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Japanese World War II destroyers included some of the most formidable of their day. This came as a nasty surprise to the Allies, who had generally underestimated Japanese technical capabilities. The Japanese had reassessed their naval needs in the mid-1920s and, placing an emphasis on ship and weapons technology and night fighting expertise, developed a completely new destroyer design. Subsequent development from one destroyer class to the next was not, however, a smooth progression. Aside from the usual changes arising from experience, serious design faults also came to light and naval treaties imposed restrictions. As a result, the early "Special Type" destroyers required significant changes and the specifications of subsequent classes was reduced in one way or another. Naval treaties were later abrogated in 1937 and so destroyer development continued without regard to limits. Generally speaking, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) requirements gave rise to warships that were substantially larger than their European or American equivalents. In the early war years, their advantages were aggressively exploited against the often second rate and poorly coordinated Allied ships stationed in the region (as at the disastrous Battle of the Java Sea). The Japanese did not, however, continue to install new technology, such as radar, to match their opponents, and destroyer numbers were eroded steadily. The Japanese emphasis on fleet destroyers had neglected the need for large numbers of escort vessels to defend critical merchantmen, a need learnt by both the Royal Navy and the United States Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic. In recognition that quantity was as important as quality in some roles, design policy was therefore modified to produce units that were easier to build and operate. Despite this, Japan's destroyer force was halved by the end of the war. The survivors were given to the Allies. ==Evolution== The oldest Japanese destroyers at the declaration of war with the United States dated from World War I designs and were rated as "class 1" (greater than 1,000 tons (standard)) or "class 2" (under 1,000 tons (standard)). As these became outclassed and unsuitable for front line duties, they were relegated to coastal protection and convoy escort duties, including support of the landings in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), Philippines and Wake Island.〔Whitley, pp.187, 189–191〕 The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 assigned Japan a tonnage allocation with which it was dissatisfied. IJN planners assessed their needs to protect Japan's maritime lifelines with the assumption that their most likely opponent would be the United States. A total of 144 destroyers was deemed to be necessary. In order to achieve a long-ranged fleet, capable of operating far from home waters and bases, treaty limitations were disregarded. Japanese naval strategy assumed a major deciding battle against the United States and the destroyers' role would have been to harass and reduce the enemy in the lead up to such a battle. The resultant design was the , which were commissioned during 1928–1932.〔Whitley, p.192〕 The ''Fubuki''s became the basis for subsequent destroyer development, but they needed significant modification when stability and hull strength problems became apparent. These modifications were worked into new ship designs.〔Whitley, p.187〕 The Japanese produced some unusual and advanced features. The third group of ''Fubuki''s introduced a unique splinterproof torpedo tube turret (later retrofitted),〔Fitzsimons, ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare'' (London: Phoebus, 1977), Volume 10, p.1040.〕 allowing the tubes to be reloaded in action. In addition, they introduced splinterproof, gas-tight turrets for the 5-inch guns, far ahead of their time.〔Fitzsimons, p.1040.〕 To increase comfort, the forecastle was raised and the bridge enlarged and enclosed,〔Fitzsimons, p.1040. This would not be common on American destroyers until postwar.〕 to offer protection against weather in the Pacific. Furthermore, in line with Japan's evident preference for two stacks, ''Fubuki''s had an unusual siamesed design.〔Fitzsimons, diagram p.1040. IJN destroyers almost universally had one or two.〕 The London Naval Treaty added more restrictions to ship design and displacements were temporarily reduced ( and es) until Japan withdrew from the naval treaties. The subsequent s, s, and s resumed the design evolution and delivered the ships that the IJN desired, with substantially increased displacements. Further technical developments were prototyped in , but the design was not continued.〔Whitley, p.202〕 Although the anti-aircraft (AA) defences of Japanese destroyers were shown to be inadequate, the IJN had recognised the need for fleet AA defence and the ''Akizuki''s were intended to fill this need.〔Ireland, p.92〕 The IJN suffered one problem with their destroyers: small batches of different types, which made standardized spares and training (such as on powerplant) impossible. By contrast, the United States Navy's destroyer powerplant was standard across hundreds of ships.〔Peattie & Evans, ''Kaigun''? Parillo, ''Japanese Merchant Marine in World War II''?〕 A substantial number of Japanese destroyers were lost in 1942 in actions around the Solomon Islands. The urgent need for replacements necessitated design simplifications to improve construction speed and war experience prompted improvements to damage control and anti aircraft weaponry. The resultant s were commissioned in 1944.〔Whitley, p.206〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Japanese World War II destroyers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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