Kamikaze-class destroyer (1905)


The Kamikaze-class destroyers were a class of thirty-two torpedo boat destroyers 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. This class of destroyer should not be confused with the later Kamikaze-class destroyers built in 1922, which participated in the Pacific War.

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.

Design

In terms of design, the Kamikaze-class ships were substantially identical to the previous, in terms of hull design and external appearance, retaining the flush deck design with a distinctive "turtleback" forecastle inherited from the, 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 ; however, with the final three vessels, 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, 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.

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, while in combat against the German gunboat SMS Jaguar. This was the first significant warship loss by Japan during World War I.
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.

List of ships

KanjiNameBuilderLaid downLaunchedCompletedFateName meaning
神風Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan20 August 190415 July 190516 August 1905Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928		Divine wind
初霜Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan20 August 190413 May 190518 August 1905Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928		First frost
弥生Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan20 August 19047 August 190523 September 1905Retired 1 December 1924;
scuttled 10 August 1926		Month of born plants
如月Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan10 September 19046 September 190519 October 1905Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928		February
朝風Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan30 December 190428 October 19051 April 1906Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
struck 1 April 1928, scuttled 1 August 1929		Morning wind
白露Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan25 February 190512 February 190623 August 1906To Reserves 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928		White dew
白雪Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan24 March 190519 May 190612 October 1906To Reserves 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928		White snow
松風Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan25 September 190523 December 190615 March 1907To Reserves 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928		Wind to pines in coast
春風Kawasaki Dockyards, Kobe, Japan16 February 190525 December 190514 May 1906To Reserves 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928		Spring wind
時雨Kawasaki Dockyards, Kobe, Japan3 June 190512 March 190611 July 1906Scrapped 1 December 1924East Asian rainy season
朝露Osaka Iron Works, Osaka, Japan28 April 19052 April 190616 November 1906Wrecked at Nanao Bay 9 November 1913;
struck 15 April 1914		Morning dew
疾風Osaka Iron Works, Osaka, Japan25 September 190522 May 190613 June 1907BU 1 December 1924Fresh breeze
追手Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan1 August 190510 January 190621 August 1906BU 1 December 1924Pursuer （an army of the front）
夕凪Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan20 January 190622 August 190625 December 1906BU 1 December 1924An evening calm
夕暮Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan1 March 190517 November 190526 May 1906Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
struck 1 April 1928, scuttled 23 January 1930		Evening
夕立Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan20 March 190526 March 190616 July 1906Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928		A shower
三日月Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan1 June 190526 May 190612 September 1906Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
struck 1 April 1928, scuttled 21 July 1930		A sickle moon
野分Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan1 August 190525 July 19061 November 1906BU 1 December 1924A gale between grass
潮Kure Naval Arsenal, Japan12 April 190530 August 19051 October 1905Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928		A tide
子日Kure Naval Arsenal, Japan25 June 190530 August 19051 October 1905Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928		Pine of New Year's Day
響Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan28 September 190531 March 19066 September 1906Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928		An echo
白妙Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan24 March 190530 July 190621 January 1907Combat loss off Shantung Peninsula 4 September 1914;
written off 29 October 1914		White cloth
初春Kawasaki Dockyards, Kobe, Japan11 November 190521 May 19061 March 1907Retired 1 December 1924;
scuttled 1 April 1928		Early spring
若葉Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan20 May 190525 November 190628 February 1906Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928		Young leaves
初雪Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan11 September 19058 March 190617 May 1906Minesweeper 1 December 1924;
BU 1 April 1928		The first snow of the year
卯月Kawasaki Dockyards, Kobe, Japan22 March 190620 September 19066 March 1907BU 1 December 1924Month of Deutzia
水無月Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan25 February 19065 November 190614 February 1907Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-10 1 August 1928;
retired 1 June 1930, scuttled 28 May 1931		Month of the submerged rice field
長月Uraga Dock Company, Japan28 October 190515 December 190631 July 1907Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-11 1 August 1928;
retired 1 June 1930		Month of long night
菊月Uraga Dock Company, Japan2 March 190610 April 190720 September 1907Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-12 1 August 1928;
retired 1 June 1930		Month of chrysanthemum
浦波Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan1 May 19078 December 19072 October 1908Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-8 1 August 1928;
utility vessel 1 June 1930		Wave in　an inlet
磯波Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan15 January 190821 November 19082 April 1909Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-7 ` August 1928;
utility vessel 1 June 1930		Wave on a sea shore
綾波Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan15 May 190820 March 190926 June 1909Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-9 1 August 1928;
utility vessel 1 June 1930		Cross wave

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