Hamakaze
| Country | Japan |
| Ship Class | Kagero-class Destroyer |
| Displacement | 2,033 tons standard; 2,490 tons full |
| Length | 389 feet |
| Beam | 35 feet |
| Draft | 12 feet |
| Machinery | 2-shaft geared turbines |
| Power Output | 52,000 SHP |
| Speed | 35 knots |
| Range | 5,000 miles at 18 knots |
| Crew | 239 |
| Armament | 6x5in, 4x25mm anti-aircraft, 6 DP guns, 8x24in torpedo tubes, 16 depth charges |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
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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James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, 23 Feb 1945
