Hamakaze

CountryJapan
Ship ClassKagero-class Destroyer
Displacement2,033 tons standard; 2,490 tons full
Length389 feet
Beam35 feet
Draft12 feet
Machinery2-shaft geared turbines
Power Output52,000 SHP
Speed35 knots
Range5,000 miles at 18 knots
Crew239
Armament6x5in, 4x25mm anti-aircraft, 6 DP guns, 8x24in torpedo tubes, 16 depth charges

Contributor:

ww2dbaseAt the end of 1942, Hamakaze was the first destroyer of the Japanese Navy to be equipped with radar after the installation of a Type 22 set. During the American campaign for Okinawa, she was sent along with the super battleship Yamato on the suicide mission Operation Ten-Go (Ten'ichigo). During the operation she lost steering after the rudder was struck an aerial torpedo. The engines soon gave out as well. Dead in the water, she quickly succumbed to the falling bombs all around her. Ensign Mitsuru Yoshida witnessed her sinking:

ww2dbase"On the left outer edge of the formation, Hamakaze all of a sudden seems to expose her crimson belly, then lifts her stern up into the air."

ww2dbase"She sinks in a matter of only twenty of thirty seconds. She leaves behind only a sheet of white foam."

ww2dbaseSurvivors of the sinking drifted for five hours before being rescued.

ww2dbaseSources: Imperial Japanese Navy Page, Requiem for Battleship Yamato.

Last Major Revision: Feb 2006


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Event(s) Participated:
» Okinawa Campaign

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A PT boat gunner at his 50-cal machine gun, New Guinea, Jul 1943


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