Kamikaze-class destroyer (1905)

The Kamikaze-class destroyers (神風型駆逐艦, Kamikaze-gata kuchikukan)("divine wind") were a class of thirty-two torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs) of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Kamikaze class of destroyers were the first destroyers to be mass-produced in Japan. The class is also sometimes referred to as the Asakaze class.[1] This class of destroyer should not be confused with the later Kamikaze-class destroyers built in 1922, which participated in the Pacific War.

Japanese destroyer Ushio at Vladivostok 1920
Class overview
Name: Kamikaze class
Operators:  Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by: Harusame class
Succeeded by: Umikaze class
In commission: 16 August 1905 - 1 April 1928
Completed: 32
Lost: 2
Retired: 30
General characteristics
Type: Destroyer
Displacement:
  • 381 long tons (387 t) normal,
  • 450 long tons (460 t)
Length:
  • 69.2 m (227 ft) pp,
  • 72 m (236 ft)
Beam: 6.57 m (21.6 ft)
Draught: 1.8 m (5.9 ft)
Propulsion: 2-shaft reciprocating, 4 coal-fired boilers, 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW)
Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h)
Range: 850 nmi (1,570 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h)
Complement: 70
Armament:

Background

The Kamikaze-class destroyers were part of the 1904 Imperial Japanese Navy Emergency Expansion Program created by the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. Twenty-five vessels were ordered in 1904; an additional four vessels were ordered in 1905, and three more in 1906, bringing the total to thirty-two ships. The Japanese governmental shipyards were overwhelmed with the volume of construction, and for the first time civilian shipyards were also assigned to produce warships.[2]

Design

In terms of design, the Kamikaze-class ships were substantially identical to the previous Harusame class, in terms of hull design and external appearance, retaining the flush deck design with a distinctive "turtleback" forecastle inherited from the Ikazuchi class, as well as the four-smokestack profile. However, with operational experience gained in the Russo-Japanese War, the Kamikaze class employed shorter smokestacks with spark and glow arrestors to give the ships a more stealthy capability for night combat operations.

Internally, design and production issues still existed with the Japanese copies of the Yarrow water-tube boilers in the coal-fired triple expansion steam engines, which could produce only 6,000 shaft horsepower (4,500 kW); however, with the final three vessels (Uranami, Isonami, Ayanami), many problems had been resolved, and the engines modified to be run on heavy fuel oil as well as coal.

Armament was the similar in layout to the previous Harusame class, but with larger secondary guns; i.e. two QF 12 pounder mounted on bandstands on the forecastle and fantail, four additional short barrel 12 pounder guns (two sited abreast the conning tower, and two sited between the funnels, and two single tubes for 18-inch (457 mm) torpedoes).

Operational history

Only two Kamikaze-class vessels were completed in time to see combat service in the Russo-Japanese War.

Considered too small, unsuitable for heavy seas, and obsolete by the time of completion, the Kamikaze-class destroyers were quickly removed from front-line combat service after the end of the war, and were de-rated to third-class destroyers on 28 August 1912. Asatsuyu was wrecked off Nanao Bay on 9 November 1913.

However, despite the re-classification, all remaining vessels saw service in World War I. Shirotae was lost in combat on 3 September 1914 off Tsingtao (36°00′N 110°30′E), while in combat against the German gunboat SMS Jaguar.[3] This was the first significant warship loss by Japan during World War I.[4]

Eighteen of the remaining surviving vessels were converted into minesweepers on 1 December 1924, and the others struck. However, all of the converted vessels were retired and/or scrapped soon afterwards.[5]

