The Kamikaze class was an improved version of the Minekaze-class destroyers. The ships had an overall length of 102.5 meters (336 ft 3 in)[1] and were 97.5 meters (319 ft 11 in) between perpendiculars. They had a beam of 9.1 meters (29 ft 10 in), and a mean draft of 2.9 meters (9 ft 6 in). The Kamikaze-class ships displaced 1,422 metric tons (1,400 long tons) at standard load and 1,747 metric tons (1,719 long tons) at deep load.[2] They were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four Kamponwater-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 38,500 shaft horsepower (28,700 kW), which would propel the ships at 37.3 knots (69.1 km/h). During sea trials, the ships comfortably exceeded their designed speeds, reaching 38.7 to 39.2 knots (71.7 to 72.6 km/h).[3] The ships carried 420 metric tons (413 long tons) of fuel oil which gave them a range of 3,600 nautical miles (6,700 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h). Their crew consisted of 148 officers and crewmen.[4]
The main armament of the Kamikaze-class ships consisted of four 12-centimeter (4.7 in) Type 3 guns in single mounts; one gun forward of the superstructure, one between the two funnels and the last pair back to back atop the aft superstructure. The guns were numbered '1' to '4' from front to rear. The ships carried three above-water twin sets of 53.3-centimeter (21.0 in) torpedo tubes; one mount was between the forward superstructure and the forward gun and the other two were between the aft funnel and aft superstructure.[4]
Early in the war, the No. 4 gun and the aft torpedo tubes were removed in exchange for four depth charge throwers and 18 depth charges. In addition 10 license-built 25 mm (0.98 in) Type 96 light AA guns were installed.[5] These changes increased their displacement to 1,499 long tons (1,523 t). Survivors had their light AA armament augmented to be between thirteen and twenty 25 mm guns and four 13.2 mm (0.5 in) Type 93anti-aircraft machineguns by June 1944. These changes reduced their speed to 35 knots (65 km/h).[4]
Construction and career
Asakaze, built by Mitsubishi at their shipyard in Nagasaki, was laid down on 16 February 1922, launched on 8 December 1922 and completed on 16 June 1923. Originally commissioned simply as Destroyer No. 3, the ship was assigned the name Asakaze on 1 August 1928.[6]
On 10 March, Asakaze and Destroyer Division 5 were reassigned to the Southwest Area Fleet and escorted troop convoys from Singapore to Penang, and Rangoon, and covered landings of Japanese troops in the Nicobar Islands as part of Operation D on 11 June. From late July 1942–February 1943, Asakaze was assigned to patrols between Ambon and Timor in the Netherlands East Indies. At the end of February, she was based out of Saigon, and assigned to convoy escort duties between Takao and Moji, Kyūshū. She refitted at Sasebo Naval Arsenal at the end of May, and resumed her convoy escort duties to Saipan and Manila through August 1944.[9]
Dull, Paul S. (2013). A Battle History of The Imperial Japanese Navy (reprint 1978 ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN-1-612-51290-9.
Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN0-85177-245-5.
Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895–1945. Atheneum. ISBN0-689-11402-8.
Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN0-87021-893-X.
