Japanese destroyer Yukikaze (1939)

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Yukikaze underway, December 1939
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Yukikaze
Builder	Sasebo Naval Arsenal
Launched	24 March 1939
Commissioned	20 January 1940
Stricken	5 October 1945
Fate	Transferred to the Republic of China Navy, 6 July 1947
Republic of China
Name	ROCS Dan Yang (丹陽) [1]
Namesake	Danyang
Acquired	6 July 1947
Commissioned	1 May 1948
Decommissioned	16 November 1966
Identification	Hull number: DD-12
Fate	Scrapped, 1970
General characteristics
Class and type	Kagerō-class destroyer
Displacement	2,490 long tons (2,530 t)
Length	118.5 m (388 ft 9 in)
Beam	10.8 m (35 ft 5 in)
Draft	3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Speed	35 knots (40 mph; 65 km/h)
Complement	240
Armament	6 × 12.7 cm/50 Type 3 DP guns up to 28 × 25mm Type 96 AA guns up to 4 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) AA guns 8 × 610 mm (24 in) Type 93 torpedoes (in 2 × 4 tube rotating midship launchers + reloads) 36 depth charges

Yukikaze (雪風, "Snowy Wind") was a Kagerō-class destroyer in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. She was the only member of her class to survive the war, and did so without suffering any major damage. She is famously known as a very fortunate ship, as she often survived numerous major naval encounters with little to no damage, while many of her allied ships would leave the battle crippled or sunk on multiple occasions. She did not accomplish anything of note in the battles of Java Sea, Midway, and Santa Cruz, but came to her own in various naval engagements in the Guadalcanal campaign, before seeing escorting missions during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, partaking in her last major surface engagement in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and seeing her last major action of any sort escorting the battleship Yamato during the Battle of Okinawa. Following the war, the ship was transferred to the Republic of China Navy, where she was renamed Dan Yang (丹陽 DD-12) and served until 1966, before being scrapped in 1970.^[1][2]

Design and description

The Kagerō class was an enlarged and improved version of the preceding Asashio class of destroyers. Their crew numbered 240 officers and enlisted men. The ships measured 118.5 meters (388 ft 9 in) overall, with a beam of 10.8 meters (35 ft 5 in) and a draft of 3.76 meters (12 ft 4 in).^[3] They displaced 2,065 metric tons (2,032 long tons) at standard load and 2,529 metric tons (2,489 long tons) at deep load.^[4] The ships had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of 52,000 shaft horsepower (39,000 kW) for a designed speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph). The ships had a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).^[5]

The main armament of the Kagerō class consisted of six Type 3 127-millimeter (5.0 in) guns in three twin-gun turrets, one superfiring pair aft and one turret forward of the superstructure. They were built with four Type 96 25-millimeter (1.0 in) anti-aircraft guns in two twin-gun mounts, but more of these guns were added over the course of the war. The ships were also armed with eight 610-millimeter (24.0 in) torpedo tubes for the oxygen-fueled Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedo in two quadruple traversing mounts; one reload was carried for each tube.^[4] Their anti-submarine weapons consisted of 16 depth charges.^[5]

Construction and career

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Imperial Japanese Navy

During the Pacific War, the attrition rate of Japanese destroyers was extremely high due to heavy, prolonged combat and the need to use them to transport supplies to scattered Japanese island garrisons. Early in the war, Yukikaze took part in the invasions of the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. Yukikaze was involved in the Battle of the Java Sea, but only partook in a torpedo attack that caused no damage to the enemy. She also participated in the battle of Midway, but only escorted a troop convoy without seeing action, before escorting carriers in the battle of Santa Cruz.

Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

Yukikaze saw her first major action, and the action that first made her famous at the first naval engagement of Guadalcanal, escorting the battleships Hiei and Kirishima to bombard Henderson Field alongside several light cruisers and destroyers. They were attacked by a US cruiser force consisting of two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and eight destroyers from point blank range underway. During the massive onslaught, which resulted in Hiei's crippling via 8-inch shells from the cruiser USS San Francisco and scuttling, the destroyers Yūdachi and Akatsuki sunk, and many more ships damaged or crippled, Yukikaze survived the battle almost undamaged. For her part of the engagement, Yukikaze operated alongside the light cruiser Nagara and engaged the destroyer USS Cushing. Yukikaze was not hit even once, but in return, blasted Cushing with her 5-inch (127 mm) guns. Cushing was completely disabled by Yukikaze and Nagara's gunfire, and sank due to her battle damage with the loss of around 70 men.^[6][7] Following that, Yukikaze engaged the destroyer USS Laffey, and helped to cripple her alongside the destroyer Teruzuki and a 14-inch (356 mm) shell from Hiei.^[8][6] Yukikaze then launched a salvo of torpedoes, one of which hit Laffey, which served as the finishing blow as Laffey's stern was blown off and she sank.^[6][8] Despite avoiding major damage, Yukikaze disengaged from the battle before she could fight in the battleship vs battleship action of the naval battle two days later. She was not hit by a single American shell during the engagement, though she took some minor "damage" at the hands of a few near misses^[6]

Yukikaze returned to Truk on the 18th of November, and spent the next few months escorting convoys to strategic locations, as well as escorting the carrier Hiyo between 5–10 December and the carriers Zuiho and Zuikaku between 18th-23 January 1943. In March, Yukikaze was escorting a troop convoy when they were attacks by US aircraft during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Despite four destroyers and eight troop ships sunk, Yukikaze suffered no damage and took on survivors from several sunken ships.^[6]

Battle of the Kolombangara

Yukikaze was involved in her third major action against enemy warships during the Battle of Kolombangara, where her force was attacked by US surface ships during a troop transport run. During the engagement, Yukikaze participated in a massive torpedo attack against US forces. No individual ship is credited, but a torpedo hit the destroyer USS Gwin, which blew up her engine room and sank her, while the light cruisers USS Honolulu, USS St. Louis, and HMNZS Leander were all severely scorched by a torpedo hit each (Leander was knocked out of service for the rest of the war and would never serve as a New Zealand warship again, being transferred to the Royal Navy after Japan surrendered. At least one of these torpedoes may have belonged to Yukikaze.^[6][9]

Philippine campaign

Following the battle, Yukikaze saw many more troop transport missions, not seeing any action for quite some time. She damaged herself when she scraped her hull on a reef, which reduced her speed to 25 knots, on the 22nd of May 1944, which was probably more damage than any enemy ship had managed to cause. From the 19th of June to the 20th, Yukikaze partook in the Battle of the Philippine Sea as a carrier escort, taking no damage when under air attacks and scuttling the Japanese ship Seiyo Maru after removing her crew.^[6] Yukikaze then saw action at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She survived various air attacks on the 24th of October 1944, before engaging Taffy 3 at the Battle off Samar, her last action against enemy ships. Yukikaze fired torpedoes at US escort carriers to no avail, and served in a destroyer line that battled the destroyer USS Johnston. Yukikaze was not damaged, but landed hits on Johnston. Johnston eventually began to sink due to damage sustained from multiple ships, most crucially three 18.1-inch (46 cm) shells from the Japanese battleship Yamato sustained earlier in the battle, and as she began to sink, Yukikaze closed to point blank range, not for an attack, but for her crew to salute the valiant US destroyer for her bravery.^[6][10]

