Isokaze-class destroyer

The Isokaze-class destroyers (磯風型駆逐艦, Isokazegata kuchikukan) was a class of four destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy.[1]

Amatsukaze on patrol, Yangzi River, 1927
Class overview
Name: Isokaze class
Builders:
Operators:  Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by: Kaba class
Succeeded by: Momo class
In commission: 1 April 1916 – 1 April 1935
Completed: 4
Retired: 4
General characteristics
Type: Destroyer
Displacement:
  • 1,227 long tons (1,247 t) normal,
  • 1,550 long tons (1,570 t) full load
Length:
  • 94.5 m (310 ft) pp,
  • 96.9 m (318 ft) overall
Beam: 8.5 m (28 ft)
Draught: 2.8 m (9.2 ft)
Propulsion: 3-shaft steam turbine, 5 heavy oil-fired boilers 27,000 ihp (20,000 kW)
Speed: 34 knots (63 km/h)
Range: 3,360 nautical miles (6,220 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement: 128
Armament:

Background

The Isokaze-class destroyers were designed as part of the first phase of the Hachi-hachi Kantai program of the Imperial Japanese Navy. With the commissioning of the new high speed battleships Yamashiro and Ise, escort vessels with equally high speed and blue ocean capabilities were required.

Four vessels were built, with the order split between Kure Naval Arsenal, Kawasaki Shipyards in Kobe and Mitsubishi Shipyards in Nagasaki.[2]

Design

The Isokaze-class ships were a slightly larger and updated version of the previous Umikaze class. Externally, the design went to a three smokestack profile, with a curved, rather than straight bow.

Internally, the engines were replaced with heavy fuel oil-fired steam turbine engines. Two vessels (Amatsukaze and Tokitsukaze) used Brown-Curtis turbine engines, and the other two (Isokaze, Hamakaze) used Parsons turbine engines. Advances in turbine design and construction permitted more reliable operation than previously with the Umikaze. The rated power of 27,000 shp (20,000 kW) gave the vessels a high speed of 34 knots (63 km/h), and a range of 3,360 nautical miles (6,220 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h); however, the engines could not be run continuously at over 7,000 shp (5,200 kW), which still considerably limited performance.

Armament was increased over the previous classes, with four QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I - IV, pedestal-mounted along the centerline of the vessel, two in front of the smokestacks and two to the stern. The number of torpedoes was increased to three launchers, each with a pair of 533 mm torpedoes. Anti-aircraft protection was provided by four machine guns.

Operational history

The Isokaze-class destroyers were completed in time to serve in the very final stages of World War I.[3] Tokitsukaze broke in two and sank off of Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyūshū in 1918. The wreck was raised and repaired at the Maizuru Naval Arsenal, and although re-commissioned as a first class destroyer, was used thereafter as a training vessel at the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy at Etajima.[4]

All Isokaze-class ships were retired on 1 April 1935.[4]

List of ships
Kanji Name Translation Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate
磯風 Isokaze Sea Breeze Kure Naval Arsenal, Japan 5 April 1916 5 October 1916 28 February 1917 Retired 1 April 1935
天津風 Amatsukaze Heavenly Breeze Kure Naval Arsenal, Japan 1 April 1916 5 October 1916 14 April 1917 Retired 1 April 1935
浜風 Hamakaze Beach Wind Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nagasaki, Japan 1 April 1916 30 October 1916 28 March 1917 Retired 1 April 1935
時津風 Tokitsukaze Favorable Wind Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation, Kobe, Japan 10 March 1916 27 December 1916 31 May 1917 Wrecked off Miyazaki coast 30 March 1918, but raised and re-commissioned 17 February 1920; retired 1 April 1935

References

Notes
  1. Jentsura, Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945
  2. Howarth, The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun
  3. "Japanese Navy, IJN, World War 1". Naval-history.net. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  4. Gardiner Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921 p.243

Books
  • Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
  • Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
  • Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.


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