The were a

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

of ten

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

in service before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The overall layout of the class proved successful in service and created a powerful ship that served as the basis for the design of the following two classes of destroyers.

Background

The Imperial Japanese Navy was not entirely satisfied with the performance of the , particularly in terms of operational range and speed. However, given the limitations of the 1930

London Naval Treaty The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Empire of Japan, Japan, French Third Republic, France, Kingdom of Italy, Italy, and the United Stat ...

, it was considered impossible to modify these vessels any further to improve their specifications. This obstacle was removed after the Japanese government decided to allow the treaty to expire without renewal. The final four vessels of a projected 14 destroyers in the ''Shiratsuyu'' class were cancelled, and the larger new ''Asashio''-class vessels were approved under the Maru-2 Supplementary Naval Expansion Budget of 1934, with construction spanning 1937-1939 as the treaty did not officially expire until December 31, 1936. All ten vessels were lost in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

Design

The ''Asashio''-class was the first Japanese destroyer class to exceed 2,000 tons

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

and the first to be equipped with

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

. The hull was 30 feet longer than the ''Shiratsuyu''-class and displacement was increased by 300 tons. The ''Asashio''-class was powered by two

steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

engines with two shafts, powered by three boilers, which operated at higher temperatures than the ''Shiratsuyu''-class. The rated output of these engines was , which gave the class a top speed of and a range of at or at . The ''Asashio''-class was thus one knot faster than the ''Shiratsuyu''-class despite the larger size and displacement of the vessels. However, during sea trials, early critical issues were discovered, especially with the reliability of the new steam turbines. Another issue was with design of the

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

, which initially led to problems with the ship's turning radius. These issues were addressed by the start of the Pacific War with a modified stern and rudder.

Armament

In terms of armament, the ''Asashio'' class reverted to the previous

main battery A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a naval gun or group of guns used in volleys, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, th ...

layout of 3 twin mount 12.7 cm/50 Type 3 naval guns, instead of the 5-gun design of the more recent and classes that were constructed under treaty limitations. There was one twin turret forward of the bridge and a

superfiring Superfiring armament is a naval design technique in which two or more turrets are located one behind the other, with the rear turret located above ("super") the one in front so that it can fire over the first. This configuration meant that both ...

pair of twin turrets aft. The guns were capable of 55-degree elevation. Also, the position of the "X" turret at the shelter deck level forward of the

quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

"Y" turret, gave the ''Asashio'' class a different silhouette than the ''Shiratsuyu'' class, where both turrets were at quarterdeck level. The torpedo armament of eight

Type 93 torpedo The was a -diameter torpedo of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), launched from surface ships. It is commonly referred to as the Long Lance by most modern English-language naval historians, a nickname given to it after the war by Samuel Eliot ...

s in two quadruple launchers as on the ''Shiratsuyu''-class was retained, with eight reloads stored in a deckhouse on the centerline of the ship. At the start of the war, the ''Asashio''-class was also equipped with 16

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s, while previous classes carried 18. Later in the war, the number of depth charges was increased to 36, and to compensate for the weight, one set of four torpedo reloads was removed. In terms of anti-aircraft capability, initially two twin-mount Type 96 AA guns were placed forward of the second smokestack. The ''Asashio''-class was the first destroyers to receive this type of gun. 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 1943-1944, on surviving vessels the superfiring "X" turret was removed and replaced by two more triple-mounts. After 1944, surviving vessels were fitted with between eight and twelve additional single-mounts, and received also two Type 93 13mm machine guns. In late 1944, the final four survivors (''Kasumi'', , , and ) received a Type 22 and a Type 13 radar.

List of ships

Operational History

Ten ships were built. Two ships of the class, '' Arare'' and ''

Kasumi Kasumi may refer to: Places * Kasumi, Hyōgo (香住), a former town in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan * Kasumigaseki Kasumigaseki (霞が関, 霞ヶ関 or 霞ケ関) is a district in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Most government ministries are loca ...

