Japanese destroyer Yūkaze

	Yūkaze anchored at Kure with other Japanese destroyers after the surrender of Japan, October 1945
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Yūkaze
Ordered	fiscal 1918
Builder	Mitsubishi-Nagasaki, Japan
Laid down	14 December 1920
Launched	28 May 1921
Commissioned	24 August 1921
Stricken	5 October 1945
Fate	Royal Navy 1947-later scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type	Minekaze-class destroyer
Displacement	1,345 long tons (1,367 t) normal,; 1,650 long tons (1,680 t) full load;
Length	97.5 m (320 ft) pp,; 102.6 m (337 ft) overall;
Beam	9 m (30 ft)
Draught	2.8 m (9.2 ft)
Propulsion	2-shaft Mitsubishi- Parsons geared turbines, 4 boilers 38,500 ihp (28,700 kW)
Speed	39 knots (72 km/h)
Range	3,600 nautical miles (6,700 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement	148
Armament	4 × Type 3 120 mm 45 caliber naval gun; 6 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes in three twin mountings; 2 × 7.7 mm machine guns;
Service record
Operations:	Second Sino-Japanese War; Pacific War;

Yūkaze (夕風, Evening Wind)^[1] was a Minekaze-class destroyer, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy immediately following World War I. Advanced for their time, these ships served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, but were considered obsolescent by the start of the Pacific War.

History

Construction of the large-sized Minekaze-class destroyers was authorized as part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's

launched on 28 May 1921 and commissioned on 24 August 1921.^[4]

On completion, Yūkaze was assigned to

IJN 2nd Fleet. On 11 October 1928, in Uraga Channel, while on night training maneuvers, Yūkaze collided with her sister ship Shimakaze

, resulting in significant damage and requiring extensive repairs.

In 1937-1938, Yūkaze was assigned to patrols of the central China coastlines in support of Japanese efforts in the Second Sino-Japanese War

World War II history

At the time of the

IJN 1st Fleet based at the Kure Naval District as part of the escort for the old aircraft carrier Hōshō. As such, the destroyer participated in the Battle of Midway.^[5]

Afterwards, Hōshō was used to train naval aviators, remaining in the

IJN 3rd Fleet, and Yūkaze continued to serve as the aircraft carrier's escort through the end of World War II.^[6]

On 5 October 1945 Yūkaze was removed from

navy list.^[7]

After the war, Yūkaze was used as a repatriation vessel from October 1945 through August 1947, when the ship was turned over to the British Royal Navy as a prize of war in Singapore, where she was broken up for scrap.

Notes

^ Nelson. Japanese-English Character Dictionary. pages 283, 960
^ Howarth, The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun
^ Globalsecurity.org, IJN Minekaze class destroyers
^ Nishidah, Hiroshi (2002). "Minekaze class 1st class destroyers". Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
^ "Japanese OOB at Midway".
^ Nevitt, Allyn D. (1997). "IJN Yukaze: Tabular Record of Movement". Long Lancers. Combinedfleet.com.
^ Nishidah, Hiroshi (2002). "Minekaze class 1st class destroyers". Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2008-12-20.