Kagerō-class destroyer

The were a class of nineteen 1st Class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during the 1930s, and operated by them during the Pacific War, where all but one were lost.

They were also called the , because the second ship, , was launched before the first ship, .

The class was also one of a series called within the Imperial Japanese Navy from their plan name. At the time of introduction, these destroyers were among the deadliest destroyers afloat, primarily due to the excellent range and lethality of their "Long Lance" torpedoes.

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. They displaced at standard load and at deep load. The displacement and beam were thus slightly larger than for the Asashio class, giving greater stability. The ships were designed with a range of at a speed of . However, the class more accurately proved to have a range of on trials. Notably, the Amatsukaze captured the port of Davao by bombarding the naval facilities to send back British machine gunners and destroyed 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 4.7-inch (12 cm) shell hit from the destroyer but otherwise did not do anything of note. In the battle's aftermath, Amatsukaze assisted in capturing the Dutch 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 , 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 Dutch freighter 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 defeat 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.

Service of the destroyers continued 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 US 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 13 November, Amatsukaze and Yukikaze fought in the first naval battle of Guadalcanal and both became key players of the engagement. 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 and sank the destroyer with a torpedo hit to her stern, alongside helping to cripple the destroyer USS Sterett and lightly damage the destroyer USS O'Bannon 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 8 May, 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. On 7 August, 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 7 October. 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, 25 October 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 when she was 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. 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 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.

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:Japanese destroyer Tokitsukaze under air attack during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, 4 March 1943 (342-FH-3A33340-23278AC).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:HamakazeII.jpg|Hamakaze

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

File:G5-pBKvWEAInBIc.jpg|Hamakaze, Tanikaze, and Isokaze (L to R)

File:Kagero-class.png|Urakaze, Hamakaze, and Yukikaze (R to L)

</gallery>Not pictured: Hayashio

Notes

References

External links

"Kagerō class" at CombinedFleet.com
"KAGERŌ Class Notes by Allyn Nevitt"