Ikazuchi-class destroyer
Ikazuchi-class destroyer Sazanami at Yokosuka
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| Class overview | |
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| Name: | Ikazuchi class |
| Builders: | Yarrow Shipbuilders, Poplar, London |
| Operators: |
 Imperial Japanese Navy
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| Preceded by: | None |
| Succeeded by: | Murakumo class |
| In commission: | February 1899 – August 1921 |
| Completed: | 6 |
| Lost: | 3 |
| Retired: | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Destroyer |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: |
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| Beam: | 6.2 m (20 ft) |
| Draught: | 1.57 m (5.2 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2-shaft reciprocating, 4 Yarrow boilers, 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW) |
| Speed: | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Complement: | 55 |
| Armament: |
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The Ikazuchi-class destroyers (雷型駆逐艦 Ikazuchigata kuchikukan?) was a class of six torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs) of the Imperial Japanese Navy. All were named after celestial phenomena.
In the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese navy came to understand the combat effectiveness of small, fast torpedo-equipped warships over larger, slower ships equipped with slow-loading and often inaccurate naval artillery. The Ikazuchi-class vessels were the first destroyers procured by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Four ships were ordered under the 1896 fiscal year budget, and an additional two under the 1897 budget. All were ordered from the Yarrow Shipbuilders in Poplar, London, which was considered to be the world's premier builders of destroyers and smaller warships.
The design of the Ikazuchi-class destroyers was based on the four-stack “Thirty Knotters” of the Royal Navy (from 1913 grouped as the B class).
All Ikazuchi-class 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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