'' escorted the

Kido Butai The , also known as the ''Kidō Butai'' ("Mobile Force"), was a combined carrier battle group comprising most of the aircraft carriers and carrier air groups of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the first eight months of the Pacific War. ...

as they attacked

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

, December 7th 1941. They remained with the carriers for the following months while the rest of the class took part in convoy and carrier escorting duties to assist in the invasion of the Philippines and Dutch East Indies. It was in the latter campaign that the class saw something of a highlight, starting on 19 February 1942 at the battle of the Badung Strait, where ''Asashio, Ōshio, Michishio,'' and ''Arashio'' chased off a larger allied cruiser task force from attacking a troop convoy. During the action, ''Asashio'' torpedoed and sank the Dutch destroyer ''Piet Hein'', making her the first ship to sink an enemy vessel with the

type 93 torpedo The was a -diameter torpedo of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), launched from surface ships. It is commonly referred to as the Long Lance by most modern English-language naval historians, a nickname given to it after the war by Samuel Eliot ...

, before winning a gunfight with the light cruiser ''

Tromp TROMP Percussion Eindhoven is a biennial percussion competition and festival held in Eindhoven, Netherlands since 1971. In 2012, TROMP will be organising its fourth percussion competition (twenty-first competition in total). It is scheduled to t ...

'', hitting her with eleven 5-inch (127 mm) shells, setting her on fire and forcing her to retire from the battle with heavy damage. ''Asashio'' and ''Ōshio'' then combined fire to damage the destroyer USS ''Stewart'' so badly she could not be repaired before the fall of the Dutch East Indies, leading to her being scuttled in Surabaya. In exchange, ''Michishio'' was crippled by shell hits from US destroyers that left her dead in the water and under tow, ''Ōshio'' took a 5.9-inch (15 cm) shell from ''Tromp'' which miraculously did not set off the magazines and sink her in a fiery explosion, while ''Asashio'' took a 3-inch (76 mm) shell from ''Tromp'' that took out a searchlight. On February 27th, ''Asagumo'' and ''Minegumo'' contributed to the

battle of the Java Sea The Battle of the Java Sea (, ) was a decisive naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Allied navies suffered a disastrous defeat at the hand of the Imperial Japanese Navy on 27 February 1942 and in secondary actions over succ ...

by fending off a trio of British destroyers, with ''Asagumo'' particularly getting the better of a gunnery duel with the destroyer HMS ''Electra''''.'' Sources heavily differ on whether ''Asagumo'' directly sank ''Electra'' or sank her with the aid of ''Minegumo'' and/or the light cruiser '' Jintsū'', but either way ''Electra'' was sunk and ''Asagumo'' took 4.7-inch (12 cm) shell hits in turn that forced her to temporarily halt for repairs. After the fall of the Dutch East Indies, the class was involved on various raids on former ABDA fleet ships escaping to Australia, ''Kasumi'' helped to sink the Dutch cargo ship SS ''Modjokerto'' while ''Arashio'' sank the Dutch minesweeper ''Jan Van Amstel''. However, the class's glory days seemed to come to an end at the battle of Midway, June 4th, when both ''Asashio'' and ''Arashio'' were damaged by bomb hits, then a month later the class suffered its first loss as the submarine USS ''Growler'' launched a torpedo spread that sank ''Arare'' and crippled ''Kasumi''. It was then on to the

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

and

Solomon Islands campaign The Solomon Islands campaign was a major military campaign, campaign of the Pacific War during World War II. The campaign began with the Empire of Japan, Japanese seizure of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville Island, B ...

