Murakumo-class destroyer


The Murakumo-class destroyers were a class of six torpedo boat destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, built in Britain in 1897-99. The class is also sometimes referred to as the Shinonome-class destroyers. All were named after celestial phenomena.

Background

In the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese navy came to understand the combat effectiveness of small, fast torpedo equipped warships over larger, slower ships equipped with slow-loading and often inaccurate naval artillery. The Murakumo-class vessels were the first class of destroyers to be procured by the Imperial Japanese Navy, but were purchased almost simultaneously with the. Four ships were ordered under the 1896 fiscal year budget, and an additional two under the 1897 budget. All were ordered from John I. Thornycroft & Company in Chiswick, England. The last two were slightly heavier than the first four, and thus had 1½ inches greater draught.

Design

The design of the Murakumo-class destroyers was based on Thorneycroft's two-stack destroyers for the Royal Navy also known as the "Thirty Knotters". Although slightly smaller than the Ikazuchi class, they had the same armaments.
All Murakumo-class vessels had a flush deck design with a distinctive "turtleback" forecastle that was intended to clear water from the bow during high speed navigation, but was poorly designed for high waves or bad weather. The bridge and forward gun platform were barely raised above the bow, resulting in a wet conning position. More than half of the small hull was occupied by the boilers and the engine room. With fuel and weaponry, there was little space left for crew quarters.
All were powered by triple expansion steam engines for and had coal-fired water-tube boilers. Armament was one QF 12-pounder gun on a bandstand on the forecastle, five QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss guns and 2 single tubes for torpedoes.

Operational history

All six Murakumo-class destroyers arrived in Japan in time to be used during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. All were present at the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the final crucial Battle of Tsushima.
The Murakumo-class vessels reclassified as third-class destroyers on 28 August 1912, and were removed from front-line combat service. Usugumo was wrecked in a typhoon in July 1913, but was salved and restored to service; Shinonome was lost when she broke in two during a typhoon off Taiwan on 23 July 1913 and not recovered.
The five surviving vessels were again used in combat with the start of World War I, during the Battle of Tsingtao and in the operations to seize German colonial possessions in the South Pacific.
After the war, Murakumo and Yūgiri were demilitarized, and used as depot ships in 1919–20, and then as auxiliary minesweepers in 1920. Shiranui and Kagerō served as tenders to the torpedo school in 1918, and were for disposal at Kure in April 1922. Usugumo was similarly struck from the Navy List in 1922, and was broken up in 1927.

List of ships

KanjiName
Translation		BuilderLaid downLaunchedCompletedFate
叢雲
"Gathering Clouds"		Thornycroft, Chiswick, UK1 October 189716 November 189829 December 1898depot vessel 1 April 1919, auxiliary minesweeper 1 July 1920; dispatch vessel 1 April 1922, scuttled 4 June 1925
東雲
"Dawn Cloud"		Thornycroft, Chiswick, UK1 October 189714 December 18981 February 1899wrecked off Taiwan 23 July 1913; written off 6 August 1913
夕霧
"Evening Mist"		Thornycroft, Chiswick, UK1 November 189726 January 189910 March 1899depot vessel 1 April 1919, auxiliary minesweeper 1 July 1920; Broken up 1 April 1922
不知火
"Phosphorescent Foam"		Thornycroft, Chiswick, UK1 January 189815 March 189913 May 1899minesweeper 1 April 1922, dispatch vessel 1 August 1923; Broken up 25 February 1925
陽炎
"Mirage"		Thornycroft, Chiswick, UK1 August 189823 October 189931 October 1899Dispatch vessel 21 April 1922; Broken up 25 February 1925
薄雲
"Thin Clouds"		Thornycroft, Chiswick, UK1 September 189816 January 19001 February 1900minesweeper 1 April 1922, dispatch vessel 1 August 1923; scuttled 29 April 1925