View source for Japanese destroyer Numakaze

{{short description|Destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
 | Ship image =Numakaze destroyer.jpg
 | Ship caption = Numakaze 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
 | Hide header =  
 | Ship country = [[Empire of Japan]]
 | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|naval}}
 | Ship name = ''Numakaze''
 | Ship namesake =  
 | Ship ordered = 1918 fiscal year
 | Ship builder = [[Maizuru Naval Arsenal]]
 | Ship laid down = 10 August 1921
 | Ship launched = 25 February 1922 
 | Ship completed =  
 | Ship acquired =  
 | Ship commissioned = 24 July 1922
 | Ship decommissioned =  
 | Ship fate = Torpedoed and sunk on 18 December 1943
 | Ship struck = 5 February 1944
 | Ship honors =  
 | Ship notes =  
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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| Header caption =  
| Ship class = improved {{sclass|Minekaze|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1215|LT|t}} normal,
*{{convert|1650|LT|t|abbr=on}} full load
|Ship length=*{{convert|97.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Length between perpendiculars|pp]],
*{{convert|102.6|m|ft|abbr=on}} overall
|Ship beam={{convert|8.9|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|2.9|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft=
|Ship propulsion=2-shaft Mitsubishi-[[Parsons geared turbine]]s, 4 boilers {{convert|38500|ihp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed={{convert|39|kn|km/h|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{convert|3600|nmi|km}} at {{convert|14|kn|km/h}}
|Ship complement=148
| Ship sensors =  
| Ship EW =  
| Ship armament =*4 × [[Type 3 120 mm 45 caliber naval gun]]
*6 × {{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} [[torpedo tube]]s (plus 2 reloads)
*2 × 7.7 mm [[machine gun]]s
*16 Type 1 [[naval mine]]s  
| Ship notes =  
}}
{{Infobox service record
|is_ship=yes
|label= 
|partof=
|codes=
|commanders=
|operations=*[[Second Sino-Japanese War]]
*[[Pacific War]]
|victories=
|awards=
}}
|}

{{nihongo|'''''Numakaze'''''|沼風| Marsh Wind }}<ref>Nelson. ''Japanese-English Character Dictionary''. pages 539, 960</ref> was third and final vessel in the ''Nokaze'' sub-class, an improvement to the {{sclass|Minekaze|destroyer|0}} 1st class [[destroyer]]s, built for the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] immediately 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 ''Minekaze''-class destroyers was authorized as part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's [[Eight-eight fleet|8-4 Fleet Program]] from fiscal 1917 with nine vessels, and fiscal 1918 with an additional six vessels. However, the final three vessels in the fiscal 1918 were built to a different design and have a different enough silhouette that many authors consider them to be a separate [[class (ship)|class]].<ref>{{cite web | url= http://smmlonline.com/articles/minekaze/minekaze.html | title= IJN Minekaze, Kamikaze and Mutsuki class Destroyers | last= Jones | first= Daniel H. | year= 2003 | publisher= Ship Modeler's Mailing List (SMML) | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080828190211/http://www.smmlonline.com/articles/minekaze/minekaze.html | archive-date= 2008-08-28 }}</ref> ''Numakaze'', built at the [[Maizuru Naval Arsenal]], was the third ship of this sub-class. The destroyer was [[Keel laying|laid down]] on 10 August 1921, [[Ship launching|launched]] on 25 February 1922 and commissioned on 27 July 1922.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0418.htm | title= Minekaze class 1st class destroyers | last= Nishidah | first= Hiroshi | year= 2002 | work= Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy | access-date= 2008-12-29 | archive-url= https://archive.today/20120708205335/http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0418.htm | archive-date= 2012-07-08 | url-status= dead }}</ref>

On completion, ''Numakaze'' was teamed with {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Namikaze||2}}, {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Nokaze||2}} and [[flagship]] {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Kamikaze|1922|2}} to form Destroyer Division 1 (第一駆逐艦). In 1938-1939, the Division was assigned to patrols of the northern and central [[China]] coastlines in support of Japanese combat operations in the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]

===World War II history===
At the time of the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], ''Numakaze'' was based at the [[Ōminato Guard District]] in northern Japan, and was assigned to patrols of the [[Hokkaidō]] and [[Kurile Islands|Chishima Islands]] coastlines.