, which saw much of the same service but mixed with heavy troop and supply transport missions, plus escorting aircraft carriers at the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz. However, in October ''Natsugumo'' did little of note in the battle of Cape Esperance, but in the battle's aftermath she was sunk by aircraft from Henderson Field, before the class rounded out 1942 with ''Asagumo's'' role in both naval battles of Guadalcanal. In the first battle, ''Asagumo'' operated alongside the Shiratsuyu class destroyers ''Murasame'' and ''Samidare,'' and together they charged the light cruiser USS ''Helena'''','' damaging her with six hits and preventing her from sinking the destroyer '' Amatsukaze,'' before they blasted the destroyer USS ''Monssen'' at point blank range, sinking her with some 39 hits. In the second battle, ''Asagumo'' fired torpedoes at the battleship USS ''South Dakota'' but inflicted no damage, before rescuing survivors from the battleship ''Kirishima'', which was sunk by the battleship USS ''Washington''. With the start of 1943, the class would suffer more losses. On February 20th, ''Ōshio'' was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS ''Albacore''. Meanwhile, on March 4th, ''Asashio'' and ''Arashio'' were both sunk by US air force bombers at the

battle of the Bismarck Sea The Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2–4 March 1943) took place in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during World War II when aircraft of the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked a Japanese convoy carrying tro ...

. The next day, '' Minegumo'' assisted in sinking the submarine USS ''Grampus'''','' but later that night was caught at the

battle of Blackett Strait The Battle of Blackett Strait (Japanese: ビラ・スタンモーア夜戦 (Battle of Vila–Stanmore)) was a naval battle of the Pacific War, Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on 6 March 1943 in the Blackett Strait, between Kolombangara a ...

and sunk by the combined gunfire of the light cruisers USS ''Denver'' and USS ''Montpelier''. The remaining four ships of the class saw a large break afterwards for the next year, made up of uneventful transport missions and patrol duty without seeing combat. The only exception came on November 19 1943, when ''Yamagumo'' sank the submarine USS ''Sculpin'' with mixed depth charge and surface gunfire attacks. On June 19-20 1944, ''Michishio'' and ''Yamagumo'' escorted aircraft carriers at the

battle of the Philippine Sea The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a major naval battle of World War II on 19–20 June 1944 that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious r ...

. In October, the remaining four ships of the class departed to take part in the

battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf () 23–26 October 1944, was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. By late 1944, Japan possessed fewer capital sh ...

, the largest naval battle in history. On the early morning of the 25th, the class were caught in the battle of the Surigao Strait. In an amazing feat of success, the destroyer USS ''McDermut'' managed to launch a torpedo salvo that hit every ship of the class besides ''Kasumi''. ''Yamagumo'' immediately exploded and sank. Both ''Michishio'' and ''Asagumo'' were dead in the water and later met by US surface warships. ''Michishio'' was finished off by the destroyer USS ''Hutchins'', while ''Asagumo'' was finished off by the light cruisers ''Denver'' and USS ''Columbia''. ''Kasumi'' survived for several more months, but met her end on April 7, 1945, escorting battleship ''Yamato'' during

Operation Ten-Go , literally Operation Chrysanthemum Water 1, best known as , literally Operation Heaven, was the last major Empire of Japan, Japanese naval operation in the Pacific War, Pacific Theater of World War II. In April 1945, the , the largest battleshi ...

. Enroute, the force was met by 386 carrier aircraft, and ''Kasumi'' was destroyed by at least two bomb hits and several near misses.

Gallery

File:Destroyer-Sasebo.png, ''Asashio'' File:Oshio.jpg, ''Ōshio'' File:Michishio.jpg, ''Michishio'' File:Arashio.jpg, ''Arashio'' File:Arashio.png, ''Arashio'' File:Asagumo-1.jpg, ''Asagumo'' File:Yamagumo.jpg, ''Yamagumo'' File:Natsugumo.jpg, ''Natsugumo'' File:IJN DD Minegumo 1937 launching.jpg, ''Minegumo'' File:F9NI1rvaIAAH-pN.jpg, ''Arare'' File:Kasumi.png, ''Kasumi'' File:Yamato-19450407-tengo-7.jpg, ''Kasumi'' (bottom center)

External links

* * {{WWII Japanese ships Destroyer classes World War II destroyers of Japan