Japanese destroyer Natsuzuki

The Akizuki-class ships were originally designed as anti-aircraft escorts for carrier battle groups, but were modified with torpedo tubes and depth charges to meet the need for more general-purpose destroyers. The ships measured {{convert|134.2|m|ftin|sp=us}} overall, with beams of {{convert|11.6|m|ftin|sp=us}} and drafts of {{convert|4.15|m|ftin|sp=us}}.Sturton, p. 195 They displaced {{convert|2744|t|LT|sp=us|lk=on|disp=flip}} at standard load and {{convert|3470|t|LT|sp=us|disp=flip}} at deep load.Todaka, p. 213 Their crews numbered 300 officers and enlisted men.Whitley, p. 204

Each ship had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of {{convert|52000|shp|lk=on|0}} for a designed speed of {{convert|33|kn|lk=in}}. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them ranges of {{convert|8300|nmi|lk=in}} at speeds of {{convert|18|kn}}.Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 150

The main armament of the Akizuki class consisted of eight 10 cm Type 98 dual-purpose guns in four twin-gun turrets, one superfiring pair fore and aft of the superstructure. Natsuzuki was equipped with 41 Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun anti-aircraft (AA) guns in seven triple-gun mounts and twenty single mounts. The ships were also each armed with four {{convert|610|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} torpedo tubes in a single quadruple rotating mount amidships for Type 93 (Long Lance) torpedoes; one reload was carried for each tube. The later batches of ships were each equipped with two depth charge throwers and two sets of rails for which 72 depth charges were carried. Natsuzuki was equipped with a Type 13 early-warning radar on her mainmast and a Type 22 surface-search radar on her foremast.Stille, pp. 33–34Whitley, pp. 204–205

Being one of the second batch of Akizuki-class destroyers authorized in the 1941 Rapid Naval Armaments Program,Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 151 Natsuzuki was laid down on 1 May 1944 at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal and launched on 2 December. Completed on 8 April 1945,Stille, p. 32 She was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 11 of the Second Fleet for training that same day. The squadron was transferred to the Combined Fleet on 20 April. The destroyer was reassigned to Destroyer Division 41 of Escort Squadron 31 on 25 May. Natsuzuki was badly damaged when she struck a naval mine on 16 June; the ship was repaired at Sasebo Naval Arsenal.Nevitt

The ship was turned over to Allied forces at Moji at the time of the surrender of Japan on 2 September and was stricken from the navy list on 5 October. Natsuzuki was subsequently disarmed and used to repatriate Japanese troops from abroad. On 25 August 1947, she was turned over to Great Britain and was scrapped by the Uraga Dock Company at their facility in Uraga, Kanagawa, beginning on 1 March 1948.Dodson & Cant, p. 297

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Dodson |first1=Aidan |last2=Cant |first2=Serena |title=Spoils of War: The Fate of Enemy Fleets after Two World Wars |date=2020 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |location=Barnsley, UK |isbn=978-1-5267-4198-1|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book| last = Jentschura| first = Hansgeorg| first2 = Dieter |last2=Jung|first3=Peter |last3=Mickel| year = 1977| title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945| publisher = United States Naval Institute| location = Annapolis, Maryland| isbn = 0-87021-893-X|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite web |last1=Nevitt |first1=Allyn D. |title=IJN Natsuzuki: Tabular Record of Movement |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/natsuz_t.htm |website=Combined Fleet |access-date=14 April 2023 |date=1 December 2012}}
• {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2|authorlink=Jürgen Rohwer}}
• {{cite book |last1=Stille |first1=Mark |title=Imperial Japanese Navy Destroyers 1919–45 (2): Asahio to Tachibana Classes |date=2013 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Botley, UK |isbn=978-1-84908-987-6}}
• {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger |publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7|chapter=Japan|author-first=Ian |author-last=Sturton}}
• {{cite book |editor-last1=Todaka |editor-first1=Kazushige |title=Destroyers: Selected Photos from the Archives of the Kure Maritime Museum; the Best from the Collection of Shizuo Fukui's Photos of Japanese Warships |date=2020 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=978-1-59114-630-8 |series=Japanese Naval Warship Photo Album}}
• {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia |year=2000| publisher=Cassell & Co.|location=London|isbn=1-85409-521-8|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}

{{Akizuki-class destroyers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Natsuzuki}}

Category:Akizuki-class destroyers (1942)

Category:World War II destroyers of Japan

Category:1944 ships