Japanese destroyer Kamikaze (1922)

Kamikaze (神風) was the lead ship of nine Kamikaze-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. Advanced for their time, these ships served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, but were considered obsolescent by the start of the Pacific War.

History
Construction of the large-sized Kamikaze-class destroyers was authorized as part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's 8-4 Fleet Program from fiscal 1921–1923, as a follow on to the, with which they shared many common design characteristics. Kamikaze, built at the Mitsubishi-Nagasaki shipyards, was laid down on December 15, 1921, launched on September 25, 1922 and commissioned on December 19, 1922. Originally commissioned simply as “Destroyer No. 1”, it was assigned the name Kamikaze on August 1, 1928.

On completion, Kamikaze was assigned to Destroyer Division 1, based out of the Ōminato Guard District and charged with the coastal defense of Japan’s northern waters.

World War II history
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Kamikaze was still based out of Ōminato, and was assigned to patrols from the Chishima Islands to the southern coasts of Hokkaidō.

In June 1942, Kamikaze helped provide cover for the Japanese forces during "Operation AL", the diversionary invadion of the Aleutian Islands during the Battle of Midway. Following the Aleutian Islands Campaign, Kamikaze patrolled from Hokkaidō through the Aleutians through the end of the year. Throughout 1943 and 1944, she was assigned to patrols of Soya Strait and Tsugaru Strait and to escort ship convoys to remote outposts in the Kurile islands.

However, from January 1945, Kamikaze was reassigned to the Combined Fleet and relocated to Moji in Kyūshū. On January 26, 1945, she departed with a convoy from Moji bound for Singapore, but was assigned detached duty at the Mako in the Pescadores. On February 14 she formed part of the escort for both Ise-class battleships which were sailing from Singapore to Japan as part of Operation Kita. On February 20, she rescued the survivors of the torpedoed destroyer JAPANESE DESTROYER Nokaze, continuing on to Singapore by February 22.

In May 1945, Kamikaze sortied twice from Singapore as escort to the cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Haguro on emergency transport missions to the beleaguered Japanese garrison in the Andaman Islands. During the second sortie, on May 16, Haguro was sunk in surface action with the Royal Navy, and Kamikaze suffered 27 crewmen killed and 14 injured in battle with the British destroyer group. Damage to the ship was light, and Kamikaze rescued 320 survivors from Haguro before returning to Singapore.

In June 1945, Kamikaze sortied from Singapore to Batavia as escort to the cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Ashigara. During the return voyage on June 8, Ashigara was torpedoed, and Kamikaze rescued 853 crewmen and 400 soldiers before returning to Singapore. Later that month, as Kamikaze was escorting the tanker JAPANESE OILER Tōhō Maru to French Indochina, Toho Maru was sunk in an attack by USAAF B-24 Liberator bombers, and Kamikaze rescued 200 survivors.

Kamikaze successfully completed several more escort operations through the remainder of June and July. At the time of the surrender of Japan, she was still based in Singapore, and was turned over to British authorities there.

Kamikaze was struck from the navy list on October 5, 1945. She was subsequently demilitarized and used as a repatriation vessel returning Japanese military personnel back to the Japanese home islands from Singapore, Bangkok and Saigon in late 1945 and early 1946. Kamikaze ran aground and was wrecked on June 7, 1946 while coming to the rescue of former JAPANESE ESCORT Kunashiri, another repatriation vessel, off Cape Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture at position 34.63333°N, 138.13333°W.