Japanese destroyer Kamikaze (1922)

Coordinates: 34°38′N 138°8′E / 34.633°N 138.133°E / 34.633; 138.133 (Omaezaki City)
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see Japanese destroyer Kamikaze.
Kamikaze underway on 23 December 1922
History
Empire of Japan
NameKamikaze
BuilderMitsubishi, Nagasaki
Laid down15 December 1921 as Destroyer No. 1
Launched25 September 1922
Completed19 December 1922
RenamedKamikaze, 1 August 1928
Stricken5 October 1945
Fate
General characteristics
Class and typeKamikaze-class destroyer
Displacement
  • 1,422 t (1,400 long tons) (normal)
  • 1,747 t (1,719 long tons) (
    deep load
    )
Length
  • 97.5 m (319 ft 11 in) (pp)
  • 102.5 m (336 ft 3 in) (
    o/a
    )
Beam9.1 m (29 ft 10 in)
Draft2.9 m (9 ft 6 in)
Installed power
Propulsion2 shafts; 2 × Kampon geared steam turbines
Speed37.3 knots (69.1 km/h; 42.9 mph)
Range3,600 nmi (6,700 km; 4,100 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement148
Armament
  • 4 × single
    12 cm (4.7 in) Type 3 guns
  • 3 × twin 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes
Service record
Part of: Destroyer Division 1
Operations: Battle of the Malacca Strait

The Japanese destroyer Kamikaze (神風, "Divine Wind" or "

Aleutian Islands Campaign. Kamikaze continued to patrol northern Japanese waters until early 1945 when she was transferred to the Singapore
area.

Design and description

The Kamikaze class was an improved version of the

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; 42.9 mph). During sea trials, the ships comfortably exceeded their designed speeds, reaching 38.7 to 39.2 knots (71.7 to 72.6 km/h; 44.5 to 45.1 mph).[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; 4,100 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). 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

anti-aircraft machineguns by June 1944. These changes reduced their speed to 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph).[4]

Construction and career

Kamikaze, built by

launched on 25 September 1922 and completed on 19 December. Originally commissioned simply as Destroyer No. 1, she was assigned the name Kamikaze on 1 August 1928.[6]
On completion, Kamikaze was assigned to Destroyer Division 1, based in the Ōminato Guard District and charged with the defense of Japan’s northern waters.

Pacific War

At the time of the

Soya Strait and Tsugaru Strait and to escort ship convoys to remote outposts in the Kurile islands.[7]

On 23 October 1944, she left Kataoka Bay Naval Base,

Paramushiro.[8] On 25 October 1944, the convoy was attacked by the submarine USS Seal. Hakuyo Maru was torpedoed and sunk west of the Kuril Islands with 1,415 lives lost.[8][9][10] The Seal evaded depth charging by Kamikaze and Fukue and the remainder of the convoy reached Otaru unharmed.[8]

However, from January 1945, Kamikaze was reassigned to the

Pescadores. On 14 February she formed part of the escort for both Ise-class battleships which were sailing from Singapore to Japan as part of Operation Kita. On 20 February, she rescued the survivors of the torpedoed destroyer Nokaze, continuing on to Singapore by 22 February.[7]

In May 1945, Kamikaze sortied twice from Singapore as escort to the cruiser Haguro on emergency transport missions to the beleaguered Japanese garrison in the Andaman Islands. During the second sortie, on 16 May, Haguro was sunk in surface action with the Royal Navy, and Kamikaze suffered 27 crewmen killed and 14 injured in battle with the British destroyer group.[11] Damage to the ship was light, and Kamikaze rescued 320 survivors from Haguro before returning to Singapore.

In June 1945, Kamikaze sortied from Singapore to

B-24 Liberator bombers, and Kamikaze rescued 200 survivors.[14]

Kamikaze successfully completed several more escort operations through the remainder of June and July. Notably, she engaged the submarine USS Hawkbill on July 18. The submarine attempted to torpedo a convoy off the coast of Malaya. The torpedoes missed and Kamikaze gave chase, dropping several depth charges that severely damaged the submarine and partially blew her out of the water. Hawkbill was able to get away, and after the war the ships' captains, Hitoshi Kasuga and Worth M. Scanland exchanged letters praising each other. At the time of the surrender of Japan, she was still based in Singapore, and was turned over to British authorities there.

Post-war

Kamikaze was struck from the

Cape Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture at coordinates 34°38′N 138°8′E / 34.633°N 138.133°E / 34.633; 138.133 (Omaezaki City)
. The severity of the wreck damage resulted in the decision to scrap the vessel on site in 1947.

Notes

  1. ^ Watts & Gordon, pp. 263–64
  2. ^ Whitley, p. 189
  3. ^ Gardiner & Gray, p. 245
  4. ^ a b c Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 142
  5. ^ Whitley, pp. 189–90
  6. ^ Watts & Gordon, p. 264
  7. ^ a b Nevitt
  8. ^ a b c d Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (2012). "Kaibokan! IJN Escort Fukue: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  9. ^ "Chapter VII: 1944". Hyperwar - The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy during World War II.
  10. ^ "Chronological List of Japanese Merchant Vessel Losses". Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee.
  11. ^ Winton
  12. ^ Submarine History: Submarine Service: Operations and Support: Royal Navy Archived 2007-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Dull. A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy
  14. ^ "Toho Maru: Tabular Record of Movement". Combined Fleet. Retrieved 24 October 2019.

References

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