The following is a list of destroyers and 1st class (steam) torpedo boats of Japan grouped by class or design. In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. The Japanese torpedo boatJentschura p. 132 (Akatsuki built by Yarrow & Co. in 1902; 224' long, displaced 415 tons, two 18" Torpedoes, two 3" guns, four 57mm Quick Firing Guns, complement 60 officers/men. Sunk by mine at Port Arthur on 17 May 1904) of 1885 was "the forerunner of torpedo boat destroyers that appeared a decade later". They were designed to Japanese specifications and ordered from the London Yarrow shipyards in 1885. The Yarrow shipyards, builder of the parts for the Kotaka, "considered Japan to have effectively invented the destroyer".
Imperial Japanese Navy
Russo-Japanese War These twenty-three 'turtle-back' destroyers, all authorised under the Ten Year Naval Expansion Programme of 1898, comprised six Ikazuchi class built by YarrowYarrow & Company, Poplar, London. and six Murakumo class built by ThornycroftJohn I. Thornycroft & Company, Chiswick, London. in the UK, each carrying 1 × 12-pdr (aft) and 5 x 6-pdr guns and 2 × 18 in torpedo tubes, and followed by two larger ships from each of the same builders (the Shirakumo class from Thornycroft and the Akatsuki class from Yarrow), in which a second 12-pdr replaced the foremost 6-pdr, and finally by seven Harusame class built in Japan. All were later rated as 3rd Class destroyers (under 600 tons each). The programme also included sixteen First Class torpedo boats, included below (47 smaller 2nd and 3rd Class boats from this Programme are not included)
— 6 ships
Name Kanji Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate 叢雲 Thornycroft, Chiswick, UK 1 October 1897 16 November 1898 29 December 1898 depot vessel 1 April 1919, auxiliary minesweeper 1 July 1920; dispatch vessel 1 April 1922, scuttled 4 June 1925 東雲 1 October 1897 14 December 1898 1 February 1899 wrecked off Taiwan 23 July 1913; written off 6 August 1913 夕霧 1 November 1897 26 January 1899 10 March 1899 depot vessel 1 April 1919, auxiliary minesweeper 1 July 1920; Broken up 1 April 1922 不知火 1 January 1898 15 March 1899 13 May 1899 minesweeper 1 April 1922, dispatch vessel 1 August 1923; Broken up 25 February 1925 陽炎 1 August 1898 23 October 1899 31 October 1899 Dispatch vessel 21 April 1922; Broken up 25 February 1925 薄雲 1 September 1898 16 January 1900 1 February 1900 minesweeper 1 April 1922, dispatch vessel 1 August 1923; scuttled 29 April 1925
— 6 ships
Name Kanji Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate Ikazuki 雷 Yarrow & Company, Poplar, London 1 September 1897 15 November 1898 23 February 1899 Boiler explosion at Ominato 9 October 1913, written off 5 November 1913, scrapped 29 April 1914 Inazuma 電 1 November 1897 28 January 1899 25 April 1899 Lost in collision off Hakodate 16 December 1909, written off 15 September 1910 Akebono 曙 1 February 1898 25 April 1899 3 July 1899 Retired 18 October 1921, scrapped 2 May 1925 Sazanami 漣 1 June 1897 8 August 1899 28 August 1899 Retired 1 April 1913, sold 23 August 1914 as MV Sazanami Maru Niji 霓 1 January 1899 22 June 1899 29 July 1899 Grounded off Shantung Peninsula 29 July 1900, written off 8 April 1901 Oboro 朧 1 January 1899 5 October 1899 1 November 1899 Retired 21 June 1921, scrapped 1926
Shirataka class – 1 1st class torpedo boat
Name Kanji Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate Shirataka 白鷹 Schichau-Werke, Danzig, Germany 3 March 1899 10 June 1899 22 June 1900 Utility vessel 15 November 1923, sold for scrap 6 April 1927
Hayabusa class – 15 1st class torpedo boats
