Umikaze class destroyer

The nihongo|"Umikaze"-class destroyers|春雨型駆逐艦|Umikazegata kuchikukan were a class of two destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. They were the first large destroyers designed for open ocean service to be built in Japan. [Jentsura, "Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945".]

Background

The "Umikaze"-class destroyers were designed after the Russo-Japanese War, as the Imperial Japanese Navy realized that the vessels in its current fleet of destroyers were too small and poorly designed for extended “blue water” operation. [Evans, "Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887–1941".]

Two vessels were built, based largely on British designs, one at Maizuru Naval Arsenal and the other at the Mitsubishi shipyards in Nagasaki. [Howarth, "The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun".]

Design

The "Umikaze"-class ships were based largely on the Royal Navy "Tribal"-class destroyers. [Cocker, "Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981"] In terms of displacement, each vessel was almost three times larger than the previous destroyers in the Japanese Navy.

Externally, the design retained the four-smokestacks of the "Ikazuchi"-class, however, internally the coal-fired triple expansion steam engines, were replaced with heavy oil-fired Parsons steam turbine engines, which was a first for Japan. The rated power of 20,500 shp gave the vessels a high speed of 33 knots, however fuel consumption severely limited range.

Armament was increased over the previous classes, with a pair of QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I - IV guns, with one gun mounted on a small shelter forward and another on the quarterdeck and five QF 3 inch 12 pounder guns mounted staggered to port and starboard. [Nishida, "Imperial Japanese Navy"] The number of torpedoes was initially three in unreloadable tubes; but this was quickly changed to two in reloadable tubes in operational service.

Operational history

The "Umikaze"-class destroyers proved to be largely experimental ships. The use of Parsons steam turbines pushed the design to the limits of capability of contemporary engineering and production technology, and the engines were plagued with maintenance issues, as well as tremendous fuel consumption. In an effort to reduce running expenses and to increase range, the boilers were modified from all heavy oil to two heavy oil and four coal-fired boilers. Even with the modification, the "Umikaze" vessels were largely retained for coastal patrol duties.

The "Umikaze" ships were rated at first-class destroyers on 28 August 1912, and served to 1 June 1930 when both were converted to minesweepers. Both were subsequently scrapped in 1936. [Nishida, "Imperial Japanese Navy"]

List of Ships

References

Books

*cite book
last = Cocker
first = Maurice
year = 1983
title = Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981
publisher = Ian Allan
location =
id = ISBN 0-7110-1075-7
*cite book
last = Evans
first = David
year = 1979
title = Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941
publisher = US Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0870211927
*cite book
last = Howarth
first = Stephen
year = 1983
title = The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945
publisher = Atheneum
location =
id = ISBN 0689114028
*cite book
last = Jentsura
first = Hansgeorg
year = 1976
title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945
publisher = US Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 087021893X

External Links

*cite web
last = Nishida
first = Hiroshi
url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0408.htm
title = Materials of IJN: Umikaze class destroyer
work = Imperial Japanese Navy
*cite web
last = Globalsecurity.org
first =
url = http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/japan/umikaze-dd.htm
title = IJN Umikaze class destroyers
work =

Notes