Japan - Asashio class Destroyer

Asashio as built (as of 1937), with the original straight stern and different rudder.
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Note that while good pictures of Asashio during trails existed, underwater sources are extremely scarce and bare, so the shape of the rudder and U/W hull at the stern might not be 100% accurate; that's the best i could managed to do.

Arashio as of 1938:
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Asashio as of 1939:
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over ten meters longer and displacing almost one and a half times the preceding Shiratsuyu class, the Asashio brought IJN destroyers back to the size they had in the late 20's with the Fubuki class destroyers, this made possible to revert the armament to a full suite of six 5-inch (127mm) guns in twin turrets: A turret was placed on the foredeck, while X superfired over Y on the quarterdeck.
torpedo armament was the same as the Shiratsuyu class with two quadruple type 92 enclosed mounts; light AA amrament was composed of two thin 25mm machine gun fitted on platforms sponsoned abreast the aft funnel; top speed was also brough back from 33 to 35 knots.
Asashio, the lead ship of her class, was commissioned on august 31 1937, some maneuverablility issues emerged during trials, leading to a slight modification of the stern and the fitting of a new rudder.

Asashio as of 1943:
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At the start of the war Asashio was fitted with a degaussing cable, also, the machine gun platforms were enclosed to give better protection from strafing for the AA crews; by mid-1942 the name spelled in katakana kanjis on both sides of the hull was removed.
Asashio was sunk with all hands during the battle of the Bismark Sea, on 3 march 1943, before further wartime modifications could be made.

Minegumo as of 1943:
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other than differing from Asashio because the degaussing cable layout and the longer enclosed bridge wings, Minegumo also recieved an extra twin 25mm machine gun mount, fitted on a platform placed ahead of the bridge structure.
Minegumo was sunk with 46 dead on 5 march 1943 night, during the Battle of the Blackett Strait.

Yamagumo as of 1944
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By 1944 she had recieved a Type 13 air search radar and a type 22 surface search radar, lower portholes were sealed and anti-aircraft armament increased to 24 barrels, with X turret beign relaced by two triple 25mm machine gun mounts.
Yamagumo sank during the battle of Surigao strait, on october 25 1944, torpedoed by USS McDermutt, leaving only two survivors.

Michishio as of 1944:
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refitted on the lines of Yamagumo, Michishio had twoo more anti-aircraft barrels, as the twin mounts fitted abrest the aft funnel were replaced by triples.
She was too sunk on october 25 1944 during the battle of surigao strait, Hit by USS McDermutt was then finished off by USS Hutchins; only four of her crew survived.

Asagumo as of 1944:
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Her fittings by mid-late 1944 were the same as Yamagumo and Michishio, AA suite was composed of twenty five 25mm machine guns in four triple, a twin and 11 singles.
Asagumo was sunk on october 25 1944 in the battle of surigao strait, Torpedoed by USS McDermutt was then finished off by cruiser gunfire; 191 of her 230 crewmember perished in the sinking.

Kasumi as of 1945:
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Beign the last surviving Asashio-class ship by 1945, Kasumi recieved a further upgrade in anti.aircraft armament, reaching a total of 28 25mm machine guns and four 13mm ones, other than retaining her forward torpedo reloads, wich had been landed on her sisters.
On april 6 she was assigned to escort Yamato to Okinawa for Operation Ten-Go; after beign attacked the following day by TF58 aircrafts Kasumi lost steering and suffered 17 dead, she was then scuttled by Fuyuzuki after her surviving crew were removed.

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Did all Japanese ships have thier names painted on the side or was that just with Destroyers?

WWII44 wrote:

Did all Japanese ships have thier names painted on the side or was that just with Destroyers?

I believe it was only destroyers and smaller units, but they were removed by 1942-3.

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"If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done." ~Ludwig Wittgenstein

I just wondered as in Battlestations Midway the Japanese ships had japanese characters painted on their sides.

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You can't use a video game as any type of serious reference.

Colosseum wrote:

You can't use a video game as any type of serious reference.

so I've heard

Looking forward to see further updates!

Destroyers and torpedo boats had their names painted on their sides and their division numbers painted on their port and starboard bows until at least July 1942. Submarines had their numbers on their conning towers, and small combatants such as the numbered kaibokans and minesweepers and subchasers also had their numbers painted on their hulls throughout the war. Destroyers were the largest ships that carried ID symbols.

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

i did make a promise on my oversized battleship thread, right?

Asashio as of 1939:

Shipbucket

Japan - Asashio class Destroyer

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