Kagerō-class destroyer

Background

Following on the success of the , the Kagerō class was very similar in design, but was slightly larger and incorporated a number of improvements which had been gained through operational experience. It had a heavier main battery and much heavier torpedo armament than other contemporary foreign destroyer designs. The first 15 ships of this class were ordered in 1937 under the 3rd Naval Armaments Supplement Programme and the final four vessels were ordered in 1939 under the 4th Naval Armaments Supplement Programme. The final vessel in the class, , was sometimes mistaken for part of the succeeding by immediate postwar historians due to confusion over the number of fictitious destroyers listed in the Japanese budgetary records in an effort to conceal the budget devoted to the secret battleships.

Design and description

The Kagerō class used a similar but slightly enlarged hull and bridge as the preceding Asashio class and had an almost identical silhouette. The main visual difference was that the reloads for the forward torpedo launcher were located in front of the launcher instead of to the rear. The ships measured 118.5 m overall, with a beam of 10.8 m and a draft of 3.76 m. They displaced 2065 t at standard load and 2529 t at deep load. The displacement and beam were thus slightly larger than for the Asashio class, giving greater stability.

Their crew numbered 240 officers and enlisted men. The ships had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of 52000 shp for a designed speed of 35 kn. However, the class proved capable of exceeding 35.5 knots on sea trials. The ships were designed with a range of 5000 nmi at a speed of 18 kn. However, the class more accurately proved to have a range of 6053 nmi on trials. The Amatsukaze differed from her sisterships in having an experimental boiler system that built up a higher steam pressure. While the ship's top speed of 35.5 knots remained unaffected, she possessed a remarkably superior fuel economy to her sister ships, and thus scored a longer range. This engine design was used as a basis for the Japanese "super destroyer" Shimakaze.

Armament

As built, the weapons suite of the Kagerō class was identical to that of the preceding Asashio class. The main battery consisted of six 5-inch 12.7 cm/50 Type 3 naval guns in three twin-gun turrets, one superfiring pair aft and one turret forward of the superstructure. The guns were capable of 55-degree elevation. The ships were also armed with eight 610 mm torpedo tubes for the oxygen-fueled Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedo in two quadruple traversing mounts; one reload was carried for each tube. Their anti-submarine weapons initially comprised 16 depth charges, which was increased to 36 during the course of the Pacific War.

In terms of anti-aircraft capability, initially two twin-mount Type 96 AA guns were placed forward of the second smokestack. As the war progressed, the number of Type 96 guns was gradually increased. In 1942–1943, the twin mounts were replaced by triple mounts, and another twin mount was added forward of the bridge. From 1943 to 1944, on surviving vessels the superfiring "X" turret was removed and replaced by two more triple mounts. In late 1944, the seven surviving vessels were fitted with a varying number of additional guns. and received seven single mounts, whereas received 14 single mounts and four Type 93 13 mm machine guns.

became the first Japanese destroyer to be equipped with radar when a Type 22 set was installed in late 1942. The other vessels were equipped with radar as they rotated back to Japan for repair or refit. All seven vessels surviving in mid-1944 also received a Type 13 radar.

Ships in class

Operational history

Seven out of the eleven destroyers of the Pearl Harbor strike force were of the Kagerō class. During the start of World War II for Japan, the Kagerō class took part in a large variety of convoy and carrier escorting duties, and the occasional shore bombardment, to support the invasion of the Philippines and Dutch East Indies. Notably, the Amatsukaze captured the port of Davao, bombarding the naval facilities to send back British machine gunners and destroying a British oil tanker in the process. In the latter campaign, Natsushio became the first loss of the class when she was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine , while the entirety of destroyer division 16 took part in the Battle of the Java Sea, where Tokitsukaze was damaged by a shell hit from the destroyer , but otherwise did not do anything of note, but in the battle's aftermath, Amatsukaze assisted in capturing the hospital ship .

