 Urakaze at anchor upon commissioning on 15 December 1940 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Empire of Japan | |
| Name | Urakaze |
| Ordered | 1937 |
| Builder | Fujinagata Shipyards,Osaka |
| Laid down | 11 April 1939 |
| Launched | 10 April 1940 |
| Commissioned | 15 December 1940 |
| Stricken | 10 January 1945 |
| Fate | Sunk, 21 November 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Kagerō-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 2,490 long tons (2,530 t) |
| Length | 118.5 m (388 ft 9 in) |
| Beam | 10.8 m (35 ft 5 in) |
| Draft | 3.8 m (12 ft 6 in) |
| Speed | 35knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Complement | 240 |
| Armament |
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| Service record | |
| Operations | |
| Victories |
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Urakaze(浦風; "Wind on the Sea") was one of 19Kagerō-classdestroyers built for theImperial Japanese Navy during the 1930s-40s.
TheKagerō class was an enlarged and improved version of the precedingAsashio class. Their crew numbered 240 officers and enlisted men. The ships measured 118.5 meters (388 ft 9 in)overall, with abeam of 10.8 meters (35 ft 5 in) and adraft of 3.76 meters (12 ft 4 in).[1] They displaced 2,065 metric tons (2,032 long tons) atstandard load and 2,529 metric tons (2,489 long tons) at deep load.[2] The ships had twoKampon gearedsteam turbines, each driving onepropeller shaft, using steam provided by three Kamponwater-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of 52,000shaft horsepower (39,000 kW) for a designed speed of 35knots (65 km/h; 40 mph). The ships had a range of 5,000nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).[3]
The main armament of theKagerō class consisted of sixType 3 127-millimeter (5.0 in) guns in three twin-gun turrets, onesuperfiring pair aft and one turret forward of thesuperstructure. They were built with fourType 96 25-millimeter (1.0 in) anti-aircraft guns in two twin-gun mounts, but more of these guns were added over the course of the war. The ships were also armed with eight 610-millimeter (24.0 in)torpedo tubes for the oxygen-fueledType 93 "Long Lance" torpedo in two quadruple traversing mounts; one reload was carried for each tube.[2] Their anti-submarine weapons comprised 16depth charges.[3]
Urakaze was laid down on 11 April 1939, launched on 10 April 1940, and finally commissioned later that December. Upon the start of 1940,Urakaze was appointed as CaptainSugiura Kijū'sflagship of destroyer division 17 (Urakaze,Tanikaze,Isokaze,Hamakaze) and embarked on a series of training and patrol duties during the year of peacetime she experienced.
On 18 November 1941,Urakaze arrived atHitokappu Bay for an unknown mission, and on the 22nd departed to escort theKidō Butaiaircraft carrier force. This mysterious mission was actually to escort the carriers to theattack on Pearl Harbor, which was carried out on 7 December.Urakaze then spent the rest of 1941 and into February 1942 escorting the Kidō Butai on various air strikes against targets atWake Island,Rabaul, andPort Darwin, before escorting them in operations in theJava Sea.[4]
On 3 March,Urakaze was detached alongside the heavy cruiserChikuma to track down the 5,412-ton Dutch freighterEnggano, which had been earlier damaged by afloatplane from the heavy cruiserTakao. On 4 March,Urakaze andChikuma locatedEnggano and combined torpedoes to sink the freighter. On 7 March,Urakaze bombardedChristmas Island, before escorting the Kidō Butai during theIndian Ocean Raid, and at the end of April being docked for refit inKure.[4]
From 4–5 June,Urakaze escorted aircraft carriers during thebattle of Midway, where she witnessed four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser being sunk to American aircraft carrier attacks, then escorted the aircraft carrierZuikaku from Kure to Ominato from 15–23 June, then from the rest of June into July patrolled outside of Ominato. With the start of theGuadalcanal campaign,Urakaze saw service partaking in troop transport missions to Guadalcanal, and while escorting theMilne invasion force on 25 August she took minor damage from aircraftstrafing which killed one man and injured three others. After more transport missions, on 26 October,Urakaze escorted carriers during thebattle of Santa Cruz, then took part in supply drum transports to Guadalcanal.[4]
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On Christmas day 1943,Urakaze assisted the damaged destroyerUzuki and the transport shipNankai Maru, then saw more troop transport and convoy escorting missions during the final months of the Guadalcanal campaign, and at the start of February 1943 took part in theevacuation of Guadalcanal, then assisted the damaged destroyerHarusame.Urakaze then engaged in several convoy escorting missions between Japanese occupied Islands, and from 18–25 September escorted the combined fleet to counterattack US carrier raids but saw no combat, then escorted a troop convoy toKavieng. On 11 November,Urakaze took minor strafing damage during an air raid on Rabaul, then escorted the crippled light cruiserAgano to Truk. After rescuing survivors from the sunken escort carrierChūyō, she was docked for repairs in Kure, where her X turret was removed and replaced with anti-aircraft guns, with repairs finished on 5 December.[4]
Throughout January 1944,Urakaze took part in convoy escorting duties, and in February she escorted combined fleet between Truk,Palau, andLingga. More convey escorting ensued, and in June she rescued survivors from the destroyersHayanami andTanikaze on patrol duties. On 18–19 June,Urakaze escorted carriers during theBattle of Philippine Sea, she assisted survivors of the aircraft carrierShōkaku, which was sunk by the submarineUSS Cavalla, and slightly damaged the attacking submarine with depth charges. At the end of July,Urakaze took part in a troop transport mission toOkinawa, then escorted the battleshipsFusō andYamashiro to Lingga from 22 September to 4 October, then escorted combined fleet toBrunai on the 20th.[4]
On 22 October,Urakaze departed Brunei as part ofAdmiral Kurita's center force to take part in thebattle of Leyte Gulf. From the 23rd to 24th,Urakaze survived the submarine and air attacks that sank and damaged numerous Japanese warships with only minor damage from strafing runs. The next day,Urakaze encounteredTaffy 3, a force of six USescort carriers, three destroyers, and fourdestroyer escorts.Urakaze operated in a destroyer line that consisted of herself,Yukikaze,Isokaze, andNowaki led by the light cruiserYahagi. Together, they took part in a torpedo attack on US escort carriers that failed to score any hits, then engaged the crippled destroyerUSS Johnston, with the resulting shell hits helping to disable her remaining guns and engines, set her on fire, and deliver thecoup de grace that sank the destroyer over the course of an hour. Air and surface attacks sank three heavy cruisers and caused Kurita to lose his nerve and retreat from the battle. On the 26th, air attacks sank a light cruiser and several destroyers, butUrakaze managed to return to Brunei on the 28th.[4]
With the invasion of thePhilippines by Allied forces becoming increasingly successful, it was time for the Japanese fleet to retreat back to mainland Japan, withUrakaze departing on 16 November alongside the rest of combined fleet. Three days later,Urakaze was still underway when the fleet was detected by the submarineUSS Sealion, which fired six torpedoes, three of which hit their intended target and sank the battleshipKongō.Sealion then fired three more torpedoes. They missed their intended target, the battleshipNagato, but one of these torpedoes hitUrakaze. She immediately exploded and sank with all hands, including Commander Destroyer Division 17, Captain Tamotsu Tanii.[4][5]
 Imperial Japanese Navy | |
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 Republic of China Navy |
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