Sakura-class destroyer

Sakura at Sasebo, 1918
Class overview
Builders	Maizuru Naval Arsensal
Operators	Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by	Umikaze class destroyer
Succeeded by	Urakaze class destroyer
In commission	1912-05-21 - 1932-04-01
Completed	2
Active	0
Lost	0
Retired	2
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	530 tons normal, 830 tons full load
Length	79.2 meters pp, 83.6 meters overall
Beam	7.3 meters
Draught	2.2 meters
Propulsion	3-shaft Parsons steam turbine, 8 boilers, 20,500ihp
Speed	30 kn (56 km/h)
Range	2,400 nmi (4,400 km) @ 12 kn (22 km/h)
Complement	94
Armament	1 x 120 mm/40 cal guns 4 x 80 mm/40 cal guns 2 x 450 mm torpedoes

The Sakura class destroyers (櫻型駆逐艦, Sakuragata kuchikukan) was a class of two destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Background

Although unable to obtain funding in fiscal year 1907 for additional Umikaze-class destroyers, which were expensive due to their large size and imported turbine engines, the Imperial Japanese Navy was also unwilling to purchase three additional Kamikaze-class destroyers as recommended by the government. In a compromise, the Navy agreed to purchase two medium size ships instead.

Both were designed and built at the Maizuru Naval Arsenal in Japan.

Design

The Sakura-class ships were half the displacement of the previous Umikaze class but with the same basic hull design. Externally, the design went from four to three smokestacks, which was a first for the Japanese Navy; however, internally the troublesome heavy oil-fired Parsons steam turbine engines of the Umikaze-class were replaced by standard coal-fired triple expansion steam engines, which gave better reliability and fuel consumption. The lower rated power of 9,500 shp gave the vessels a maximum speed of 30 knots (56 km/h), however, better fuel consumption equated to longer range, which was what the Imperial Japanese Navy needed.

Armament was similar to that of the Umikaze-class, with one QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I - IV, mounted on the deck forward of the bridge, and four 3-inch (76 mm) QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval guns, mounted one on either side and two towards the stern of the ship, with two 450-mm torpedoes launchers.

Operational history

Japan had fifty destroyers operational at the start of World War I. Although intended for coastal operation , with the Umikaze-class destroyers too short in range to operate overseas and with all previous classes of destroyers too small and/or obsolete for front-line service, the two Sakura-class destroyers were Japan’s most advanced front-line destroyers during the opening stages of the war. Both were deployed extensively overseas as part of Japan’s contribution to the war effort under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.

The Sakura class ships were re-rated as second-class destroyers on August 28, 1912, and served to April 1, 1932 when both were retired.

List of Ships

Kanji	Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate
櫻	Sakura	Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan	1911-03-31	1911-12-20	1912-05-21	retired 1932-04-01
橘	Tachibana	Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan	1911-04-29	1912-01-27	1912-06-25	retired 1932-04-01

See also

Media related to Sakura class destroyer at Wikimedia Commons

References

Books

• Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
• Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
• Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.

External links

• Nishida, Hiroshi. "Materials of IJN: Sakura class destroyer". Imperial Japanese Navy.
• Globalsecurity.org. "IJN Sakura class destroyers".
• Naval History Home Page. "WWI at Sea: Imperial Japanese Navy". {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)