Kagerō class
 The Nowaki in April 1941
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The Kagerō- class was a class of nineteen destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy , which were used in World War II . The Yukikaze served as Tan Yang in the Navy of the Republic of China until the mid-1960s .
Development history and construction
The Kagerō class is a further development of the previous Asashio class . Compared to this, there was a slight increase in the dimensions, the bridge superstructures were designed lower and the frames and internal strength associations as well as superstructures - but not the outer skin planking - were completely welded. There was also a change in the shape of the hull, especially the stern, in order to increase the driving resistance and the propulsion power was increased to 52,000 hp. For test purposes , the Amatzukaze received a smaller type of boiler, which developed a higher operating temperature and steam pressure. But this did not lead to an increase in performance. The armament remained the same compared to the Asashio class, only the reloading device of the torpedo tube sets was improved and the arrangement slightly changed. Since the position of the reserve torpedoes of the forward pipe set was now on either side of the first funnel.
As part of the 3rd construction program ( Maru 3 Keikaku ) from 1937, eighteen units with construction numbers 17 to 34 were planned. Of which the last three were cut to finance the Yamato class to hide the budget spent on these battleships . In the following 4th construction program ( Maru 4 Keikaku ) from 1939, four more units - construction numbers 112 to 115 - were added. The construction contracts for these nineteen units in total were awarded to three private and two state shipyards. Which the ships laid in keel between August 1937 and July 1940 and completed by September 1941. The Akigumo , as the last unit of the class, is sometimes counted in the subsequent Yūgumo class .
List of ships
| Construction no. | Surname | Shipyard | Keel laying | Launch | Commissioning | Whereabouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maru 3 Keikaku | ||||||
| 17th |
Kagerō ( 陽 炎 ) |
Maizuru Naval Shipyard, Maizuru | September 30, 1937 | September 27, 1938 | November 6, 1939 | sunk on May 8, 1943, by air raid |
| 18th |
Shiranui ( 不知 火 , "sea lights") |
Uraga shipyard, Yokosuka | August 30, 1937 | June 28, 1938 | December 20, 1939 | sunk on October 27, 1944, during the sea and air battle in the Gulf of Leyte off Panay |
| 19th |
Kuroshio ( 黒 潮 ) |
Fujinagata Shipyard, Osaka | August 31, 1937 | October 25, 1938 | January 27, 1940 | sunk on April 28, 1943, by running into a mine barrier between the islands of Arundel and Kolombangara |
| 20th |
Oyashio ( 親 潮 ) |
Maizuru Naval Shipyard, Maizuru | March 29, 1938 | November 29, 1938 | 20th August 1940 | sunk on May 8, 1943, by air raid |
| 21st |
Hayashio ( 早 潮 ) |
Uraga shipyard, Yokosuka | June 30, 1938 | April 19, 1939 | August 31, 1940 | sunk on November 24, 1942, by American destroyers in Huongolf |
| 22nd |
Natsushio ( 夏 潮 ) |
Fujinagata Shipyard, Osaka | December 9, 1937 | February 23, 1939 | August 31, 1940 | sunk on February 9, 1942 by the American submarine USS S-37 off East Borneo |
| 23 |
Hatsukaze ( 初 風 ) |
Kawasaki Shipyard , Kobe | December 3, 1937 | January 24, 1939 | February 15, 1940 | Sunk on November 12, 1943, by American destroyers USS Dunlap , USS Craven and USS Maury |
| 24 |
Yukikaze (雪 風 , "snow wind") |
Sasebo Naval Shipyard, Sasebo | August 2, 1938 | March 24, 1939 | January 20, 1940 | Spoils of war China: renamed Tang Yan on July 6, 1947 |
| 25th |
Amatsukaze ( 天津 風 ) |
Maizuru Naval Shipyard, Maizuru | February 14, 1939 | October 19, 1939 | October 26, 1940 | sunk on April 6, 1945, by air raid east of Amoy |
| 26th |
Tokitsukaze ( 時 津 風 ) |
Uraga shipyard, Yokosuka | February 20, 1939 | November 10, 1939 | December 15, 1940 | sunk on March 3, 1943, by air raid southeast of Finschhafen |
| 27 |
Urakaze ( 浦 風 ) |
Fujinagata Shipyard, Osaka | April 11, 1939 | April 19, 1940 | December 15, 1940 | sunk on November 21, 1944, by the American submarine USS Sealion |
| 28 |
Isokaze (磯 風 , "coastal wind") |
Sasebo Naval Shipyard, Sasebo | November 25, 1938 | June 19, 1939 | November 30, 1940 | sunk on April 7, 1945, during Operation Ten-gō |
| 29 |
Hamakaze ( 浜 風 ) |
