• Monograph 144 Chapter II

References