:Japanese destroyer Kamikaze (1922)

The Kamikaze class was an improved version of the {{sclass|Minekaze|destroyer|2}}s. The ships had an overall length of {{convert|102.5|m|ftin|sp=us}}Watts & Gordon, pp. 263–64 and were {{convert|97.5|m|ftin|sp=us}} between perpendiculars. They had a beam of {{convert|9.1|m|ftin|sp=us}}, and a mean draft of {{convert|2.9|m|ftin|sp=us}}. The Kamikaze-class ships displaced {{convert|1422|t|LT|sp=us|0}} at standard load and {{convert|1747|t|LT|sp=us|0}} at deep load.Whitley, p. 189 They were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce {{convert|38500|shp|kW|lk=in}}, which would propel the ships at {{convert|37.3|kn|lk=in}}. During sea trials, the ships comfortably exceeded their designed speeds, reaching {{convert|38.7|to|39.2|kn}}.Gardiner & Gray, p. 245 The ships carried {{convert|420|t|LT|0|sp=us}} of fuel oil which gave them a range of {{convert|3600|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|14|kn}}. Their crew consisted of 148 officers and crewmen.Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 142

The main armament of the Kamikaze-class ships consisted of four Type 3 120 mm 45 caliber naval gun in single mounts; one gun forward of the superstructure, one between the two funnels and the last pair back to back atop the aft superstructure. The guns were numbered '1' to '4' from front to rear. The ships carried three above-water twin sets of {{convert|53.3|cm|sp=us|adj=on|1}} torpedo tubes; one mount was between the forward superstructure and the forward gun and the other two were between the aft funnel and aft superstructure.

Early in the war, the No. 4 gun and the aft torpedo tubes were removed in exchange for four depth charge throwers and 18 depth charges. In addition 10 license-built Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun light AA guns were installed.Whitley, pp. 189–90 These changes increased their displacement to {{convert|1523|t|LT|sp=us|0|disp=flip}}. Survivors had their light AA armament augmented to be between thirteen and twenty 25 mm guns and four Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun anti-aircraft machineguns by June 1944. These changes reduced their speed to {{convert|35|kn}}.

Kamikaze, built by Mitsubishi at their shipyard in Nagasaki, was laid down on 15 December 1921, launched on 25 September 1922 and completed on 19 December. Originally commissioned simply as Destroyer No. 1, she was assigned the name Kamikaze on 1 August 1928.Watts & Gordon, p. 264 On completion, Kamikaze was assigned to Destroyer Division 1, based in the Ōminato Guard District and charged with the defense of Japan’s northern waters.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Kamikaze was still based at Ōminato, and was assigned to patrols from the Chishima Islands to the southern coasts of Hokkaidō. In June 1942, Kamikaze helped provide cover for the Japanese forces during Operation AL, the diversionary invasion of the Aleutian Islands during the Battle of Midway. Following the Aleutian Islands Campaign, Kamikaze patrolled from Hokkaidō through the Aleutians through the end of the year. Throughout 1943 and 1944, she was assigned to patrols of Soya Strait and Tsugaru Strait and to escort ship convoys to remote outposts in the Kurile islands.

On 23 October 1944, she left Kataoka Bay Naval Base, Shimushu Island, Kuril Islands for Otaru in convoy WO-303 consisting of transports {{ship|Japanese transport ship|Hakuyo Maru|1942|2}}, Hokoku Maru, and Umegawa Maru, and {{sclass|Etorofu|escort ship|1}} Fukue.{{cite web |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/Fukue_t.htm|title=Kaibokan! IJN Escort Fukue: Tabular Record of Movement|first1=Bob |last1=Hackett |first2=Sander |last2=Kingsepp |work=combinedfleet.com |year=2012 |access-date=10 March 2020}} The transports were filled with naval personnel and fishery workers being removed to the homeland for the winter from the islands of Shimushu and Paramushiro. On 25 October 1944, the convoy was attacked by the submarine {{USS|Seal|SS-183|6}}. Hakuyo Maru was torpedoed and sunk west of the Kuril Islands with 1,415 lives lost.{{Cite web|title= Chapter VII: 1944 |website=Hyperwar - The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy during World War II|url=https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1945.html }}{{Cite web|title=Chronological List of Japanese Merchant Vessel Losses |website=Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee|url= https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japan/IJN/JANAC-Losses/JANAC-Losses-4.html }} The Seal evaded depth charging by Kamikaze and Fukue and the remainder of the convoy reached Otaru unharmed.

