The were a class of twenty-four destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Fubuki class has been described as the world's first modern destroyer. The Fubuki class set a new standard not only for Japanese vessels, but for destroyers around the world. They remained formidable opponents to the end of World War II, despite being much older than many of their adversaries.
Background
Following the ratification of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922, the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff issued requirements for a destroyer with a maximum speed of , range of at , and armed with large numbers of torpedoes. As the treaty placed Japan in an inferior position relative to the United States and Great Britain in terms of capital ships, the obvious course of action would be to build large numbers of other types of ships not restricted by the treaty, with the most powerful weaponry possible. These destroyers were intended to operate with the new series of fast and powerful cruisers also under consideration as part of a program intended to give the Imperial Japanese Navy a qualitative edge with the world's most modern ships.
The resultant Fubuki class was ordered under the 1923 fiscal year budget, based on a smaller 1750 ton design, with ships completed between 1926 and 1931. Their performance was a great improvement over previous destroyer designs, so much so that they were designated . The large size, powerful engines, high speed, large radius of action, and unprecedented armament gave these destroyers the firepower similar to many light cruisers in other navies. The closest equivalents in the United States Navy were the and s, of which only thirteen vessels were constructed in the 1930s to function as destroyer squadron leaders.
Design
The initial design for the Fubuki-class was based on a 2000-ton displacement hull with a single battery, two twin 24-inch torpedo tubes (as introduced in ), and capable of 40 knots (74 km/h). Following the effective abandonment of the Washington Naval Treaty from 1923, the design was modified to 1680 standard tons with more guns and more torpedo tubes. However, their increased displacement more than offset their more powerful engines, resulting in a slower top speed than originally planned.
The engines were powered by four Kampon boilers running two-shaft geared turbines at 50,000 shp, yielding a rated speed of , with a range of 5000 nautical miles.
The S-shaped curved bow introduced on the Mutsuki class was retained; however, the well deck in front of the bridge was removed, which made it possible to extend the forecastle further aft and to flare the hull back to the first stack, which increased seaworthiness. The forecastle was also raised one deck in height to reduce the effect of heavy seas on the forward gun mount. The bridge enlarged and enclosed. The bow was given a significant flare, to offer protection against weather in the Pacific.
The Fubuki-class vessels were originally intended to have only hull numbers. This proved to be extremely unpopular with the crews and was a constant source of confusion in communications with the earlier and es, and naval policy was changed in August 1928. Hence, the Fubuki-class vessels were assigned names as they were launched.
Between June 1928 and March 1933, twenty-four Fubuki-class destroyers were built. Several modifications took place throughout production, and the twenty-four units can be broken down into three groups. The final four ships were so different they were given a new class name. As completed, Fubuki had twin 5-inch guns in "A", "X", and "Y" positions, with triple torpedo tubes in "D", "P", and "Q", making them the most powerful destroyers in the world at the time of their completion.
Armament
The Fubuki-class destroyers were far more capable than the previous Mutsuki-class in armament. The main battery consisted of six Type 3 127 mm 50 caliber naval guns, mounted in pairs in three weather-proof, splinter-proof, gas-tight gun turrets that were far ahead of their time. The Group I vessels could elevate to over 40 degrees, but from Group II (the last 14 vessels of the series), these guns were dual-purpose guns that could be elevated to 70 degrees, making them the world's first destroyers with this ability. Ammunition was brought up on hoists from magazines located directly underneath each gun turret, which had a far greater rate of fire than those of other contemporary destroyers in which ammunition was typically manually loaded. However, the gun houses were not bullet-proof, and were thus actually still gun mounts, rather than proper turrets.