Name Kanji Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate Hayabusa 隼 Normand Shipyard, Le Havre, France 15 March 1899 16 December 1899 19 April 1900 Utility vessel 1 April 1919, scrapped 14 September 1922 Manazuru 真鶴 9 October 1899 27 June 1900 7 November 1900 Utility vessel 1 April 1919, scrapped 17 December 1925 Kasasaki 鵲 26 December 1899 30 June 1900 30 November 1900 Utility vessel 1 April 1919, scrapped 17 December 1925 Chidori 千鳥 11 June 1900 27 January 1901 9 April 1901 Utility vessel 1 April 1913, scrapped 27 February 1923 Kari 雁 Kure Naval Arsenal, Kure, Hiroshima 5 April 1902 14 March 1903 25 July 1903 Utility vessel 1 April 1922, scrapped 19 February 1930 Aotaka 蒼鷹 15 April 1902 14 March 1903 1 August 1903 Utility vessel 1 April 1922, scrapped 19 September 1927 Hato 鴿 22 May 1902 22 August 1903 22 October 1903 Utility vessel 1 April 1922, scrapped 10 July 1926 Tsubame 燕 2 June 1902 21 October 1903 24 November 1903 Utility vessel 1 April 1922, scrapped 15 July 1925 Hibari 雲雀 25 July 1902 21 October 1903 10 January 1904 Utility vessel 1 April 1922, scrapped 14 February 1925 Kiji 雉 2 September 190214 June 1904 5 November 190318 April 1905 23 January 19049 May 1905 Ran aground 31 March 1904, only hull was scrapped and ship was rebuilt using parts from the original hull, Utility vessel 15 December 1923, scrapped 2 October 1926 Hashitake 鷂 Kawasaki Dockyards, Kobe 14 June 1903 30 December 1903 27 February 1904 Utility vessel 1 April 1923, scrapped 15 July 1926 Sagi 鷺 4 October 1902 21 December 1903 22 March 1904 Utility vessel 1 April 1923, scrapped 14 February 1925 Uzura 鶉 20 January 1903 29 February 1904 22 April 1904 Utility vessel 1 April 1923, scrapped 30 September 1932 Kamome 鴎 24 February 1903 30 April 1904 4 June 1904 Utility vessel 15 December 1923, scrapped 18 September 1926 Ōtori 鴻 14 June 1903 29 February 1904 4 June 1904 Utility vessel 15 December 1923, scrapped 15 September 1926
— 2 ships
Name Kanji Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate 白雲Thornycroft, Chiswick, United Kingdom 1 February 1901 1 October 1901 13 February 1902 auxiliary minesweeper 1 April 1922; utility vessel 1 April 1923; sold 21 July 1925 朝潮 3 April 1901 10 January 1902 4 May 1902 auxiliary minesweeper 1 April 1922, utility vessel 1 April 1923; sold 5 April 1926
Akatsuki class – 2 ships
Name Kanji Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate 暁 Yarrow & Co, Cubitt Town, London 10 December 1900 13 February 1901 14 December 1901 mined off Port Arthur 17 May 1904, written off 19 October 1905 霞 1 February 1901 23 January 1902 14 February 1902 demilitarized 1 April 1913, scrapped 1 July 1920
— 7 ships
Name Kanji Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate Harusame 春雨 Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Yokosuka 1 February 1902 31 October 1902 26 June 1903 ran aground 24 November 1911, written off 28 December 1911, wreck broken up 1 August 1926 Murasame 村雨 20 March 1902 29 November 1902 7 July 1903 auxiliary minesweeper 1 April 1922, decommissioned 1 April 1923, broken up 14 February 1926 Hayatori 速鳥 15 April 1902 12 March 1903 24 August 1903 mined off Port Arthur 3 September 1904; struck 15 June 1905 Asagiri 朝霧 15 April 1902 15 April 1903 18 September 1903 auxiliary minesweeper 1 April 1922, decommissioned 1 April 1923; broken up 14 February 1926 Ariake 有明 Kure Naval Arsenal, Kure, Hiroshima 30 June 1904 17 December 1904 15 March 1905 retired 1 December 1924, struck from Navy List 10 April 1925; Transferred to Home Ministry as a police boat 12 November 1925 Fubuki 吹雪 29 September 1904 21 January 1905 28 February 1905 Stricken on 10 April 1925 and broken up in 1926 Arare 霰 29 October 1904 5 April 1905 10 May 1905 Stricken on 1 April 1924 and broken up in 1926
— 1 ship
Name Kanji Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate Akatsuki 暁 Izhorskiye Zavody, Russia 1897 or 1900 26 July 1901 27 June 1903 Originally Imperial Russian Navy destroyer . Captured 12 August 1904. Renamed Yamabiko or Yamahiko 19 October 1905. Broken up 1918 or 1919
World War I Before and during World War I, Japan established three grades of destroyers - the large (over 1,000 tons) 1st Class or ocean-going type, the medium (600 to 1,000 tons) 2nd Class type and the small (below 600 tons) 3rd Class type. Between 1904 and 1918, Japan built thirty-two 3rd Class destroyers (the Kamikaze class), twenty-two 2nd Class destroyers (the Sakura, Kaba, Momo and Enoki classes) and eight 1st Class destroyers (the Umikaze, Isokaze and Kawakaze classes). They also purchased two further 1st Class destroyers (the Urakaze class) built in the UK by Yarrow.
Kamikaze class – 32 ships