However, from January 1945, Kamikaze was reassigned to the Combined Fleet and relocated to Moji in Kyūshū. On 26 January 1945, she departed with a convoy from Moji bound for Singapore, but was assigned detached duty at the Mako in the Pescadores. On 14 February she formed part of the escort for both {{sclass|Ise|battleship}}s which were sailing from Singapore to Japan as part of Operation Kita. On 20 February, she rescued the survivors of the torpedoed destroyer {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Nokaze||2}}, continuing on to Singapore by 22 February.Nevitt

In May 1945, Kamikaze sortied twice from Singapore as escort to the cruiser {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Haguro||2}} on emergency transport missions to the beleaguered Japanese garrison in the Andaman Islands. During the second sortie, on 16 May, Haguro was sunk in surface action with the Royal Navy, and Kamikaze suffered 27 crewmen killed and 14 injured in battle with the British destroyer group.Winton Damage to the ship was light, and Kamikaze rescued 320 survivors from Haguro before returning to Singapore.

In June 1945, Kamikaze sortied from Singapore to Batavia as escort to the cruiser {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Ashigara||2}}. During the return voyage on June 8, Ashigara was torpedoed,[http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.2558 Submarine History: Submarine Service: Operations and Support: Royal Navy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070220150129/http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.2558 |date=2007-02-20 }} and Kamikaze rescued 853 crewmen and 400 soldiers before returning to Singapore.Dull. A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy Later that month, as Kamikaze was escorting the tanker {{ship|Japanese oiler|Tōhō Maru|1944|2}} to French Indochina, Tōhō Maru was sunk in an attack by United States Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator bombers, and Kamikaze rescued 200 survivors.{{cite web |title=Toho Maru: Tabular Record of Movement |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/Toho2_t.htm |website=Combined Fleet |access-date=24 October 2019}}

Kamikaze successfully completed several more escort operations through the remainder of June and July. Notably, she engaged the submarine {{USS|Hawkbill|SS-366|6}} on July 18. The submarine attempted to torpedo a convoy off the coast of Malaya. The torpedoes missed and Kamikaze gave chase, dropping several depth charges that severely damaged the submarine and partially blew her out of the water. Hawkbill was able to get away, and after the war the ships' captains, Hitoshi Kasuga and Worth M. Scanland exchanged letters praising each other. At the time of the surrender of Japan, she was still based in Singapore, and was turned over to British authorities there.

File:KAMIKAZE-AGROUND.jpg

Kamikaze was struck from the Navy List on 5 October 1945. She was subsequently demilitarized and used as a repatriation vessel returning Japanese military personnel back to the Japanese home islands from Singapore, Bangkok and Saigon in late 1945 and early 1946. Kamikaze ran aground and was wrecked on 7 June 1946 while coming to the rescue of former {{ship|Japanese escort|Kunashiri||2}}, another repatriation vessel, off Cape Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture at coordinates {{coord|34|38|N|138|8|E |display=inline,title|region:JP-22_type:city |name=Omaezaki City}}. The severity of the wreck damage resulted in the decision to scrap the vessel on site in 1947.

{{reflist|30em}}

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• {{cite book | last = Winton | first = John | year = 1981| title = Sink the Haguro | publisher = Saunders of Toronto| isbn = 0-85422-152-2}}

{{Kamikaze class destroyer (1922)}}

{{1946 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamikaze (1922)}}

Category:Kamikaze-class destroyers (1922)

Category:Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Category:1922 ships

Category:World War II destroyers of Japan

Category:Shipwrecks in the Philippine Sea

Category:Maritime incidents in 1946

Category:Ships of the Aleutian Islands campaign