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Hey guys today I’ll be suggesting Japanese 25t gunboats for China
History
The Japanese 25 ton gunboats were built to patrol the rivers of China during the Second Sino-Japanese war. After WWII China received around 35 of these 25 ton Japanese gunboats as war prizes. These gunboats went on to serve as a part of 9 gunboat fleets and a coast guard squadron of the ROC navy. They were made up of a mix of Japanese, American, British, and pre war gunboats. In 1949 the first, second, third and fifth gunboat fleets surrendered to or were captured by the Communists and around 17 of the 25t gunboats were obtained.
Notable gunboats:
The 25 ton gunboat, serving with the CCP, “414” is known as the “Hero boat of the Toumen mountain naval battle” after successful actions at the Toumen Mountain Naval battle, ending in communist victory. This gunboat is displayed at the Beijing Military Museum.
The gunboat “107”, also serving with the CCP, sank the large wooden gunboat “Xin Bao Shun” at the Battle of Pishan in 1950. The “Xin Bao Shun” also was a former Japanese gunboat used by the Zhejiang sea guerrillas of the KMT to defend Pishan. She went down after exchanging heavy fire and being rammed by “107”.
“Xin Bao Shun” ship sank by gunboat “107”
In late 1949 Gunboat “38” along with “40” was hijacked to join the CCP by the ship “Wu Feng” (former Portuguese ship purchased by the Japanese, which was then renamed “Maiko”, then surrendered to the KMT after the war and finally defected to the CCP). Amazingly, about a year later she escaped from Guangdong, China to Taiwan by the Wan Shan islands. She became an important propaganda tool for Gui Yongqing, the commander in chief of the ROC navy at the time.
Gunboat 38 next to gunboat 37
Spoiler
Dong Ting lake gunboat team on a 25 ton gunboat
https://i.imgur.com/Gzp4M3j.jpg
414 on display at the Beijing military museum
https://i.imgur.com/gvfKOxF.jpg
In Game
In game the 25 ton gunboat would be good low rank coastal vessel for China. Even though it has a slow speed its weaponry makes up for its shortcomings. ROCN 25 ton types could be introduced first as a low rank TT vehicle and the later PLAN types could be premium (especially 414) or after the ROCN version.
Specifications :
Displacement: 26 tons
Length: 18 m
Beam (Width): 3.5 m
Draught: 1.5 m
Engine: 2 Diesel engines
Power: 300 HP
Speed: 11 knots (capable of reaching 12-12.5)
Weaponry:
1 x type 96 25mm gun- possibly
1 x single or twin type 93 13.2mm gun
Some had 1-2 x 7.7mm
Later PLA improvements:
1 x 72k 25mm gun and/or type 96 25mm gun
1 or 2 x type 93 13.2mm gun
1 or 2 x 7.7mm machine gun
Sources
https://web.archive.org/web/20080915155901/http://60.250.180.26/war/3122.html
https://inf.news/en/military/c258a261683f5318e7760df1c271d587.html
Japan Administrative Division, 2nd Demobilization Bureau (April 25, 1947) “Japanese Naval Vessels at the End of War”
This is official document about Japanese warships to report to USA. (2nd Demobilization Bureau is former Ministry of Navy)
This document published at this website 桜と錨の海軍砲術学校−史料展示室『終戦時の日本海軍艦艇』（第２復員局 昭和２２年４月）
Japanese suggestion: