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. The ships measured overall, with a beam of and a draft of .Chesneau, p. 194 They displaced at standard load and at deep load.Whitley, pp. 200–01 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 for a designed speed of . However, the class proved capable of exceeding 35.5 knots on sea trials.Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 148Chihaya/Abe (1972) p 8 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. 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" .
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 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 + Construction data Ship Kanji Shipyard Laid down Launched Completed Fate 17 Maizuru Naval Arsenal 3 September 1937 27 September 1938 6 November 1939 Crippled by mine, finished off by air attack SW of Rendova (New Georgia Campaign), 8 May 1943 at 18 Uraga Dock Company 30 August 1937 28 June 1938 20 December 1939 Air attack N of Iloilo, Panay, 27 October 1944 at 19 Fujinagata Shipyards 31 August 1937 25 October 1938 27 January 1940 Mined leaving Vila, Kolombangara (New Georgia Campaign), 8 May 1943 at 20 Maizuru Naval Arsenal 29 March 1938 29 November 1938 20 August 1940 Crippled by mine, finished off by air attack leaving Vila, Kolombangara (New Georgia Campaign), 8 May 1943 at 21 Uraga Dock Company 30 June 1938 19 April 1939 31 August 1940 Scuttled after air attack, Guna Bay (New Guinea Campaign), 24 November 1942 at 22 Fujinagata Shipyards 9 December 1937 23 February 1939 31 August 1940 Torpedoed by S of Makassar, 9 February 1942 at 23 Kawasaki Dockyard Co. 3 December 1937 24 January 1939 15 February 1940 Sunk in Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, 2 November 1943 at 24 Sasebo Naval Arsenal 2 August 1938 24 March 1939 20 January 1940 Surrendered to Republic of China on 6 July 1947 at Shanghai, renamed DD-12 Tan Yang (丹陽); scrapped 1970 25 Maizuru Naval Arsenal 14 February 1939 19 October 1939 26 October 1940 Damaged beyond repair by submarine , 10 January 1945, finished off by air attacks 6 April 1945 at 26 Uraga Dock Company 20 February 1939 10 November 1939 15 December 1940 Air attack SE of Finschhafen, 3 March 1943 at 27 Fujinagata Shipyards 11 April 1939 19 April 1940 15 December 1940 Torpedoed by NNW of Keelung, Taiwan, 21 November 1944 at 28 Sasebo Naval Arsenal 25 November 1938 19 June 1939 30 November 1940 Scuttled SW of Nagasaki following air attack, 7 April 1945 at 29 Uraga Dock Company 20 November 1939 25 November 1940 30 June 1941 Air attack SW of Nagasaki, 7 April 1945 at 30 Fujinagata Shipyards 18 October 1939 1 November 1940 25 April 1941 Torpedoed by in Sibutu Passage, 9 June 1944 at 31 Maizuru Naval Arsenal 8 November 1939 17 September 1940 28 April 1941 Sunk in the aftermath of the Battle off Samar, 26 October 1944 at 32–34 The dummy for the naval budget of the s 112 Maizuru Naval Arsenal 4 May 1939 22 April 1940 27 January 1941 Sunk in Battle of Vella Gulf (New Georgia Campaign), 6 August 1943 at 113 Uraga Dock Company 23 May 1939 18 June 1940 31 March 1941 Sunk in Battle of Vella Gulf, 6 August 1943 at 114 Fujinagata Shipyards 22 April 1940 13 March 1941 15 July 1941 Sunk in surface action during Operation Hailstone at Truk, 17 February 1944 at 115 Uraga Dock Company 2 July 1940 11 April 1941 27 September 1941 Torpedoed by USS Redfin SE of Zamboanga, Philippines, 11 April 1944 at
Operational history
Seven out of the nine destroyers of the Pearl Harbor strike force were of the Kagerō class; Kagerō, Shiranui, Urakaze, Tanikaze, Isokaze, Hamakaze, and Akigumo. On the first day of World War II for Japan, Nowaki and Hagikaze captured the Norwegian cargo ship Helios before 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 by bombarding the naval facilities to send back British machine gunners and destroyed a British oil tanker in the process.Hara (1961) Chapter 11 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 .Hara (1961) Chapter 13
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 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.Battle 360; Vengeance at Midway (S1, E2)
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.Hara (1961) Chapter 20 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 and lightly damage the destroyer 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 .