Kamikaze-class destroyer (1905)
# Kamikaze-class destroyer (1905)

The Kamikaze-class destroyers (神風型駆逐艦, Kamikaze-gata kuchikukan, "divine wind") were a class of thirty-two torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs) of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Kamikaze class of destroyers were the first destroyers to be mass-produced in Japan. The class is also sometimes referred to as the Asakaze class. This class of destroyer should not be confused with the later Kamikaze-class destroyers built in 1922, which participated in the Pacific War.

## Background

The Kamikaze-class destroyers were part of the 1904 Imperial Japanese Navy Emergency Expansion Program created by the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. Twenty-five vessels were ordered in 1904; an additional four vessels were ordered in 1905, and three more in 1906, bringing the total to thirty-two ships. The Japanese governmental shipyards were overwhelmed with the volume of construction, and for the first time civilian shipyards were also assigned to produce warships.

## Design

In terms of design, the Kamikaze-class ships were substantially identical to the previous Harusame class, in terms of hull design and external appearance, retaining the flush deck design with a distinctive "turtleback" forecastle inherited from the Ikazuchi class, as well as the four-smokestack profile. However, with operational experience gained in the Russo-Japanese War, the Kamikaze class employed shorter smokestacks with spark and glow arrestors to give the ships a more stealthy capability for night combat operations.

Internally, design and production issues still existed with the Japanese copies of the Yarrow water-tube boilers in the coal-fired triple expansion steam engines, which could produce only 6,000 shaft horsepower (4,500 kW); however, with the final three vessels (Uranami, Isonami, Ayanami), many problems had been resolved, and the engines modified to be run on heavy fuel oil as well as coal.

Armament was the similar in layout to the previous Harusame class, but with larger secondary guns; i.e. two QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval guns (on a bandstand on the forecastle and on the quarterdeck), four additional short barrel 12 pounder guns (two sited abreast the conning tower, and two sited between the funnels), and two single tubes for 18-inch (457 mm) torpedoes.

## Operational history

Only two Kamikaze-class vessels were completed in time to see combat service in the Russo-Japanese War.

Considered too small, unsuitable for heavy seas, and obsolete by the time of completion, the Kamikaze-class destroyers were quickly removed from front-line combat service after the end of the war, and were de-rated to third-class destroyers on 28 August 1912. Asatsuyu was wrecked off Nanao Bay on 9 November 1913.

However, despite the re-classification, all remaining vessels saw service in World War I. Shirotae was lost in combat on 3 September 1914 off Qingdao (36°00′N 110°30′E﻿ / ﻿36.000°N 110.500°E﻿ / 36.000; 110.500), while in combat against the German gunboat SMS Jaguar. This was the first significant warship loss by Japan during World War I.

Eighteen of the remaining surviving vessels were converted into minesweepers on 1 December 1924, and the others struck. However, all of the converted vessels were retired and/or scrapped soon afterwards.

## Ships

Construction data :