During the [[Battle of Midway]] in May 1942, ''Numakaze'' was assigned to the reserve force for the [[Aleutian Islands Campaign|Aleutian Islands Operation]], which did not leave Japanese waters. Afterwards, she returned to patrol and escort duties based out of Ōminato through July 1943, when the ship was assigned temporarily to the [[IJN 5th Fleet]] for the mission to evacuate surviving Japanese forces from [[Operation Cottage|Kiska]]. On 6 June 1943, ''Numakaze'' suffered damage in a collision with the destroyer {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Shirakumo|1927|2}}. ''Numakaze'' continued to be based at Ōminato for patrol and escort in northern waters until December 1943.

In December 1943, ''Numakaze'' was reassigned to the [[Combined Fleet]], departing from [[Moji-ku, Kitakyūshū|Moji]] on 5 December as part of the 1st Surface Escort Division escorting a convoy to [[Taiwan]]. However, on 18 December 1943, ''Numakaze'', while chasing the wake of the [[submarine]] {{USS|Grayback|SS-208|6}}, was hit by a torpedo, blew up and sank east-northeast of [[Naha]], [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] at position {{coord|26|29|N|128|26|E |region:JP-47 |display=inline,title}}. The destroyer was lost with all hands, including the commanding officer of DesDiv&nbsp;1, Commander Watanabe Yasumasa.<ref>{{cite web| url=  http://www.combinedfleet.com/numaka_t.htm| title=  IJN Numakaze: Tabular Record of Movement| last= Nevitt | first=  Allyn D.  | year= 1997 | work= Long Lancers | publisher= Combinedfleet.com}}</ref>

On 5 February 1944 ''Numakaze'' was removed from [[navy list]].<ref>Brown. ''Warship Losses of World War II''</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book | last = Brown | first = David| year = 1990 | title = Warship Losses of World War Two | publisher = Naval Institute Press| isbn = 1-55750-914-X}}
*{{cite book| last = Howarth | first = Stephen | year = 1983 | title = The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895–1945 | publisher = Atheneum  | isbn = 0-689-11402-8}}
*{{cite book | last = Jentsura | first = Hansgeorg | year = 1976 | title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945 | publisher = US Naval Institute Press | isbn = 0-87021-893-X }}
*{{cite book | last = Nelson | first = Andrew N. | year = 1967 | title = Japanese–English Character Dictionary | publisher = Tuttle | isbn = 0-8048-0408-7 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/modernreadersjap00nels }}
*{{cite book | last = Watts | first = Anthony J | year = 1967 | title = Japanese Warships of World War II | publisher = Doubleday | isbn =  978-0-3850-9189-3}}
*{{cite book | last = Whitley | first = M J | title = Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia| publisher = Arms and Armour Press | year = 2000 | location = London | isbn = 1-85409-521-8 }}

==External links==
*{{cite web | url=  http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0418.htm | title=  Minekaze class 1st class destroyers | last=  Nishidah | first=  Hiroshi | year=  2002 | work=  Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy | access-date=  2008-12-29 | archive-url=  https://archive.today/20120708205335/http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0418.htm | archive-date=  2012-07-08 | url-status=  dead }}
*{{cite web | url= http://smmlonline.com/articles/minekaze/minekaze.html | title= IJN Minekaze, Kamikaze and Mutsuki class Destroyers | last= Jones | first= Daniel H. | year= 2003 | publisher= Ship Modeler's Mailing List (SMML) | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080828190211/http://www.smmlonline.com/articles/minekaze/minekaze.html | archive-date= 2008-08-28 }}
*{{cite web | url=  http://www.combinedfleet.com/numaka_t.htm| title=  IJN ''Numakaze'': Tabular Record of Movement | last= Nevitt | first=  Allyn D. | year= 1997 | work= Long Lancers | publisher= Combinedfleet.com| access-date= 2008-06-11 }}

{{Minekaze class destroyer}}
{{December 1943 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nokaze}}
[[Category:Minekaze-class destroyers]]
[[Category:Ships built by Maizuru Naval Arsenal]]
[[Category:1922 ships]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of Japan]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by American submarines]]
[[Category:Second Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Philippine Sea]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in December 1943]]
[[Category:Warships lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Naval magazine explosions]]