Japanese destroyer Minekaze

Scale model of the Minekaze
Career
Ordered:	1917
Laid down:	20 April 1918 Maizuru Naval Yard
Launched:	8 February 1919
Commissioned:	29 March 1920
Fate:	Torpedoed and sunk by USS Pogy (SS-266) off Taiwan on 10 February 1944.
Struck:	31 March 1944
General Characteristics
Displacement:	1,215 tons
Length:	336 ft 6 in
Beam:	29 ft
Draught:	10 ft
Propulsion:	4 Kanpon boilers running 2 Parsons geared turbines 2 shafts @ 38,500 SHP
Speed:	up to 39 knots
Range:	4,000 NM @ 15 knots
Complement:	148
Armament:	four 4.7"/45 cal. S.P. guns six 21" torpedo tubes in three twin mountings two 7.7mm machine guns

The Minekaze 峯風 ('Summit Wind') was the first of thirteen Minekaze class destroyers to be built for the Imperial Japanese Navy immediately following the First World War. Advanced for their time, these ships served as first-line destroyers throughout the 1920s and 1930s until gradually replaced by newer types. Obsolescent by the Second World War, Minekaze performed patrol and convoy escort duties until ultimately being sunk on 10 February 1944 in the North Pacific, 7 miles SE of Wu-shih Pi, Taiwan (23.12N - 121.30E) by the submarine USS Pogy (SS-266).

World War II career of Minekaze

• 5 October 1941:

Departed Chinkai for antisubmarine patrols in waters between Korea and Japan.

• 10 April 1942:

Reassigned to the Sasebo Naval District for patrol/convoy escort duties out of that base.

• 25 September 1942:

Departed Sasebo escorting convoys to Saipan, Truk and Rabaul.

• 12 November 1942:

Arrived at Sasebo for maintenance and resupply.

• 27 November 1942:

Departed Sasebo for patrol/escort duties in the East China Sea.

• 1 December 1942:

Arrived at Sasebo for repairs.

• 11 April 1943:

Departed Sasebo, then resumed East China Sea patrol/escort duties.

• 1 February 1944:

Assigned to 1st Surface Escort Division, General Escort Command.

• 5 February 1944:

Departed Moji Kitakyushu escorting convoy.

• 10 February 1944:

Sunk by the submarine USS Pogy off Taiwan. Number of survivors unknown.

• 31 March 1944:

Removed from Navy List.

Commanding Officers

• Chief Equipping Officer - Lt. Cmdr. Shinpei Kida - 1 April 1919 - 29 May 1920
• Lt. Cmdr. / Cmdr. Shinpei Kida - 29 May 1920 - 1 December 1922

(Promoted to Commander on 1 December 1920.)

• Lt. Cmdr. / Cmdr. Sadae Chiya - 1 December 1922 - 1 December 1924

(Promoted to Commander on 1 December 1923.)

• Lt. Cmdr. Shoji Homoto - 1 December 1924 - 1 December 1925
• Cmdr. Isao Todo - 1 December 1925 - 1 December 1926
• Lt. Cmdr. Tetsuri Kobayashi - 1 December 1926 - 1 December 1927
• Lt. Cmdr. Keikichi Chigusa - 1 December 1927 - 10 December 1928
• Lt. Cmdr. Tsutomu Shibata - 10 December 1928 - 30 November 1929
• Lt. Cmdr. Masami Ban - 30 November 1929 - 20 November 1930
• Lt. Cmdr. Torazo Kozai - 20 November 1930 - 1 December 1932
• Lt. Cmdr. Moichi Narita - 1 December 1932 - 15 November 1934
• Lt. Cmdr. Keisaku Mori - 15 November 1934 - 1 April 1935
• In Reserve - 1 April 1935 - 15 June 1936
• Cmdr. Minegoro Kameyama - 15 June 1936 - 1 March 1937
• Lt. Cmdr. Koushichi Sugioka - 1 March 1937 - 25 August 1938
• Lt. Cmdr. Yasuatsu Suzuki - 25 August 1938 - 10 November 1938
• In Reserve - 10 November 1938 - 15 November 1940
• Lt. Cmdr. Takuji Mori - 15 November 1940 - 10 April 1941
• Lt. Cmdr. Masaaki Kimotsuki - 10 April 1941 - 10 September 1941
• Lt. Cmdr. Tomokazu Wakasugi - 10 September 1941 - 1 August 1942
• Lt. Cmdr. Ietaka Otsuka - 1 August 1942 - 18 May 1943
• Lt. / Lt. Cmdr. Morio Goga - 18 May 1943 - 1 December 1943

(Promoted to Lieutenant Commander on 1 November 1943.)

• Lt. Cmdr. Masajiro Imaizumi - 1 December 1943 - 10 February 1944 (KIA)

References

• Hansgeorg Jenschura, Dieter Jung, and Peter Mickel Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1869-1945 , U.S. Naval Institute Press, Maryland, 1977.
• Watts, A. J. Japanese Warships of World War II, Ian Allen, London, 1967.
• http://www.combinedfleet.com/kaigun.htm