| Name | Kanji | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Fate | Name meaning |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Kamikaze | 神風 | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan | 20 August 1904 | 15 July 1905 | 16 August 1905 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924; BU 1 April 1928 | Divine wind |
| Hatsushimo | 初霜 | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan | 20 August 1904 | 13 May 1905 | 18 August 1905 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924; BU 1 April 1928 | First frost (October) |
| Yayoi | 弥生 | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan | 20 August 1904 | 7 August 1905 | 23 September 1905 | Retired 1 December 1924; expended as a target 10 August 1926 | Month of born plants(March) |
| Kisaragi | 如月 | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan | 10 September 1904 | 6 September 1905 | 19 October 1905 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924; BU 1 April 1928 | February |
| Asakaze | 朝風 | Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan | 30 December 1904 | 28 October 1905 | 1 April 1906 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924; struck 1 April 1928, expended as a target 1 August 1929 | Morning wind |
| Shiratsuyu | 白露 | Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan | 25 February 1905 | 12 February 1906 | 23 August 1906 | To Reserves 1 December 1924; Scrapped 1930 | White dew |
| Shirayuki | 白雪 | Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan | 24 March 1905 | 19 May 1906 | 12 October 1906 | To Reserves 1 December 1924; BU 1 April 1928 | White snow |
| Matsukaze | 松風 | Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan | 25 September 1905 | 23 December 1906 | 15 March 1907 | To Reserves 1 December 1924; BU 1 April 1928 | Wind to pines in coast |
| Harukaze | 春風 | Kawasaki Dockyards, Kobe, Japan | 16 February 1905 | 25 December 1905 | 14 May 1906 | To Reserves 1 December 1924; BU 1 April 1928 | Spring wind |
| Shigure | 時雨 | Kawasaki Dockyards, Kobe, Japan | 3 June 1905 | 12 March 1906 | 11 July 1906 | Scrapped 1 December 1924 | East Asian rainy season |
| Asatsuyu | 朝露 | Osaka Iron Works, Osaka, Japan | 28 April 1905 | 2 April 1906 | 16 November 1906 | Wrecked at Nanao Bay 9 November 1913; struck 15 April 1914 | Morning dew |
| Hayate | 疾風 | Osaka Iron Works, Osaka, Japan | 25 September 1905 | 22 May 1906 | 13 June 1907 | BU 1 December 1924 | Fresh breeze |
| Oite | 追手 | Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan | 1 August 1905 | 10 January 1906 | 21 August 1906 | BU 1 December 1924 | Pursuer （an army of the front） |
| Yūnagi | 夕凪 | Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan | 20 January 1906 | 22 August 1906 | 25 December 1906 | BU 1 December 1924 | An evening calm |
| Yūgure | 夕暮 | Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan | 1 March 1905 | 17 November 1905 | 26 May 1906 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924; scrapped 1928 | Evening (sunset) |
| Yūdachi | 夕立 | Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan | 20 March 1905 | 26 March 1906 | 16 July 1906 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924; BU 1 April 1928 | A shower |
| Mikazuki | 三日月 | Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan | 1 June 1905 | 26 May 1906 | 12 September 1906 | Scrapped 1928 | A sickle moon |
| Nowaki | 野分 | Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan | 1 August 1905 | 25 July 1906 | 1 November 1906 | BU 1 December 1924 | A gale between grass (autumn typhoon) |
| Ushio | 潮 | Kure Naval Arsenal, Japan | 12 April 1905 | 30 August 1905 | 1 October 1905 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924; BU 1 April 1928 | A tide |
| Nenohi | 子日 | Kure Naval Arsenal, Japan | 25 June 1905 | 30 August 1905 | 1 October 1905 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924; BU 1 April 1928 | Pine of New Year's Day |
| Hibiki | 響 | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan | 28 September 1905 | 31 March 1906 | 6 September 1906 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924; BU 1 April 1928 | An echo |
| Shirotae | 白妙 | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan | 24 March 1905 | 30 July 1906 | 21 January 1907 | Combat loss off Shantung Peninsula 4 September 1914; written off 29 October 1914 | White cloth |
| Hatsuharu | 初春 | Kawasaki Dockyards, Kobe, Japan | 11 November 1905 | 21 May 1906 | 1 March 1907 | Retired 1 December 1924; expended as a target 13 August 1928 | Early spring (New Year) |
| Wakaba | 若葉 | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan | 20 May 1905 | 25 November 1905 | 28 February 1906 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924; BU 1 April 1928 | Young leaves |
| Hatsuyuki | 初雪 | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan | 11 September 1905 | 8 March 1906 | 17 May 1906 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924; BU 1 April 1928 | The first snow of the year |
| Uzuki | 卯月 | Kawasaki Dockyards, Kobe, Japan | 22 March 1906 | 20 September 1906 | 6 March 1907 | Reclassified as a radio-controlled target ship, January 1929 | Month of Deutzia (April) |
| Minatsuki | 水無月 | Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan | 25 February 1906 | 5 November 1906 | 14 February 1907 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-10 1 August 1928; scrapped 1930 | Month of the submerged rice field (June) |
| Nagatsuki | 長月 | Uraga Dock Company, Japan | 28 October 1905 | 15 December 1906 | 31 July 1907 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-11 1 August 1928; retired 1 June 1930 | Month of long night (September) |
| Kikutsuki | 菊月 | Uraga Dock Company, Japan | 2 March 1906 | 10 April 1907 | 20 September 1907 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-12 1 August 1928; retired 1 June 1930 | Month of chrysanthemum (September) |
| Uranami | 浦波 | Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan | 1 May 1907 | 8 December 1907 | 2 October 1908 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-8 1 August 1928; utility vessel 1 June 1930, scrapped 1935 | Wave in　an inlet |
| Isonami | 磯波 | Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan | 15 January 1908 | 21 November 1908 | 2 April 1909 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-7 ` August 1928; utility vessel 1 June 1930 | Wave on a sea shore |
| Ayanami | 綾波 | Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan | 15 May 1908 | 20 March 1909 | 26 June 1909 | Minesweeper 1 December 1924, renamed W-9 1 August 1928; utility vessel 1 June 1930 | Cross wave |
