("cross wave") was the last of 32

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s built for the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

(IJN) in the first decade of the 20th century.

Design and description

The ''Kamikaze''-class destroyers were improved versions of the preceding .Friedman 1985, p. 241 They displaced at normal load and at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

. The ships had a length between perpendiculars of and an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads in ...

of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of . The ''Kamikaze''s were powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft using steam produced by four Kampon

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...

s. The engines produced a total of that gave the ships a maximum speed of . They carried a maximum of of coalWatts & Gordon, p. 243 which gave them a range of at a speed of . Their crew consisted of 70 officers and ratings.Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 133 The main armament of the ''Kamikaze''-class ships consisted of two 40-

calibre In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...

quick-firing (QF) 12 cwt guns"Cwt" is the abbreviation for

hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and US customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the US and British imperial systems. The two values are distingu ...

, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. on single mounts; the forward gun was located on

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

, but the aft gun was at the

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

. Four 28-calibre QF three-inch 8 cwt guns on single mounts were positioned abreast the superstructure, two in each

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

. The ships were also armed with two single rotating mounts for

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

es between the superstructure and the stern gun. When ''Isonami'' was converted into a minesweeper in 1924, she was rearmed with a pair of 3rd Year Type guns taken from older ships on single mounts and the three-inch 8 cwt guns were removed.

Construction and career

''Ayanami'' was launched at Maizuru Naval Arsenal on 20 March 1909 and completed on 26 June. The ship served during World War I and participated in the Siberian Expedition. She was converted into a minesweeper on 1 December 1924 and was renamed ''W-9'' on 1 August 1928. The ship was decommissioned on 1 June 1930, but she continued in service as a tugboat and a dispatch boat until 19 April 1935 and was subsequently scrapped.Todaka, et al., p. 219

Notes

Citations

Books

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayanami (1909) Kamikaze-class destroyers (1905) 1909 ships World War I destroyers of Japan Ships built by Maizuru Naval Arsenal