Japanese destroyer Hamakaze (1940)

The Kagerō class was an enlarged and improved version of the preceding Asashio class of destroyers. Their crew numbered 240 officers and enlisted men. The ships measured 118.5 meters (388 ft 9 in) overall, with a beam of 10.8 meters (35 ft 5 in) and a draft of 3.76 meters (12 ft 4 in). They displaced 2,065 metric tons (2,032 long tons) at standard load and 2,529 metric tons (2,489 long tons) at deep load. The ships had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of 52,000 shaft horsepower (39,000 kW) for a designed speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph). However, the class proved capable of exceeding 35.5 knots on sea trials. The ships were designed with a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). However, the class more accurately proved to have a range of 6,053 nautical miles (11,210 km; 6,966 mi) on trials.

The main armament of the Kagerō class consisted of six Type 3 127-millimeter (5.0 in) guns in three twin-gun turrets, one superfiring pair aft and one turret forward of the superstructure. They were built with four Type 96 25-millimeter (1.0 in) anti-aircraft guns in two twin-gun mounts, but more of these guns were added over the course of the war. The ships were also armed with eight 610-millimeter (24.0 in) torpedo tubes for the oxygen-fueled Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedo in two quadruple traversing mounts; one reload was carried for each tube. Their anti-submarine weapons consisted of 16 depth charges.

At the time of Hamakaze's completion, 30 June 1941, she was appointed to join her already completed sisterships Urakaze, Isokaze, and Tanikaze in destroyer division 17, where together they saw a short peacetime career consisting of training duties and revisions to her command structure. However, things changed when from November 18-22, Hamakaze departed Saeki with the rest of destroyer division 17 for Hitokappu Bay to escort the Kido Butai aircraft carrier force on a secret mission, a mission which eventually became the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, which occurred on December 7. As the force did not come under American counterattack, Hamakaze saw no combat, and returned to Japan on the 24th.^[1][2]

 

Throughout January of 1942, Hamakaze escorted the aircraft carriers Akagi and Kaga throughout strikes on Rabaul, and throughout February escorted the carrier fleet during the attack on Port Darwin and failed attempts to track down allied aircraft carriers, then during the following months Hamakaze escorted the carriers during Operations in the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean raid, and escorted the battleships Kongō and Haruna when they, joined by Urakaze and Tanikaze, bombardment Christmas Island and led to a successful capture of the territory. Hamakaze finally arrived back in Kure on April 27 and was docked for repairs. Despite her active service, she had not managed to fire a single shot in combat. ^[1][2]

 

At the battle of Midway, Hamakaze again escorted the Japanese aircraft carriers. The plan was for their aircraft to attack and destroy the defenses on Midway Island to lure out American carriers, where hopefully Admiral Nagumo's carriers and Admiral Yamamoto's battleships would catch the aircraft carriers and sink them, simultaneously leading to a successful capture of Midway Island. However, American intelligence had intercepted the plan around a month before it commenced and quickly responded with their own aircraft carriers. For the first time, Hamakaze saw direct combat, firing her guns to fend off American aircraft attacks, although she did not manage to down any aircraft, and in turn the US carriers slammed down a devastating defeat, fatally wounding all four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser. Hamakaze near the end of the battle approached the crippled aircraft carrier Sōryū, fatally damaged by dive bombers from USS Yorktown, and assisted in evacuating her crew before alongside Isokaze scuttling Sōryū with torpedo hits. On the 8th, Hamakaze transferred the Sōryū survivors to the battleship Kirishima, and finally returned to Hashirajima on the 14th.^[1][2]

After a series of transits between ports, Hamakaze took part on her first troop transport run to Guadalcanal from August 8-14, a duty which overfilled her career for the following months. The only break from these uneventful tasks was her role as a carrier escort during the battle of Santa Cruz on October 26, during which her task force came under heavy air attacks, damaging several Japanese ships (but failing to sink any), prompting Hamakaze to fire away against the attacking aircraft. In turn, Japanese forces sank the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and the destroyer USS Porter and damaged several other American warships, ending the battle in a Japanese victory. Escorting duties rounded out Hamakaze's career for the rest of 1942. At the start of 1943, Hamakaze escorted a large troop convoy from Rabaul to lae and back. Underway, US aircraft destroyed the troop transports Nichiryu Maru and Myōkō Maru, and in turn Hamakaze was present during the sinking of the submarine USS Argonaut, but did not engage. Hamakaze then survived another air raid on January 15 without damage^[1][2]

At the start of February, Hamakaze took part in the evacuation of Guadalcanal, where she was damaged by a bomb hit from US aircraft that destroyed her forward turret. From March 6-16, to kill two birds with one stone, the damaged Hamakaze impressively towed the crippled and disabled destroyer Michishio all the way from Truk to mainland Japan without being attacked by enemy forces, and was for her part docked in Kure for repairs afterwards, repairs that lasted until June.^[1][2]

Main Article: Solomon Islands Campaign

 

Hamakaze was heavily involved in the fighting in 1943 in the Solomon Islands chain. On July 6, Hamakaze landed troops during the battle of Kula Gulf, but saw no direct combat. On July 13, Hamakaze served in the battle of Kolombangara, where alongside the destroyers Yukikaze, Kiyonami, and Yūgure, she took part in a mass torpedo attack that sank the destroyer USS Gwin and crippled the light cruisers USS Honolulu and USS Saint Louis. On August 18, Hamakaze was involved in the battle off Horaniu, helping to defend Japanese troop transports against an American destroyer flotilla, where she was damaged by a single 5-inch (127 mm) shell hit.^[1]

On 7 April 1945, Hamakaze escorted the battleship Yamato from the Inland Sea on her Operation Ten-Go attack on the Allied forces on Okinawa. She was sunk by aircraft of Task Force 58 primarily from USS San Jacinto and sank 150 miles (240 km) southwest of Nagasaki (30°47′N 128°08′E / 30.783°N 128.133°E / 30.783; 128.133).^[3]

• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• 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.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.

• CombinedFleet.com: Kagero-class destroyers
• CombinedFleet.com: Hamakaze history
• Destroyer Hamakaze | Imperial Japanese Navy Major Weapons

30°47′N 128°08′E / 30.783°N 128.133°E / 30.783; 128.133