Destroyer Hamakaze

Hamakaze

Country	Japan
Ship Class	Kagero-class Destroyer
Displacement	2,033 tons standard; 2,490 tons full
Length	389 feet
Beam	35 feet
Draft	12 feet
Machinery	2-shaft geared turbines
Power Output	52,000 shaft horsepower
Speed	35 knots
Range	5,000 miles at 18 knots
Crew	239
Armament	6x5in, 4x25mm anti-aircraft, 6 DP guns, 8x24in torpedo tubes, 16 depth charges

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAt the end of 1942, Hamakaze was the first destroyer of the Japanese Navy to be equipped with radar after the installation of a Type 22 set. During the American campaign for Okinawa, she was sent along with the super battleship Yamato on the suicide mission Operation Ten-Go (Ten'ichigo). During the operation she lost steering after the rudder was struck an aerial torpedo. The engines soon gave out as well. Dead in the water, she quickly succumbed to the falling bombs all around her. Ensign Mitsuru Yoshida witnessed her sinking:

ww2dbase"On the left outer edge of the formation, Hamakaze all of a sudden seems to expose her crimson belly, then lifts her stern up into the air."

ww2dbase"She sinks in a matter of only twenty of thirty seconds. She leaves behind only a sheet of white foam."

ww2dbaseSurvivors of the sinking drifted for five hours before being rescued.

ww2dbaseSources: Imperial Japanese Navy Page, Requiem for Battleship Yamato.

Last Major Revision: Feb 2006

Destroyer Hamakaze Interactive Map

Hamakaze Operational Timeline

9 Jul 1943	Sendai and Yugure arrived at Shortland Islands, Solomon Islands. Yugure, Yukikaze, Tanikaze, and Hamakaze departed later on the same day, escorting a troop transport mission to Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands.
10 Jul 1943	Yugure, Yukikaze, Tanikaze, and Hamakaze arrived at Shortland Islands, Solomon Islands.
12 Jul 1943	Yugure, Yukikaze, Hamakaze, and Kiyonami departed Shortland Islands, Solomon Islands, escorting a troop transport mission involving light cruiser Jintsu to Kolombangara, New Georgia, Solomon Islands. En route, they encountered Allied warships, resulting in the Battle of Kolombangara that lasted into the next morning. Jintsu and USS Gwin were sunk (Gwinn by a Type 93 torpedo launched by a Japanese destroyer), and USS Honolulu and USS St. Louis were damaged. The Japanese were able to land 1,200 men.
28 Nov 1944	USS Archerfish surfaced south of Tokyo Bay, Japan at 1718 hours. At 1800 hours, the incomplete Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano departed Yokosuka, Japan, 2,175 officers and crew, 300 shipyard workers, and 40 civilians on board; she was escorted by destroyers Hamakaze, Yukikaze, and Isokaze and submarine chaser Cha-241. At 2034 hours, Archerfish sighted Inamba Shima about 90 miles south of the entrance to Tokyo Bay. At 2048 hours, Archerfish's radar detected a contact approaching from the north. At 2140 hours, commanding officer Commander Joseph Enright identified the target as an unknown aircraft carrier. A message was sent to Commander Submarines Pacific Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood in Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, who on the following day would order all submarines in the area to converge on this target.
29 Nov 1944	At about 0315 hours, after seven hours of silent pursuit after the zigzagging Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano, USS Archerfish fired six torpedoes at the target from her bow tubes. After observing two hits, the submarine dove; while diving, the carrier was seen beginning to list, and two more detonations were heard. An escorting Japanese destroyer dropped 14 depth charges, causing no damage. In the mean time, Shinano suffered uncontrollable flooding on the starboard side. Escorting destroyers Yukikaze, Hamakaze, and Isokaze rescued survivors. While underwater, the crew of Archerfish reported observing breaking up noises for 47 minutes. The carrier sank after about 7 hours.

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Hamakaze