The careers of the Kagerō class began to pick up in March 1942 with the fall of the Dutch East Indies, with Nowaki and Arashi picking up an active role hunting down Allied ships attempting to escape to Australia, during which they together either sank or helped to sink the destroyer-minelayer hybrid , the gunboat , the sloop , three minesweepers, an oil tanker, four cargo ships, and a depot ship, alongside helping to capture three cargo ships. Amatsukaze and Hatsukaze helped to sink the submarine USS Perch*,* before Amatsukaze destroyed the Dutch submarine K-10. Shiranui, Kagerō, and Isokaze helped to sink the Dutch freighter Modjokerto, while Urakaze helped to sink the cargo ship Enggano, and Hayashio captured the Dutch steamship Speelman. From then on, a series of escorting duties ensued until the Battle of Midway, during which Kagerō-class destroyers escorted the aircraft carriers, invasion convoy, and battleship force. Particularly, Arashi attacked the submarine , enabling Arashi to be spotted by an American aircraft and trailed to the location of the Japanese aircraft carriers, leading to a devastating victory in which all four Japanese carriers and the heavy cruiser were sunk by American carrier-based aircraft. After the battle, Arashis crew committed a war crime by murdering downed pilot Ensign Wesley Osmus.

After that blunder, it was off to the Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal campaigns, which saw much of the same service, but mixed with troop and supply transport missions, during which Arashi helped to sink the freighter Anshun, plus escorting carriers at the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz. In the latter battle, Akigumo assisted in finishing off the crippled and abandoned aircraft carrier . On November 13, Amatsukaze and Yukikaze fought in the first naval battle of Guadalcanal, and both became key players of the battle. With torpedo hits, Amatsukaze sank the destroyer and helped to sink the light cruiser , before shelling the crippled heavy cruiser , but in turn was blasted by the light cruiser . She survived and withdrew to Truk. In stark contrast, Yukikaze survived the battle completely undamaged, and for her part helped to sink the destroyer with gunfire, then sank the destroyer with a torpedo hit to her stern, before transporting survivors from the sunken battleship to Truk. Two days later, Kagerō and Oyashio fired torpedoes at the battleship during the second naval battle of Guadalcanal, but inflicted no damage. On 25 November, Hayashio was sunk by land-based aircraft, while on 30 November, Kagerō, Kuroshio, and Oyashio took part in the Battle of Tassafaronga, where Kagerō helped to sink the heavy cruiser USS Northampton.

With the start of 1943, Hatsukaze and Tokitsukaze sank the American torpedo boats PT-43 and PT-112, while Isokaze and Maikaze sank the submarine , before both being damaged by American aircraft during Operation Ke. In March, Tokitsukaze was sunk by land-based aircraft during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. On May 8, Kagerō, Kuroshio, and Oyashio all ran into a minefield, Kuroshio blew up and sank instantly, while Kagerō and Oyashio were crippled and finished off by land-based aircraft. In July, Tanikaze helped to sink the light cruiser USS Helena at the Battle of Kula Gulf, while Yukikaze and Hamakaze both served in the Battle of Kolombangara, where they combined torpedoes with two other destroyer to sink the destroyer and cripple the light cruisers and , while Yukikaze directly torpedoed the light cruiser , damaging her so badly she could not be repaired before the end of the war. On August 7, Arashi and Hagikaze were sunk by gunfire and torpedoes from the destroyers , , and at the Battle of Vella Gulf, then a week later Hamakaze and Isokaze both helped to defend a troop convoy against US destroyers at the Battle off Horaniu, both being damaged by one 5-inch (127 mm) shell hit, before Isokaze and Akigumo did the same at the battle of Vella Lavella on October 7. At the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, after being damaged in a collision, Hatsukaze was sunk by the destroyers , , , , and . A small piece of Hatsukaze's bow returned to Rabaul lodged into the heavy cruiser Myōkō, later to be removed and scrapped.

