After a brief search, I've found I can't locate any information on particular types (not names) of Japanese ships.

What is the Japanese version of a Troop Transport called?
What type of boat would the Japanese use to transport troops from a ship to the shore?
What type of small boat would the Japanese use for patrols? (I'm thinking something slightly bigger then a PT Boat, not sure though).

And...I think those are my three main questions. Need the info to help with a story I am writing.

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I think that I have something in a book at home, Musso. I'll have to look tonight.

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Best Regards,
JW

Musso, this site might help:
Nihon Kaigun

I know i have stumbled across the auxilieries somewhere. Minelayers, hospital ships, its got it all

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"When war does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." -General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
"The conqueror is always a lover of peace; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed."-Karl von Clausewitz

For the most part the Japanese used commercial merchant shipping for their troop transports and amphibious assaults. I can give you the name and type of the handful of specialist vessels they did have later tonight.

For actual landings the Japanese did produce specialist landing craft. The most common was the Dihatsu (I know that's spelled wrong) types in a number of sizes corresponding to US LCVP through LCM sized vessels. Most were primarily wood in construction and some had bow ramps.
They also produced a small number of LST type landing ships that worked much like Allied ones did.

For patrol vessels the Japanese did not produce something directly equivalent to Allied torpedo boats but rather relied on modified fishing vessels similar to the German MFM trawler conversion. These acted more as picket vessels. It was a ship of this type that the US task force delivering Doolittle's raid ran across for example. These rarely had names but rather were just numbered.

Thanks for the help guys. I'm at work myself, so no rush

So i should look into fishing-vessel types to use as a patrol vessel in the story? Basically, the Japanese are moving troops onto an Island in the pacific. They're observed by a downed American pilot, so he would have a basic understanding of each type of ship and its purpose (priority targets).

Looking forward to more concrete info.

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Actually, in my experiance pilots can't tell ships apart for @#%@^. They couldn't tell you a carrier from a cruiser or whether what they sank was a freighter or a submarine. If it weren't for gun cameras you'd end up with the Yamato going down for the tenth time with pilots. Just look at Japanese claims! The US wasn't much better.

The most common four types of small patrol craft and landing craft for the Japanese are:

The Pa series Patrol boat. This is based on a small wooden trawler design. The basic craft is two masted and carries several 13mm machineguns and one or two 25mm AA guns along with depth charges. It is capable of sailing as well as operating under power.
The bridge and engine room usually had light steel plating for splinter protection on them

The Ch Patrol boat. These are more purpose built and resemble a US submarine chaser. They are all steel and mount a 3" gun forward one or two 25mm AA guns and several machineguns. Aft is a group of DC launchers and racks.

The Cha patrol craft. This group is built on a hull similar to a small tug boat. These mount several machineguns and often carried some depth charges as well.

The Daihatsu landing barge. Very common wooden hulled landing craft that came in 10 13, 15, and 17 meter sizes. The largest was about 57 feet long and carried 100 men or about 15 tons of supplies. All but the 10 meter had a bow ramp. These usually carried several machineguns for defense. This group represents the most common craft used in the Pacific by the Japanese. The Daihatsu was a primary means of moving men and supplies among island groups in the South Pacific and SWPA theaters in particular. They typically moved at night hiding in coastal niches under camoflauge by day where Allied air power was dominate.