Isokaze-class destroyer

The Isokaze-class destroyers (磯風型駆逐艦, Isokazegata kuchikukan) was a class of four destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Background

The Isokaze-class destroyers were designed as part of the first phase of the Hachi-hachi Kantai program of the Imperial Japanese Navy. With the commissioning of the new high speed battleships Yamashiro and Ise, escort vessels with equally high speed and blue ocean capabilities were required.

Four vessels were built, with the order split between Kure Naval Arsenal, Kawasaki Shipyards in Kobe and Mitsubishi Shipyards in Nagasaki.

Design

The Isokaze-class ships were a slightly larger and updated version of the previous Umikaze class. Externally, the design went to a three smokestack profile, with a curved, rather than straight bow.

Internally, the engines were replaced with heavy fuel oil-fired steam turbine engines. Two vessels (Amatsukaze and Tokitsukaze) used Brown-Curtis turbine engines, and the other two (Isokaze, Hamakaze) used Parsons turbine engines. Advances in turbine design and construction permitted more reliable operation than previously with the Umikaze. The rated power of 27,000 shp (20,000 kW) gave the vessels a high speed of 34 knots (63 km/h), and a range of 3,360 nautical miles (6,220 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h); however, the engines could not be run continuously at over 7,000 shp (5,200 kW), which still considerably limited performance.