Akatsuki-class destroyer (1901)
Akatsuki-class destroyer Kasumi at Clyde on commissioning, 1902
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| Class overview | |
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| Name: | Akatsuki class |
| Builders: | Yarrow Shipbuilders, Clyde, Scotland |
| Operators: |
 Imperial Japanese Navy
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| Preceded by: | Murakumo class |
| Succeeded by: | Shirakumo class |
| In commission: | December 1901 - April 1913 |
| Completed: | 2 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| Retired: | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Destroyer |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: |
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| Beam: | 6.28 m (20.6 ft) |
| Draught: | 1.73 m (5.7 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2-shaft reciprocating, 4 Yarrow boilers, 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW) |
| Speed: | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Complement: | 62 |
| Armament: |
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The Akatsuki-class destroyers (暁型駆逐艦 Akatsukigata kuchikukan?) was a class of two torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs) of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The Akatsuki-class destroyers were ordered under the 1897 fiscal budget as a follow-on to the earlier Ikazuchi class. Both were ordered to the Yarrow Shipbuilders in Clyde, Scotland.
Substantially identical to the previous Ikazuchi class, the main difference between the vessels was in the design of its rudder. With the previous class, the rudder was semi-balanced, and had a portion exposed above the waterline. This made the vessel vulnerable to disablement by stray gunfire. The Akatsuki class was intended to remedy this design flaw. Only two vessels were procured, as the Japanese navy intended to study the technique and to retrofit the existing Ikazuchi-class vessels in Japan.
The design was similar to the four-stack Royal Navy B class, also known as the “Thirty Knotters”.
Both vessels had a flush deck design with a distinctive "turtleback" forecastle that was intended to clear water from the bow during high speed navigation, but was poorly designed for high waves or bad weather. The bridge and forward gun platform were barely raised above the bow, resulting in a wet conning position. More than half of the small hull was occupied by the boilers and the engine room. With fuel and weaponry, there was little space left for crew quarters.
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