Amatsukaze was a of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Captained by Tameichi Hara throughout 1942, Amatsukaze saw heavy combat. She took part in the capture of several key areas in the Philippines and Dutch East Indies, notably when she captured the port of Davao, bombarding the shores and destroying attempts by machine gunners to halt the landings and destroying a British oil tanker in the process.
Amatsukaze saw combat at the battle of the Java Sea, but only took part in a torpedo attack that failed to score any hits. However, in the battle's aftermath, Amatsukaze assisted in capturing the hospital ship SS Op Ten Noort. Amatsukaze then took part in patrol duties in the Java Sea, where she sank or helped to sink the submarines HNLMS K-10 and USS Perch. Amatsukaze escorted Admiral Yamamoto's battleship force during the battle of Midway, and escorted carriers during the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz.
Amatsukaze probably saw the highlight of her career at the first naval battle of Guadalcanal, November 13, 1942, fighting an allied cruiser force at point blank range. With torpedo hits, Amatsukaze sank the destroyer USS Barton and helped to sink the light cruiser USS Juneau, before she shelled the crippled heavy cruiser USS San Francisco, but was herself crippled by shellfire from the light cruiser USS Helena, but managed to survive and withdraw from the battle.
Upon being repaired, Amatsukaze saw a variety of escorting roles throughout 1943, but did not see combat. On January 16, 1944, Amatsukaze was damaged beyond repair by a torpedo fired from the submarine USS Redfin which blew her in two. The forward section rapidly sank, but the aft section miraculously stayed afloat and was towed to Singapore, where she spent nearly the rest of her service. In March 1945, what was left of Amatsukaze was rigged with a temporary bow and departed in a vain attempt to make it to mainland Japan, but on April 6 she was forced to run aground after being hit by land-based air attacks, and finally scuttled on April 10.
After the war, Tameichi Hara published a book on his experiences as a destroyer captain, which included a detailed service of his time aboard Amatsukaze and the combat she went through.
Design and description The Kagerō class was an enlarged and improved version of the preceding . Their crew numbered 240 officers and enlisted men. The ships measured overall, with a beam of and a draft of .Sturton, p. 194 They displaced at standard load and at deep load.Whitley, pp. 200–201 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 . The ships had a range of at a speed of .Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 148
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.
The main armament of the Kagerō class consisted of six Type 3 dual-purpose guns in three twin-gun turrets, one turret forward of the superstructure and one superfiring pair aft. They were built with four Type 96 anti-aircraft (AA) guns in two twin-gun mounts, but more of these guns were added over the course of the war. The ships were also armed with two quadruple rotating mounts for torpedo tubes for the oxygen-fueled Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedo; one reload was carried for each tube. Their anti-submarine weapons originally comprised 16 depth charges, but this was increased to 36 by 1942.
Construction and commissioning
Amatsukaze was laid down in the Maizuru Naval Arsenal on February 14, 1939, launched on October 19 of that year, and commissioned on October 26, 1940. In the spring of 1941, Amatsukaze was put under the command of Captain Tameichi Hara. On November 25, Amatsukaze joined over 200 ships of Combined Fleet at Yokosuka, before steaming with three of her sister ships led by the light cruiser to take part in the invasion of the Philippines. Amatsukaze met up with the light carrier to escort her to Palau by the time of the Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.Hara (1961) chapter 10
World War II After escorting Ryūjō to Palau, Amatsukaze guarded Legaspi from December 12 to 19. On the 20th, she departed with the invasion force for the port of Davao. Docking outside the port, Amatsukaze was tasked with launching high speed motorboats carrying troops for the invasion while standing off the port's defenses and ships. Some 200 machine gunners attacked from the shore, killing one of the soldiers and injuring several others. Amatsukaze fired her 12.7 cm (5 in) guns at the enemy, forcing them to retreat and killing many of them, and in the process a stray shell hit a British oil tanker, causing it to explode and burn for over three days before being deemed a total wreck. Shortly afterwards, Amatsukaze discovered an enemy submarine, and slowed to 8 knots for the ship's sonar to work properly. Amatsukaze attacked twice with depth charges, and a large oil spill could be spotted, leading Captain Hara to conclude the submarine sunk.Hara (1961) Chapter 11Amatsukaze claimed to have sunk two additional submarines alongside her confirmed kills on HNLMS K X and USS Perch, but these remain unconfirmed.
