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Tonnage |
2701 tons standard displacement |
Dimensions |
440'2" by 38'1" by 13'7" 134.16m by 11.61m by 4.14m |
Maximum speed |
33 knots |
Complement |
263 |
Armament |
4x2 3.9"/65
AA guns 2x2 25mm/60 machine guns 1x4 Long Lance torpedo tubes (4 reloads) 6 depth charge throwers (72 depth charges) |
Machinery |
2-shaft Kampon geared turbines
(52,000 shp) 3 Kampon boilers |
Bunkerage |
1097 tons fuel oil |
Range |
8300 miles at 18 knots |
Sensors | Niizuki was the first Japanese destroyer equipped with radar when she was commissioned, likely Type 21 and 22 |
Modifications | Additional 25mm machine guns began to be shipped in 1943, and some units had a total of 6x3, 30x1 25mm machine guns by the time the war ended. |
The Akizukis (transliterated Akitsukis
by some authors)
were completed between 1942 and 1945. A total of 54 were
ordered, starting with six in 1939, ten in 1941, and 38 in 1942, but
the
straining Japanese
economy was unable to complete more
than twelve before the end of the war, and the 1942 and last four 1941
units were cancelled.
The Akizukis
were very modern
ships,
designed specifically as escort vessels, with a much better
antiaircraft
battery than most Japanese ships: eight 3.9”/65
AA guns, the most effective
antiaircraft gun shipped by the Imperial Navy during the war, in dual
mounts with separate fore and aft directors. The light antiaircraft battery (two twin 25mm guns) had an
unusually good director, the Type 94. A single bank of torpedoes (with
four torpedo
reloads) and depth charges were added later in the design process to
give them more general capability than a pure antiaircraft vessel.
They were nearly as large as the Yubari light cruiser class, with remarkable range and toughness, but they were somewhat limited in speed compared with other destroyers. Nevertheless, they were probably the finest Japanese destroyer design.
Completed after war broke out, the ships were known to Allied intelligence as the Terutzuki class. Armament was estimated as 4x2 5" guns and three torpedo tubes, not wildly off the mark.
completed 1942-6-11 (Maizuru) | Sunk by aircraft 1944-10-25 during the Battle of Cape Engano | |
completed 1942-8-31 (Nagasaki) | Torpedoed 1942-12-12 by PT-37 and PT-40 off Guadalcanal | |
completed 1942-12-20 (Nagasaki) | ||
completed 1942-12-29 (Maizuru) | Sunk by gunfire 1944-10-25 during the Battle of Cape Engano | |
Niizuki | completed 1943-3-31 (Nagasaki) | Sunk by gunfire 1943-7-6 at Kula Gulf |
Wakatsuki | completed 1943-5-31 (Nagasaki) | Sunk by aircraft 1944-11-11 off Ormoc |
completed 1944-3-31 (Nagasaki) | Torpedoed 1944-11-25 by Cavalla 220 miles ENE of Singapore | |
completed 1944-5-25 (Maizuru) | ||
completed 1944-12-26 (Maizuru) | ||
completed 1944-12-28 (Sasebo) | ||
Yoizuki | completed 1945-1-31 (Tokyo) | |
completed 1945-4/8 (Sasebo) |
References
CombinedFleet.com (accessed 2007-3-29)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015 by Kent G. Budge. Index