Mutsuki-class destroyer

Mutsuki in 1930
Class overview
Name:	Mutsuki class
Builders:	Maizuru Naval Arsenal Mitsubishi-Nagasaki Uraga Dock Company Ishikawajima Shipyards Fujinagata Shipyards Sasebo Naval Arsenal
Operators:	Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by:	Kamikaze class
Succeeded by:	Fubuki class
Built:	1924-1927
Planned:	12
Completed:	12
Lost:	12
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	1,315 long tons (1,336 t) normal, 1,445 long tons (1,468 t) full load
Length:	97.54 m (320.0 ft) pp, 102.72 m (337.0 ft) overall
Beam:	9.16 m (30.1 ft)
Draught:	2.96 m (9.7 ft)
Propulsion:	4 × Ro-Gō Kampon water-tube boilers 2 × Kampon geared turbines 38,500 ihp (28,700 kW) 2 shafts
Speed:	37.25 knots (68.99 km/h)
Range:	3,600 nautical miles (6,700 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement:	154
Armament:	(As originally built) 4 ×Type 3 120 mm 45 caliber naval gun, 2 × Type 92 7.7 mm machine gun, 2 × triple Type 12 torpedo tubes (12 × 610 mm Type 8 torpedoes), 18 × depth charges 16 × Ichi-Gō naval mines (Mutsuki, December 1941) 4 ×Type 3 120 mm 45 caliber naval gun 2 × Type 93 13 mm AA guns, 2 × Type 92 7.7 mm machine gun, 2 × triple Type 12 torpedo tubes (12 × 610 mm 8th Year Type torpedoes), 18 × depth charges (Uzuki, December 1942) 4 ×Type 3 120 mm 45 caliber naval gun, 2 × Type 93 13 mm AA guns, 2 × Type 92 7.7 mm machine guns, 2 × triple Type 12 torpedo tubes (12 × 610 mm 8th Year Type torpedoes), 18 × depth charges 1 × landing craft (Uzuki, September 1944) 2 ×Type 3 120 mm 45 caliber naval gun, 16 × Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Guns, 1 × triple Type 12 torpedo tubes (6 × 610 mm 8th Year Type torpedoes), 36 × depth charges

The Mutsuki-class destroyers (睦月型駆逐艦, Mutsukigata kuchikukan^?) were a class of twelve destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. All were given traditional poetic names of the months of the year by the Lunar calendar or phases of the moon. Some authors consider the Kamikaze and Mutsuki-class destroyers to be extensions of the earlier Minekaze class.

With the imposition of the Washington Naval Treaty limiting the number and size of capital warships, increased emphasis was placed by the Imperial Japanese Navy on the quantity and firepower of its destroyer fleet to counter what was perceived to be the growing threat from the United States Navy. The Mutsuki-class destroyers were an improved version of the Kamikaze class destroyers and were ordered under the 1923 fiscal budget.

Along with the Minekaze and Kamikaze classes, the Mutsuki-class ships formed the backbone of Japanese destroyer formations throughout the twenties and thirties. The Minekaze and Kamikaze classes were withdrawn from front line service and reassigned to secondary duties towards the end of the 1930s, but the Mutsukis were retained as first line destroyers due to their range and their more powerful torpedo armament. All saw combat during World War II, and none survived the war.

Initially, the Mutsuki-class ships had only hull numbers due to the projected large number of warships the Japanese navy expected to build through the Eight-eight fleet plan. This proved to be extremely unpopular with the crews and was a constant source of confusion in communications. In August 1928, names were assigned.

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