This category contains all ships classified as Coastal Defense Ships.

This category is populated by Template:KanmusuInfo. Please do not manually add pages to this category.

In Kancolle, "Coastal Defense Ships" are labeled as "DE", whereas in real life, DE designates "Destroyer Escort".

Mechanics

Coastal Defense Ships (DE) are weak ships with high ASW stat, utilizing ASW equipment. They:

• Can perform special OASW with lower ASW stat,
• Provide HP Modernization, Luck Modernization, or ASW Modernization,
• Cannot equip Engine Improvements, and so cannot be Speed Modded.

DE	Default equipment compatibility
	✔️ Can Equip	❌ Cannot Equip
		Sp Recon Bomber
	Small Small	Sp Sp_Sec Sub Minisub Large Large Sp
		Medium Large Large
	RE:
	Equipability notes: = ; = ; = ; =Recon ; =Bomber ; Small= ; Medium= ; Sec= ; =

Listed By Stats

• Green: Outstanding
• Yellow: Above Average

No.	Name	Class								+								Notes
334	Etorofu Kai 択捉改	Etorofu	37	37	0	54	79	28	40	88	17	33	92	Slow	0	10	10
335	Matsuwa Kai 松輪改	Etorofu	37	38	0	55	79	28	9	59	17	33	89	Slow	0	10	10
339	Sado Kai 佐渡改	Etorofu	37	39	0	54	79	29	9	59	17	33	88	Slow	0	10	10
340	Tsushima Kai 対馬改	Etorofu	47	36	0	53	81	28	49	94	17	34	93	Slow	0	10	10
365	Fukae Kai 福江改	Etorofu	48	35	0	55	80	27	40	84	17	34	92	Slow	0	10	10
370	Hirato Kai 平戸改	Etorofu	48	37	0	55	81	29	14	74	17	33	89	Slow	0	10	10
351	Hiburi Kai 日振改	Hiburi	37	38	0	62	83	29	9	59	18	34	87	Slow	0	10	10
352	Daitou Kai 大東改	Hiburi	37	36	0	61	85	28	37	87	18	35	90	Slow	0	10	10
495	Shounan Kai 昭南改	Hiburi	37	37	0	63	81	28	12	67	18	34	88	Slow	0	10	10
416	Mikura Kai 御蔵改	Mikura	45	37	0	60	84	29	15	64	17	33	89	Slow	0	10	10
417	Yashiro Kai 屋代改	Mikura	45	36	0	62	85	30	30	98	17	33	90	Slow	0	10	10
509	Noumi Kai 能美改	Mikura	45	35	0	61	87	28	16	76	17	33	89	Slow	0	10	10
510	Kurahashi Kai 倉橋改	Mikura	45	36	0	60	86	29	23	93	17	33	91	Slow	0	10	10
317	Shimushu Kai 占守改	Shimushu	40	35	0	53	77	28	50	89	17	33	92	Slow	0	10	10
318	Kunashiri Kai 国後改	Shimushu	40	36	0	52	75	29	45	88	17	33	91	Slow	0	10	10
384	Hachijou Kai 八丈改	Shimushu	40	35	0	54	76	29	49	92	17	33	93	Slow	0	10	10
385	Ishigaki Kai 石垣改	Shimushu	40	37	0	52	79	30	10	59	17	33	92	Slow	0	10	10
437	Kaiboukan No.4 Kai 第四号海防艦改 Yotsu よつ	Type D Kaiboukan	35	28	0	41	76	20	20	81	15	29	91	Slow	0	10	10	Has 2 equipment slots
438	Kaiboukan No.30 Kai 第三〇号海防艦改 Mito みと	Type D Kaiboukan	35	28	0	45	74	19	20	81	15	28	89	Slow	0	10	10	Has 2 equipment slots
498	Kaiboukan No.22 Kai 第二十二号海防艦改 Fuufu ふーふ、	Type D Kaiboukan	35	27	0	40	79	22	22	88	17	30	92	Slow	0	10	10	Has 2 equipment slots
526	Ukuru Kai 鵜来改	Ukuru	43	34	0	60	88	27	38	99	17	33	91	Slow	0	10	10
579	Inagi Kai Ni 稲木改二	Ukuru	73	43	0	77	87	42	17	87	27	47	93	Slow	0	10	15
1730	Inagi Kai 稲木改	Ukuru	45	32	0	66	85	24	13	73	17	36	86	Slow	0	10	10
No.	Name	Class								+								Notes

