Destroyers of the Kamikaze type (1905)

Ordered under the 1904 shipbuilding program, adopted after the outbreak of war with Russia . Structurally repeated the type of "Harusame" , distinguished by the use of steam boilers with mixed heating (which increased the range) and installed weapons. Instead of four 57-mm guns of Hotchkiss with a barrel length of 40 calibres, four lightweight 76-mm guns with a barrel length of 28 calibers were used. It was believed that despite the low aiming range, their more powerful shells would give an advantage in short-range combat.

Due to their more numerous calculation of guns, the crew increased to 70 people. This seriously worsened the already difficult living conditions on ships.

In total, in 1904-1909, 32 units of this type were built, the last of which are morally obsolete even on the slipways.

The next type of "Umikaze" already belonged to the destroyers of the next generation, and had little in common with ships of the "Kamikaze" type.

The first two representatives of the series (Kamikaze and Hatsushimo) joined the fleet a few days before the signing of the peace treaty in Portsmouth, but they no longer had time to take part in the Russo-Japanese war.

For a rather long time, ships of this type formed the basis of the destroyers of the United Fleet .

On November 9, 1913, Asatsuyu was lost, crashed on the rocks in Noto Bay on Honshu Island.

After Japan entered World War I, the 2nd Squadron of the United Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral S. Kato was assigned to act against the German base in China Qingdao . In addition to 5 armadillos, 6 cruisers and several auxiliary ships, it included the 2nd squadron of destroyers. The bulk of its 20 units were representatives of this type, distributed as follows: 9th division: “Shirayuki”, “Novake”, “Sirotae”, “Matsukadze”; 12th division: “Ayanami”, “Ison”, “Uranium”; 5th division: "Usio", "Nenokhi", "Wakaba", "Asakaze"; 8th Division: Yugure, Yudati, Shiratsuyu, Mikazuki.

The blockade of Qingdao Bay was established on August 27, 1914, and the destroyers were used to keep watch in two shifts, 8 ships each, having 4 ships in reserve, entering the reach zone of coastal batteries. On the night of September 3, 1914, the Sirotae maneuvering in foggy conditions flew to the rocks near Lientao Island, receiving damage that made it impossible to remove it. The command was evacuated by another destroyer, and the hull of the ship was shot in the morning by the German gunboat Jaguar, which went to sea under the cover of coastal batteries. On the night of October 17, Japanese patrols could not find the German destroyer S-90 , which went to sea and sank the old cruiser Takatiho , used as the destroyer base.

After the war ended and Japan signed the Washington Treaty, obsolete destroyers began to be withdrawn from the fleet, despite their relatively small age. In 1923, Asakazze, Wakaba, Wuxio, Nenokhi, Kisaragi, Kamikaze, Hatsushimo, Yugure, Harukadze, Hibiki, Hatsuyuki and Judati were reclassified as minesweepers, retaining their former names. As such, they turned out to be ineffective, and already in 1928 they were withdrawn from the fleet and scrapped.

In the years 1925-1926, 12 units were excluded: “Yayoi”, “Oite”, “Matsukazze”, “Novaki”, “Mikazuki”, “Sigure”, “Hatsuharu”, “Shiratsu”, “Shirajuki”, “Yunagi”, "Uzuki", "Hayate." The first three were used for some time as target ships, and the rest were scrapped.

Six destroyers were converted into minesweepers in 1926. They removed torpedo tubes and installed trawling equipment. The artillery weapons were replaced by two 120-mm Type 3 guns with a barrel length of 45 calibers (in place of torpedo tubes) and two previously standing 76-mm guns with a barrel length of 40 calibers (in the same places). Instead of the names, the ships received numbers: "Isonami" - No. 7, "Urani" - No. 8, "Ayanami" - No. 9, "Minazuki" - No. 10, "Nagatsuki" - No. 11, "Kikuzuki" - No. 12. They were Deleted from the lists only in 1930.

Representatives of the series ^[1] .

• Patyanin S.V. Squadron destroyers and destroyers of Japan 1879-1945.
• Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921. - London: Conway Maritime Press, 1986. - ISBN 0-85177-245-5 .