Chikugo

Chikugo

Chikugo

Description

The Chikugo (ちくご, namesake: Chikugo River) was a Japanese destroyer escort, lead ship of her class, launched on 13 January 1970 and commissioned on 31 July 1971 under the Third Defence Build-up Programme. Constructed at Mitsui Shipbuilding's Tamano Shipyard, she was assigned to the Sasebo District Force upon entering service. On 26 August 1971, she was integrated into the newly formed 34th Escort Flotilla alongside the destroyer escort Mikuma. After 26 years of service, during which she accumulated a total of 503,405 nautical miles, she was decommissioned on 15 April 1996. The Chikugo-class featured enhanced anti-submarine warfare capabilities compared to the earlier Isuzu-class, replacing the M/50 Bofors rocket launcher with the RUR-5 ASROC missile launcher and incorporating advanced sonar systems. However, the anti-aircraft armament of the class was less robust than that of its predecessor.

Introduced in Update 1.89 "Imperial Navy", Chikugo-class, Chikugo (DE-215) is a Japanese frigate. Her main armament consists of a single, rapid-firing twin 76 mm turret, effective against all kinds of targets, although it requires a substantial amount of ammunition to take down destroyers or even frigates. This can be addressed with a use of two triple torpedo launchers, which are particularly lethal against slower targets. For anti-aircraft duty, she relies on a single 40 mm Bofors turret, which can be further supported by the use of HE-VT rounds from the main gun.

General info

Survivability and armour

Talk about the vehicle's armour. Note the most well-defended and most vulnerable zones, e.g. the ammo magazine. Evaluate the composition of components and assemblies responsible for movement and manoeuvrability. Evaluate the survivability of the primary and secondary armaments separately. Don't forget to mention the size of the crew, which plays an important role in fleet mechanics. Save tips on preserving survivability for the "Usage in battles" section. If necessary, use a graphical template to show the most well-protected or most vulnerable points in the armour.

Mobility

Write about the ship's mobility. Evaluate its power and manoeuvrability, rudder rerouting speed, stopping speed at full tilt, with its maximum forward and reverse speed.

Mobility Characteristics
Game Mode	Upgrade Status	Maximum Speed (km/h)		Turn Time (s)	Turn Radius (m)
		Forward	Reverse
AB	Stock	___	___
	Upgraded
RB/SB	Stock	___	___
	Upgraded

Armament

Primary armament

Chikugo carries two 3 inch Mk.33 automatic cannons in twin installation. The turret is placed at the front of the ship and can effectively cover the front and sides of your vessel, but is unable to react to enemies from the rear. HE shells can take care of unarmoured targets especially motor boats which can be destroyed within a few shots. For armoured targets and destroyers you can choose AP shells but you still have to keep in mind that it is a 76 mm multi-purpose cannon. HE-VT shells are good for use in AA roles. These guns heat up quickly so keep an eye on continuous rapid fire or you may lose one or both until repairs complete. Changing between ammunition types is time-consuming and leaves you vulnerable with no ability to return fire until switch is complete.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		100 m	1,000 m	2,000 m	3,000 m	4,000 m	5,000 m
HC Mk.27	HE	8	8	8	8	8	8
APHE	APHE	121	98	77	61	49	39

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (s)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
HC Mk.27	HE	823	5.9	0	0.1	500	79°	80°	81°
APHE	APHE	823	5.9	0.01	4	63.7	47°	60°	65°

Proximity-fused shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Arming distance (m)	Trigger radius (m)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
									0%	50%	100%
AA Mk.31	HE-VT	823	5.85	0	0.1	548	15	352.8	79°	80°	81°

Secondary armament

40 mm Bofors in twin installation is very capable weapon placed on back of Chikugo so it have natural blind spot in front of ship. This means that you can't completely rely on AI as anti-aircraft armament nor its help with naval targets. If you ignore that, its powerful weapon that can shoot down aircraft within seconds and can be used as backup against motorboats that are trying to sneak up on you from behind.

• Universal: AP-T · HEFI-T
• 40 mm HE clips: HEFI-T · HEFI-T · HEFI-T · AP-T
• 40 mm AP clips: AP-T · AP-T · AP-T · HEFI-T

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
HEFI-T	3	3	3	3	3	3
AP-T	81	78	68	58	49	41

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
						0%	50%	100%
HEFI-T	874	0.9	0	0.1	67.13	79°	80°	81°
AP-T	874	0.89	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°

Additional armament

Two torpedo launchers each able to release three torpedoes are installed on each side of the ship. This means only three torpedoes can be released to each side. They have mediocre 7.3 km range but excellent speed of 91 km/h (one of the best in-game). They are pretty small and don't have much explosive compared to other torpedoes at this rank but will give hard time to any ship they hit.

Usage in battles

Chikugo uses the destroyer spawn but don't be fooled, it can't compete with the firepower of other destroyers at long range. The best way to stay alive is to focus on motor boats and sub-chasers and avoid any contact with destroyers even if it takes more time to get there. Then it's best to stay little back and use the excellent mid-range capabilities of your main armament. If you ever have to encounter destroyers, it should be at close range and you should give them everything you have, meaning main cannon with AP or HE shells, secondary Bofors with AP belt, and torpedoes. Try to hit lethal parts like cannons or ammunition with AP shells or you can try to get rid of his crew with HE shells.

On the other hand, the main gun can load high explosive shells with time variable fuse, when combined with functional radar and secondary armament you will be a nightmare to every pilot.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Radar
• Able to equip AP and HE-VT shells
• Secondary armament is capable against all kind of targets

Cons:

• Only destroyer spawn although its most effective against other sub-chasers
• Not able to release all torpedoes to one side
• Aiming with secondary armament can be difficult due to convergence of bridge and weapon
• Switching between ammunition types for 76mm guns takes a long time

History

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Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Chikugo from live.warthunder.com.

See also

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• reference to the series of the ship;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

Mitsui Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. (三井造船)
Destroyer Escorts (DE)
Isuzu-class	Isuzu
Chikugo-class	Chikugo

Japan frigates
	IJN
Escort	IJN Syonan
	JMSDF
Destroyer Escort	JDS Akebono · JDS Ikazuchi · JDS Isuzu · JDS Chikugo
Destroyer	JDS Ayanami