In 1944, the height of the Kagerō class was over. They only scored one victory at the Battle off Samar, October 25, 1944, when Yukikaze, Isokaze, Urakaze, and Nowaki helped to finish off the already crippled destroyer . In exchange, loss after loss piled up. On 10 January, Amatsukaze was damaged beyond repair, blown in half by a torpedo fired from the submarine . The forward half rapidly sank, while the rear half stayed afloat and was towed to Singapore. In February, Maikaze was sunk off Truk by the heavy cruisers and and the battleship . In April, Redfin also torpedoed and sank Akigumo, while later that June, Tanikaze was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine , before the rest of the class saw escorting duties during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. In October, the remaining six functional ships of the class took part in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Hamakaze was damaged by air attacks on the 24th and forced to withdraw from the battle, while Shrianui escaped the Battle of the Surigao Strait without damage. Yukikaze, Isokaze, Urakaze, and Nowaki fought Taffy 3 at the Battle off Samar, firing torpedoes at the US escort carriers without obtaining a hit before as stated helping to sink Johnston. However, as the Japanese ships attempted to escape, Nowaki was sunk with all hands, crippled by gunfire from US cruisers and finished off by the destroyer , while Shiranui was sunk with all hands by aircraft from the carrier . With the American invasion of the Philippines becoming increasingly successful, the remaining ships retreated to mainland Japan, during which Urakaze was sunk with all hands by the submarine in the same attack that sank the battleship . Upon returning to Japan, Yukikaze, Isokaze, and Hamakaze escorted the newly completed aircraft carrier , during which she was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine .

Only four ships of the class were still around by 1945, of which three were functional. Throughout March and April, the Japanese command repeatedly hatched plans to deliver the still un-repaired Amatsukaze to mainland Japan, but each plan failed, culminating on April 6 when Amatsukaze was finally destroyed by land-based aircraft. The same day of Amatsukazes destruction, Yukikaze, Isokaze, and Hamakaze departed Japan as escorts for the battleship during Operation Ten-Go. En route the next day, the force was attack by nearly 400 carrier aircraft. Alongside the sinking of Yamato, Hamakaze was sunk by torpedo bombers from the light carrier , while Isokaze was fatally damaged by bomb hits from the light carriers and , resulting in Yukikaze scuttling the last of her sister ships, leaving her as the last Kagerō-class destroyer still afloat. For the rest of the war, Yukikaze saw a series of costal patrol duties, and by the end of the war, due to fuel shortages, was demoted to an anti-aircraft platform, surviving several air attacks by US carriers and survived for Emperor Hirohito to announce plans for an unconditional surrender on 15 August 1945, becoming one of only a handful of Japanese destroyers to survive the war.

Yukikaze was the only ship of the Kagerō class to survive the war, and was used to transport Japanese prisoners of war back to their homeland, and was heavily inspected post war by US Navy officials for documentation, before being transferred to the Taiwanese Navy in 1947. During her service as ROCS Dan Yang, the former Yukikaze took part in two shore bombardment missions, and captured two oil tankers and a cargo ship, alongside having over 50,000 overseas Chinese civilians tour the destroyer during a visit to Manila. The former Yukikaze was eventually decommissioned in 1966 after being damaged in a storm, and finally sold for scrapping material in 1970. Yukikazes rudder and one of her propellers are preserved in museums.

Gallery

File:Kagero.jpg|Kagerō File:Shiranuhi.jpg|Shiranui File:Kuroshio-194106024.jpg|Kuroshio File:Oyashio-2.jpg|Oyashio File:The launching of Kagerō-class destroyer Natsushio, 23 February 1939.jpg|Natsushio File:Natsugumo and Hatsukaze.png|Hatsukaze (right) File:Destroyer Yukikaze after the war (1945-1947).jpg|Yukikaze File:Amatsukaze II.jpg|Amatsukaze File:IMG Tokitsukaze.jpg|Tokitsukaze File:Urakaze II.jpg|Urakaze File:Isokaze at Saiki Bay.jpg|Isokaze File:Japanese destroyer Tanikaze at anchor in April 1941.jpg|Tanikaze File:Tanikaze-1.jpg|Tanikaze File:HamakazeII.jpg|Hamakaze File:Nowaki II.jpg|Nowaki File:Nowaki-194308.jpg|Nowaki File:Japanese destroyer Arashi underway in December 1940.jpg|Arashi File:Japanese destroyer Maikaze on 15 July 1941.jpg|Maikaze File:Hagikaze.jpg|Hagikaze File:Akigumo 19 January 1944.jpg|Akigumo Not pictured: Hayashio

Notes

References

References

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18. Hara (1961) Chapter 26
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