Isokaze-class destroyer

Amatsukaze on patrol, Yangzi River, 1927
Class overview
Name	Isokaze class
Builders	Kure Naval Arsenal Mitsubishi-Nagasaki Kawasaki-Kobe
Operators	Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by	Kaba class
Succeeded by	Momo class
In commission	1 April 1916 – 1 April 1935
Completed	4
Retired	4
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	1,227 long tons (1,247 t) (normal) 1,570 long tons (1,595 t) (deep load)
Length	310 ft (94.5 m) (pp) 326 ft (99.4 m) (o/a)
Beam	27 ft 11 in (8.5 m)
Draft	9 ft 3 in (2.8 m)
Installed power	5 × Kampon water-tube boilers 27,000 shp (20,000 kW)
Propulsion	3 shafts; 3 × geared steam turbines
Speed	34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range	4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	128
Armament	4 × single 12 cm (4.7 in) guns 3 × twin 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes

The Isokaze-class destroyers (磯風型駆逐艦, Isokazegata kuchikukan) was a class of four destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I.

The Isokaze-class destroyers were designed as part of the first phase of the Hachi-hachi Kantai program of the Imperial Japanese Navy. With the commissioning of the new high speed battleships Yamashiro and Ise, escort vessels with equally high speed and blue ocean capabilities were required.

Four vessels were built, with the order split between Kure Naval Arsenal, Kawasaki Shipyards in Kobe and Mitsubishi Shipyards in Nagasaki.^[1]

The Isokaze-class ships were a slightly larger and updated version of the previous Umikaze class. Externally, the design went to a three smokestack profile, with a curved, rather than straight bow.

Internally, the engines were replaced with heavy fuel oil-fired steam turbine engines. Two vessels (Amatsukaze and Tokitsukaze) used Brown-Curtis turbine engines, and the other two (Isokaze, Hamakaze) used Parsons turbine engines. Advances in turbine design and construction permitted more reliable operation than previously with the Umikaze. The rated power of 27,000 shp (20,000 kW) gave the vessels a high speed of 34 knots (63 km/h), and a range of 3,360 nautical miles (6,220 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h); however, the engines could not be run continuously at over 7,000 shp (5,200 kW), which still considerably limited performance.

Armament was increased over the previous classes, with four QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I - IV, pedestal-mounted along the centerline of the vessel, two in front of the smokestacks and two to the stern. The number of torpedoes was increased to three launchers, each with a pair of 533 mm torpedoes. Anti-aircraft protection was provided by four machine guns.

The Isokaze-class destroyers were completed in time to serve in the very final stages of World War I.^[2] Tokitsukaze broke in two and sank off of Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyūshū in 1918. The wreck was raised and repaired at the Maizuru Naval Arsenal, and although re-commissioned as a first class destroyer, was used thereafter as a training vessel at the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy at Etajima.^[3]

All Isokaze-class ships were retired on 1 April 1935.^[3]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Isokaze class destroyer.

• Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
• Friedman, Norman (1985). "Japan". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
• Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
• Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Watts, Anthony J. & Gordon, Brian G. (1971). The Imperial Japanese Navy. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-35603-045-8.