was the lead ship of the ''Nokaze'' sub-class, an improvement to the 1st class

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 following World War I. Advanced for their time, these ships served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, but were considered obsolescent by the start of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

History

Construction of the large-sized ''Minekaze''-class destroyers was authorized as part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's 8-4 Fleet Program from fiscal 1917 with nine vessels, and fiscal 1918 with an additional six vessels. However, the final three vessels in the fiscal 1918 were built to a different design and have a different enough silhouette that many authors consider them to be a separate

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

. ''Nokaze'', built at the Maizuru Naval Arsenal was laid down on 16 April 1921, launched on 1 October 1921 and commissioned on 31 March 1922. On completion, ''Nokaze'' was teamed with

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s , , and

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

at Yokosuka Naval District to form Destroyer Division 1. In 1938-1939, this Division was assigned to patrols of the northern and central

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

coastlines in support of Japanese combat operations in the Second Sino-Japanese War

World War II history

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, ''Nokaze'' was based at the Ōminato Guard District in northern Japan, and was assigned to patrols of the

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

and Chishima Islands coastlines. During the Battle of Midway in May 1942, ''Nokaze'' was assigned to the reserve force for the Aleutian Islands Operation, which did not leave Japanese waters. Afterwards, it returned to patrol and escort duties based out of Ōminato through July 1943, when it was assigned temporarily to the

IJN 5th Fleet The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, active during the early portions of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and again in World War II, primarily in the Aleutian campaign, during which it was augmented and designated the Northern Area Force. ...

for the mission to evacuate surviving Japanese forces from " Operation Cottage" (the evacuation of Kiska). ''Nokaze'' continued to be based at Ōminato for patrol and escort in northern waters until January 1945. In January 1945, ''Nokaze'' was reassigned to the Combined Fleet, departing from Moji on 26 January with Convoy HI-91 bound for Singapore. However, ''Nokaze'' was ordered to Mako, where it was to join the destroyer screen for the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

s , and during Operation Kita. However, on 15 February, there was a change of plans, and ''Nokaze'' was ordered to proceed instead to Singapore on its own. On 20 February 1945, ''Nokaze'' was torpedoed and sunk by the

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

north of Nha Trang, French Indochina in the South China Sea at position . The ship exploded and sank, with 209 killed. ''Kamikaze'' rescued 21 survivors, including its captain, Lieutenant Commander Tarō Ebihara. ''Nokaze'' was the last of 39 Japanese destroyers to fall victim to United States Navy submarines during the war. On 10 April 1945 ''Nokaze'' was removed from navy list.

Notes

References

* * * * * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nokaze Minekaze-class destroyers Ships built by Maizuru Naval Arsenal 1921 ships Second Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan World War II destroyers of Japan Ships sunk by American submarines World War II shipwrecks in the South China Sea Maritime incidents in February 1945 Naval magazine explosions