Japanese destroyer Asakaze (1922)
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 Asakaze | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Empire of Japan | |
| Name | Asakaze |
| Builder | Mitsubishi, Nagasaki |
| Laid down | 16 February 1922 as Destroyer No. 3 |
| Launched | 8 December 1922 |
| Completed | 16 June 1923 |
| Renamed | Asakaze, 1 August 1928 |
| Stricken | 10 October 1944 |
| Fate | Sunk on 23 August 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Kamikaze-class destroyer |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | |
| Beam | 9.1 m (29 ft 10 in) |
| Draft | 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2 × Kampon geared steam turbines |
| Speed | 37.3 knots (69.1 km/h; 42.9 mph) |
| Range | 3,600 nmi (6,700 km; 4,100 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Complement | 148 |
| Armament |
|
| Service record | |
| Operations | |
The Japanese destroyer Asakaze (朝風, "Morning Wind") was one of nine Kamikaze-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1920s. During the Pacific War, she participated in the Philippines Campaign in December 1941 and the Dutch East Indies Campaign in early 1942. She took part in the Battle of Sunda Strait in March and helped to sink two Allied cruisers. She was sunk by USS Haddo in August 1944.
The Kamikaze class was an improved version of the Minekaze-class destroyers. The ships had an overall length of 102.5 meters (336 ft 3 in)[1] and were 97.5 meters (319 ft 11 in) between perpendiculars. They had a beam of 9.1 meters (29 ft 10 in), and a mean draft of 2.9 meters (9 ft 6 in). The Kamikaze-class ships displaced 1,422 metric tons (1,400 long tons) at standard load and 1,747 metric tons (1,719 long tons) at deep load.[2] They were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 38,500 shaft horsepower (28,700 kW), which would propel the ships at 37.3 knots (69.1 km/h). During sea trials, the ships comfortably exceeded their designed speeds, reaching 38.7 to 39.2 knots (71.7 to 72.6 km/h).[3] The ships carried 420 metric tons (413 long tons) of fuel oil which gave them a range of 3,600 nautical miles (6,700 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h). Their crew consisted of 148 officers and crewmen.[4]
The main armament of the Kamikaze-class ships consisted of four 12-centimeter (4.7 in) Type 3 guns in single mounts; one gun forward of the superstructure, one between the two funnels and the last pair back to back atop the aft superstructure. The guns were numbered '1' to '4' from front to rear. The ships carried three above-water twin sets of 53.3-centimeter (21.0 in) torpedo tubes; one mount was between the forward superstructure and the forward gun and the other two were between the aft funnel and aft superstructure.[4]
Early in the war, the No. 4 gun and the aft torpedo tubes were removed in exchange for four depth charge throwers and 18 depth charges. In addition 10 license-built 25 mm (0.98 in) Type 96 light AA guns were installed.[5] These changes increased their displacement to 1,499 long tons (1,523 t). Survivors had their light AA armament augmented to be between thirteen and twenty 25 mm guns and four 13.2 mm (0.5 in) Type 93 anti-aircraft machineguns by June 1944. These changes reduced their speed to 35 knots (65 km/h).[4]