Java Sea campaign Amatsukaze was anchored at Davao when B-17 bomber aircraft attacked the port. Though Amatsukaze was unable to move, she was not damaged. After a series of patrol duties and transiting from various naval facilities, on January 9, 1942, Amatsukaze departed Magnaga Bay, and met with the Menado invasion force on the 11th. After successfully escorting the invasion force, she arrived at the Banka anchorage on the 17th, then departed with the Kendari invasion force on the 24th, then protected the Ambon invasion force on the 29th. Arriving at Hitulama anchorage on the 30th, Amatsukaze took on invasion force casualties from Ambon on February 1, then remained anchored until February 20 to escort the Timor invasion force.Hara (1961) Chapter 14
Battle of the Java Sea On February 26, Amatsukaze and other destroyers came under more air attacks, but were again not damaged. However, a spotting plane met the destroyers and informed their crews of an Allied force of five cruisers attempting to sink enemy troop convoys. Amatsukaze met with the heavy cruisers and , with the latter's floatplane trailing the enemy force and radioing their actions. By 6:00 on the 27th, Captain Hara aboard Amatsukaze spotted enemy ships, two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and nine destroyers, and ordered the destroyers to close to point blank range. At around , Amatsukaze took minor damage from near misses and was blinded by smoke from the destroyer , which had taken a shell hit. However, Hara ordered the torpedoes to be fired, simultaneously with six other destroyers, launching a total of 56 torpedoes. However, not a single torpedo made its mark. While the destroyer was hit by a Japanese torpedo and sank nearly instantly, this hit was credited to Haguro and none of the destroyers.Hara (1961) Chapter 13
Later that night, Amatsukaze was en route sweeping for enemy ships when four destroyers were encountered. This was , , , and , which had broken off from the main formation after expending all of their torpedoes. Amatsukaze fired upon the force but did not light the searchlights as she fled from the outnumbering formation, with no hits scored on either side. While Haguro and Nachi continued the Battle of the Java Sea, spearheading a crucial victory, Amatsukaze saw no further combat. In the aftermath of the battle on the 28th, Amatsukaze spotted the hospital ship , which was rescuing survivors from various sunken Allied warships. Amatsukaze halted Op Ten Noort, Captain Hara looked through his binoculars and viewed Op Ten Noort's captain walking onto the deck to speak with his Japanese captors, and Amatsukaze was ordered to escort the ship to Bawean Island as a war prize, leaving the crew unharmed. En route, Amatsukaze radioed the position of around 100 Allied survivors to Japanese intelligence, leading to their eventual rescue.
Submarine successes On 1 March, Amatsukaze was continuing to escort Op Ten Noort to Bandjermasin, when she broke a record by sinking or helping to sink two enemy submarines in a 24-hour period. At 1:10, spotters on Amatsukaze located the submarine , which was continuing the dying effort of halting the Java Sea invasion convoy. Amatsukaze sped to 26 knots, opened searchlights, and fired 32 rounds at 2,735 yards (2,500 meters), allegedly hitting Perch with at least three 5-inch (127 mm) shells, forcing her to crash dive. Amatsukaze and Hatsukaze closed to the submarine's position and each dropped six depth charges, successfully crippling Perch. Half of her engines and boilers were destroyed and her pressure hull and conning tower were dented inwards up to 2 feet (61 cm), likely damaging her hull beyond repair, several ventilation valves were jammed shut, major leaking occurred through the ship's doors and gaskets, and around 90% of the ship's instruments and gauges were destroyed. Over the course of two days, the crippled Perch was finished off by depth charges and gunfire from the destroyers Ushio and Sazanami.
Later that night at 22:25, Amatsukaze spotted another submarine on the surface, this time the Dutch submarine K-10. Amatsukaze hit K-10 with multiple 5-inch (127 mm) shells as she immediately began to crash dive. In response, Amatsukaze chased the enemy and dropped a total of four depth charges, crippling yet another submarine. K-10 limped to Surabaya, but the next day was scuttled in harbor as the damage inflicted by Amatsukaze rendered her unable to flee the increasingly dangerous Dutch East Indies.