Gameplay Notes

DEs mostly behave as inferior DDs, trading combat effectiveness and versatility with cheapness to operate. They:

• Cannot be a replacement for DDs in Routing, Quests, and Expeditions; unless specified otherwise.
• Can OASW with only 60 ASW stat, and even at 75 ASW with no sonar (against 100 ASW for most other ships).
• Are Slow Speed, and as they cannot equip Engine Improvement, they cannot become fast.
• Cannot equip Torpedoes, Star shells, Searchlight, or Drums either.
• Have no Torpedo stat and therefore cannot perform closing torpedo.

These ships are generally best used on maps with lots of submarines and no other major surface threats.

Trivia

Developed originally as fishery protection ships, with a secondary minesweeping and tertiary convoy escort wartime function, the Shimushu class coastal defense ships (Kaibōkan) became during the war the template for the main type of oceanic convoy escorts built by the IJN. These ships were initially conceived in the early 1930s, a resurgent Russian naval presence in the Far East resulted in a number of incidents involving Japanese fisheries in disputed waters, they were consistent with the unlimited category (Article 8) of the London Naval Treaty of 1930 that allowed to build ships like the British sloops, French avisos, and the American Erie class patrol gunboats, but they were effectively authorized and built only with the 1937 naval program, after Japan had left the Treaty system and the Second London Naval Treaty had removed those quantitative limitations that justified the introduction of an unlimited category.

Originally coastal defense ship was a classification used for obsolete battleships and cruisers deemed unfit for first-line duties and assigned to coastal defense, it became a separate classification that included only the new escorts in July 1942, the surviving obsolete armored cruisers were reclassified as heavy cruisers; the new classification was also moved from the Gunkan sub-group, which included main combatants like battleships, cruisers, carriers, etc. to the baseline Kantei group, which included destroyers, submarines, torpedo boats, etc.

The lack of an ASW emphasis in the Shimushu class can be evidenced from the limited depth charge stowage (12, increased to 24 since May 1942 and 60 since Autumn 1943) and the lack of sonar until Autumn 1942, coastal defense ships became genuine, purpose-built, convoy escorts only with the Mikura class, that was fitted with sonar since the beginning and carried 120 depth charges, albeit the minesweeping gear was dropped from the plans only with the Ukuru class. Mass production wasn't attempted until the Ukuru class and the Type C&D, which extensively employed welding and pre-fabrication.

During WWII the coastal defense ship classification was also used for the two former Chinese light cruisers Ning Hai and Ping Hai, in late 1943 the IJN decided to rebuild the two idle ships into escorts with a radically altered superstructure and armament analogous to the Type C & D kaiboukan, they were respectively renamed Iaoshima and Isoshima. These relatively large ships were also supposed to serve as tenders for aircraft bases, for this purpose they were equipped with a crane on the mainmast, trucks, one Daihatsu (14 m), and one Shohatsu (10 m) landing craft. Yasoshima was re-rated as a light cruiser for administrative reasons on the 25th of September 1944, it had been decided to appoint her as flagship for the newly organized First Transport Squadron, a role that required her to be rated as a light cruiser.

The plan to implement this ship class had existed since 2013, when the game started, according to the quarterly book 艦これ鎮守府生活のすゝめVol.1 released at the time. Players were told to be patient about their implementation since they were for the final phase of the war, despite stating that they want to release them as soon as possible. The ship class was ultimately implemented in May 2017, during Spring Event of that year.