Japanese destroyer Akikaze
Akikaze departing Yokosuka, 1923
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| History | |
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 Empire of Japan
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| Name: | Akikaze |
| Ordered: | fiscal 1918 |
| Builder: | Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki, Japan |
| Laid down: | 7 June 1920 |
| Launched: | 14 December 1920 |
| Commissioned: | 16 September 1921 |
| Struck: | 10 January 1945 |
| Fate: | Sunk in action, 3 November 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Minekaze-class destroyer |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | |
| Beam: | 8.92 m (29 ft 3 in) |
| Draft: | 2.79 m (9 ft 2 in) |
| Installed power: | 28,700 kW (38,500 shp) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 72 km/h (39 kn; 45 mph) |
| Range: | 6,700 km (3,600 nmi; 4,200 mi) at 26 km/h (14 kn; 16 mph) |
| Complement: | 154 |
| Armament: | 4 × 120 mm (4.7 in)/45 cal Type 3 naval guns, 6 × 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes, 2 × 7.7 mm (0.303 in) machine guns, 16 × naval mines |
| Service record | |
| Operations: | |
Akikaze (秋風 Autumn Wind?) was a Minekaze-class destroyer, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy immediately following the end of World War I. The Minekaze class of destroyers were considered advanced for their time; these ships served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s. The class was considered obsolete by the start of the Pacific War and served in a number of roles including minesweeper, aircraft rescue ships and Kaiten-carriers.
Construction of the large-sized Minekaze-class destroyers was authorized as part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's 8-4 Fleet Program (1917–1920) with the first two ships of the class built under the 1917 fiscal programme, followed by five each under the 1918 and 1919 programmes and two ships under the 1920 fiscal programme. The Minekaze-class destroyer was designed to complement the medium-sized Momi class, with which they shared many common design characteristics. Equipped with powerful engines, these vessels were capable of high speeds and were intended as escorts for the projected Amagi-class battlecruisers, which were ultimately never built.Akikaze was built at the Maizuru Naval Arsenal and was the ninth ship of the Minekaze class. She was laid down on 7 June 1920, and launched on 14 December 1920. Completed on 1 April 1921, Akikaze was commissioned on 16 September 1921.
On completion, Akikaze joined sister ships Hakaze, Tachikaze, and Hokaze at the Yokosuka Naval District to form Destroyer Division 4 under Torpedo Squadron 1 (第1水雷戦隊). In 1938–1939, the division was assigned to patrols of the central China coastline in support of Japanese combat operations in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
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