Katata was the second of the Seta-class river gunboats built under the 1920 Fleet Building Program of the Imperial Japanese Navy for operations on the inland waterways of China.

She was propelled by two reciprocating engines with two Kampon boilers driving three shafts, producing 1,400 hp (1,000 kW) and had a top speed of 16 knots.

As the design was incapable of open ocean sailing, she was then broken down into sections and shipped to the Tunghwa Shipyard in Shanghai, where she was reassembled and completed on 20 October 1923.

On 22 June 1942, she participated in “Operation SE” and was assigned to the Tung Ting Lake task force with gunboats Seta and Sumida.

[1] On 12 December 1944 USAAF aircraft bombed and damaged Katata near Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province at 29°35′N 116°10′E / 29.583°N 116.167°E / 29.583; 116.167 (she was possibly sunk and salvaged).