• Source: Japanese gunboat Hira

Hira (比良) 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 13 December 1937, Hira and other IJN ships engaged Chinese positions at Xiaguan, China and attacked Chinese boats and rafts on the Yangtze River. On 17 August 1944 Hira was damaged by US 14th Air Force aircraft at Kiukiang, China. On 26 November 1944 Hira and the gunboat Hozu ran aground near Anking, China. Chinese aircraft subsequently bombed and sunk Hozu and severely damaged Hira. Hira was scrapped in July 1945.




Sources


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




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Japanese gunboat Hira
• Japanese gunboat Hozu
• Seta-class gunboat
• Masami Kobayashi
• Battle of Shanghai order of battle
• List of Japanese Navy ships and war vessels in World War II
• List of ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy
• Battle of Wuhan order of battle
• China Area Fleet
• Battle of Nanchang order of battle