Japanese destroyer Natsugumo

Natsugumo underway on 22 November 1939
History
Empire of Japan
Name:	Natsugumo
Ordered:	1934 Maru-2 Program
Builder:	Sasebo Naval Arsenal
Laid down:	1 July 1936
Launched:	26 May 1937
Commissioned:	10 February 1938
Struck:	15 November 1942
Fate:	Sunk in air attack, 12 October 1942
General characteristics
Class and type:	Asashio-class destroyer
Displacement:	2,370 long tons (2,408 t)
Length:	111 m (364 ft) pp 115 m (377 ft 4 in)waterline 118.3 m (388 ft 1 in) OA
Beam:	10.3 m (33 ft 10 in)
Draft:	3.7 m (12 ft 2 in)
Propulsion:	2-shaft geared turbine, 3 boilers, 50,000 shp (37,285 kW)
Speed:	35 knots (40 mph; 65 km/h)
Range:	5,700 nmi (10,600 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) 960 nmi (1,780 km) at 34 kn (63 km/h)
Complement:	200
Armament:	6 × 12.7 cm/50 Type 3 DP guns up to 28 × Type 96 AA guns up to 4 × Type 93 AA guns 8 × 24 in (610 mm) torpedo tubes 36 depth charges

Natsugumo (夏雲^?, Summer Cloud) was the seventh of ten Asashio-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the mid-1930s under the Circle Two Supplementary Naval Expansion Program (Maru Ni Keikaku).

The Asashio-class destroyers were larger and more capable that the preceding Shiratsuyu-class, as Japanese naval architects were no longer constrained by the provisions of the London Naval Treaty. These light cruiser-sized vessels were designed to take advantage of Japan’s lead in torpedo technology, and to accompany the Japanese main striking force and in both day and night attacks against the United States Navy as it advanced across the Pacific Ocean, according to Japanese naval strategic projections. Despite being one of the most powerful classes of destroyers in the world at the time of their completion, none survived the Pacific War.

Natsugumo, built at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal was laid down on 1 July 1936, launched on 26 May 1937 and commissioned on 10 February 1938.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Natsugumo, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Moritaro Tsukamoto, was assigned to Destroyer Division 9 (Desdiv 9), and a member of Destroyer Squadron 4 (Desron 4) of the IJN 2nd Fleet, escorting the Philippines invasion forces to Vigan and Lingayen. She then assisted in the landings of Japanese forces at Tarakan, Balikpapan, Makassar and Java in the Netherlands East Indies. During the Battle of the Java Sea of 27 February, she was on detached duty escorting the troop convoy and thus did not see combat. However, on 1 March, she damaged the submarine USS Perch with depth charges.