Final months of the war

Heading home to Japan, the battleship Kongō and the destroyer Urakaze were torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS Sealion, but Yukikaze managed to make it back to mainland Japan. In November, she escorted the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano, a converted Yamato class battleship, but she too was sunk by the submarine USS Archerfish. Finally, on the 6th of April, 1945, she saw her last major action escorting the aforementioned battleship Yamato to beach herself on the Island of Okinawa during the Battle of Okinawa to act as a stationary, unsinkable fortress to destroy US landing forces. Enroute, on the 7th, the force was attacked by 386 US carrier aircraft, and Yamato, the light cruiser Yahagi (who led Yukikaze's destroyer line at Samar), and four destroyers were sunk. Yukikaze survived the engagement with the only damage sustained coming from machine gun fire, killing three men and injuring fifteen others.^[6]

As a result of participating in and surviving some of the most dangerous battles the IJN had fought while avoiding any major damage whatsoever, never being hit by a single naval shell or airdropped bomb, Yukikaze is very popular in Japan, being called "the unsinkable ship" and "the miracle ship" much like Shigure prior to that ship's sinking by the USS Blackfin. Yukikaze took part in more than 10 major battles, and more than 100 escort missions and resupply transport missions during World War II.^[11]

ROCS Dan Yang

On 6 July 1947, Yukikaze was transferred to the Republic of China as a war reparation, where she was renamed Dan Yang (丹陽 DD-12).^[12] All destroyers were named after Yang regardless of country of origin.^[1]

Dan Yang served as flagship of the Republic of China Navy.^[12] It was an unarmed training vessel until 1952. In 1953, it was fitted with Type 89 12.7 cm/40 dual mounted guns, in addition to the Type 98 10cm/65 dual mounted guns already in use. In 1956, Dan Yang had all the Japanese armaments removed and replaced with three open air mounted 5"/38 caliber guns, 3"/50 caliber guns replaced the torpedo tubes, Bofors 40 mm guns, and newer depth charge launchers. The Republic of China Navy had no use for the original torpedo tubes as they did not have access to the appropriate armaments.

She is notable for visiting Manila where 50,000 overseas Chinese visited her in August 1953. Dan Yang's service included patrolling the South China Sea and intercepting incoming ships carrying wartime materials into Shanghai. On 4 October 1953, she captured the Polish civilian oil tanker Praca at 21°06'N 122°48'E in the West Pacific Ocean, 125 sea miles southeast of Taiwan.^[13] On 12 May 1954, She bombarded and captured another Polish civilian freighter Prezydent Gottwald with machinery and medicines at 23°45'N 128°35'E.^[14] On 23 June 1954, she captured the civilian oil tanker Tuapse of the Soviet Union carrying kerosene eastbound at 19°35′00″N 120°39′00″E / 19.58333°N 120.65000°E / 19.58333; 120.65000 in the high sea of Balintang Channel near Philippines^[15] All ships were confiscated into the ROC Navy list, and the crews were either released, executed or detained for various time frames up to 35 years in captivity till 1988.^[16][17] She also saw action along the Taiwan Strait in a supporting role as she was one of the few ships with long range guns. However, the arrival of surplus US destroyers entering service put the famous destroyer that once served as flagship into retirement, and she was scrapped in 1970 after being damaged beyond repair in a typhoon in 1969.^[2]

In Japan, there was a campaign to have her returned to Japan from Taiwan for preservation as a museum ship since she was a symbol of longevity. Her rudder and one of her anchors were repatriated to the Japan Navy Academy museum as a good will gesture.^[2]

Notes

References

• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Dodson, Aidan & Cant, Serena (2020). Spoils of War: The Fate of Enemy Fleets after Two World Wars. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4198-1.
• Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
• Cutler, Thomas J. (1994). The Battle of Leyte Gulf 23-26 October 1944. Harpercollins. ISBN 978-0-06-016949-7.
• John W. Garver (1997-04-30). The Sino-American Alliance, Nationalist China and American Cold war Strategy in Asia. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7656-0053-0.
• Robert Accinelli (1996-01-23). Crisis and Commitment: United States Policy toward Taiwan, 1950-1955. The Journal of American History. ISBN 0-8078-2259-0.

External links

• Tabular record of movement from combinedfleet.com