Uraga shipyard, Yokosuka | November 20, 1939 | November 25, 1940 | June 30, 1941 | sunk on April 7, 1945, during Operation Ten-gō |
| 30th |
Tanikaze ( 谷 風 ) |
Fujinagata Shipyard, Osaka | October 18, 1939 | November 1, 1940 | April 25, 1941 | sunk: June 9, 1944 |
| 31 |
Nowaki ( 野 分 ) |
Maizuru Naval Shipyard, Maizuru | November 8, 1939 | 17th September 1940 | April 28, 1941 | sunk: October 25, 1944 |
| 32 33 34 |
Contracts canceled and funds used to build Yamato class . | |||||
| Maru 4 Keikaku | ||||||
| 112 |
Arashi ( 嵐 ) |
Maizuru Naval Shipyard, Maizuru | May 4, 1939 | April 22, 1940 | January 27, 1941 | sunk on August 6, 1943, during the Battle of the Vella Gulf |
| 113 |
Hagikaze ( 萩 風 ) |
Uraga shipyard, Yokosuka | May 23, 1939 | June 18, 1940 | March 31, 1941 | sunk on August 6, 1943, during the Battle of the Vella Gulf |
| 114 |
Maikaze ( 舞 風 ) |
Fujinagata Shipyard, Osaka | April 22, 1940 | March 13, 1941 | July 15, 1941 | sunk on February 17, 1944, by TG 50.3 ships |
| 115 |
Akigumo ( 秋雲 ) |
Uraga shipyard, Yokosuka | 2nd July 1940 | April 11, 1941 | September 27, 1941 | sunk: April 11, 1944 |
technology
hull
The hull of a Kagerō- class destroyer was 118.5 meters long, 9.35 meters wide and had a draft of 3.76 meters with an operational displacement of 2,529 tons . The crew consisted of 240 officers, NCOs and men.
drive
It was driven by two turbine sets with simple toothed gears with three oil-fired steam generators - Kampon-type boilers , each housed in a separate room - with a total output of 52,000 HP (70,700 kW ). The power was delivered to two shafts with one screw each . The top speed was 35 knots (64.8 km / h ).
Armament
When commissioned, the armament consisted of six 12.7 cm Type 3 guns with a caliber length of 50 in three twin turrets of the C model. Which were set up in the boat center line, one in front of the bridge structure and two behind or on the aft deckhouse. The inner tower (tower B) was arranged in such a way that it could overshoot the outer, so-called elevated end position. For air defense were four 2.5-cm guns in double carriage is available, which were placed on both sides on a platform at the rear chimney. Furthermore, were the two torpedo armament Vierffachtorpedorohrsätze caliber 61 cm for torpedoes of the type 93 with eight spare torpedoes and two drain racks for eighteen depth charges on board.
Due to the strong Allied air forces during the Pacific War , there was a continuous reinforcement of the 2.5 cm guns. The beginning was to set up an additional double carriage on a platform in front of the bridge, then to land tower "B" and to replace it with two triple carriage. With the twin mounts on both sides of the aft funnel replaced by triplet mounts, there were now fourteen 2.5 cm guns on board. From 1944 another fourteen single mounts were added, which increased the total to twenty-eight guns.
radar
Japanese destroyers were not equipped with radio measurement technology from the beginning of the war . It was not until the middle of 1943 that the first selected units received the Type 22 radar . This system, which is capable of surveillance of the sea and fire control , which consisted of a double horn - one for sending and one for receiving - was installed in the main mast behind the bridge. Due to the fact that early Japanese radar devices were unreliable and their operating personnel were poorly trained, commanders tended not to take any information from them seriously and to rely on classic reconnaissance methods such as lookouts with optical devices. This trust became more and more problematic as the Americans introduced better and better radar systems and used them primarily for fire control.
In 1944, the surviving destroyers received type 13 devices for air surveillance , which had a long ladder antenna that was usually mounted on the aft mast.
literature
- Harald Fock: Fleet Chronicle - The active warships involved in the two world wars and their whereabouts . Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-7822-0788-2 , p. 173-200 .
- Mark Stille: Imperial Japanese Navy Destroyers 1919–45 . tape 1 . Osprey Publishing , Oxford 2013, ISBN 978-1-84908-984-5 , pp. 7-8 .
- Mark Stille: Imperial Japanese Navy Destroyers 1919–45 . tape 2 . Osprey Publishing , Oxford 2013, ISBN 978-1-84908-987-6 , pp. 10-19 .
- Mike J. Whitley: Destroyer in World War II . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01426-2 , p. 194-196 .