List of ships

Kanji Name Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate Name meaning
神風 Kamikaze Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan 20 August 1904 15 July 1905 16 August 1905 Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928
Divine wind
初霜 Hatsushimo Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan 20 August 1904 13 May 1905 18 August 1905 Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928
First frost (October)
弥生 Yayoi Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan 20 August 1904 7 August 1905 23 September 1905 Retired 1 December 1924;
scuttled 10 August 1926
Month of born plants(March)
如月 Kisaragi Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan 10 September 1904 6 September 1905 19 October 1905 Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928
February
朝風 Asakaze Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan 30 December 1904 28 October 1905 1 April 1906 Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
struck 1 April 1928, scuttled 1 August 1929
Morning wind
白露 Shiratsuyu Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan 25 February 1905 12 February 1906 23 August 1906 To Reserves 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928
White dew
白雪 Shirayuki Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan 24 March 1905 19 May 1906 12 October 1906 To Reserves 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928
White snow
松風 Matsukaze Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan 25 September 1905 23 December 1906 15 March 1907 To Reserves 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928
Wind to pines in coast
春風 Harukaze Kawasaki Dockyards, Kobe, Japan 16 February 1905 25 December 1905 14 May 1906 To Reserves 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928
Spring wind
時雨 Shigure Kawasaki Dockyards, Kobe, Japan 3 June 1905 12 March 1906 11 July 1906 Scrapped 1 December 1924 East Asian rainy season
朝露 Asatsuyu Osaka Iron Works, Osaka, Japan 28 April 1905 2 April 1906 16 November 1906 Wrecked at Nanao Bay 9 November 1913;
struck 15 April 1914
Morning dew
疾風 Hayate Osaka Iron Works, Osaka, Japan 25 September 1905 22 May 1906 13 June 1907 BU 1 December 1924 Fresh breeze
追手 Oite Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan 1 August 1905 10 January 1906 21 August 1906 BU 1 December 1924 Pursuer (an army of the front)
夕凪 Yūnagi Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan 20 January 1906 22 August 1906 25 December 1906 BU 1 December 1924 An evening calm
夕暮 Yūgure Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan 1 March 1905 17 November 1905 26 May 1906 Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
struck 1 April 1928, scuttled 23 January 1930
Evening (sunset)
夕立 Yūdachi Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan 20 March 1905 26 March 1906 16 July 1906 Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928
A shower
三日月 Mikazuki Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan 1 June 1905 26 May 1906 12 September 1906 Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
struck 1 April 1928, scuttled 21 July 1930
A sickle moon
野分 Nowaki Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan 1 August 1905 25 July 1906 1 November 1906 BU 1 December 1924 A gale between grass (autumn typhoon)
Ushio Kure Naval Arsenal, Japan 12 April 1905 30 August 1905 1 October 1905 Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928
A tide
子日 Nenohi Kure Naval Arsenal, Japan 25 June 1905 30 August 1905 1 October 1905 Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928
Pine of New Year's Day
Hibiki Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan 28 September 1905 31 March 1906 6 September 1906 Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928
An echo
白妙 Shirotae Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan 24 March 1905 30 July 1906 21 January 1907 Combat loss off Shantung Peninsula 4 September 1914;
written off 29 October 1914
White cloth
初春 Hatsuharu Kawasaki Dockyards, Kobe, Japan 11 November 1905 21 May 1906 1 March 1907 Retired 1 December 1924;
scuttled 1 April 1928
Early spring (New Year)
若葉 Wakaba Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan 20 May 1905 25 November 1906 28 February 1906 Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928
Young leaves
初雪 Hatsuyuki Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan 11 September 1905 8 March 1906 17 May 1906 Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928
The first snow of the year
卯月 Uzuki Kawasaki Dockyards, Kobe, Japan 22 March 1906 20 September 1906 6 March 1907 BU 1 December 1924 Month of Deutzia (April)
水無月 Minatsuki Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan 25 February 1906 5 November 1906 14 February 1907 Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-10 1 August 1928;
retired 1 June 1930, scuttled 28 May 1931
Month of the submerged rice field (June)
長月 Nagatsuki Uraga Dock Company, Japan 28 October 1905 15 December 1906 31 July 1907 Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-11 1 August 1928;
retired 1 June 1930
Month of long night (September)
菊月 Kikutsuki Uraga Dock Company, Japan 2 March 1906 10 April 1907 20 September 1907 Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-12 1 August 1928;
retired 1 June 1930
Month of chrysanthemum (September)
浦波 Uranami Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan 1 May 1907 8 December 1907 2 October 1908 Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-8 1 August 1928;
utility vessel 1 June 1930
Wave in an inlet
磯波 Isonami Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan 15 January 1908 21 November 1908 2 April 1909 Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-7 ` August 1928;
utility vessel 1 June 1930
Wave on a sea shore
綾波 Ayanami Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan 15 May 1908 20 March 1909 26 June 1909 Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-9 1 August 1928;
utility vessel 1 June 1930
Cross wave

References

Notes

  1. Jentsura, Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945
  2. Howarth, The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun
  3. World War I Naval Combat
  4. http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyJapanese.htm
  5. Watts & Gordon. The Imperial Japanese Navy. pp. 242–244.

Books

  • Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 18871941. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
  • Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 18951945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
  • Lyon, David (2006). The First Destroyers. Mercury Books. ISBN 1-84560-010-X.
  • Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 18691945. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
  • Watts, Anthony; Gordon, Brian (1971). The Imperial Japanese Navy. Macdonald. ISBN 0356030458.
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