Starting from the "Muzuki" completed in 1926, after more than ten years of continuous development, the Japanese Navy has finally established a modern destroyer force with torpedo night attack as the main means of attack, and the fleet-type destroyers equipped during World War II have always been one of the subjects of research by Chinese and foreign military enthusiasts. Therefore, the author decided to change the perspective, starting from the color paintings that everyone likes to see, and try to bring you an alternative but objective interpretation of the Japanese fleet-type destroyers.
Color special ii: World War II Japanese fleet destroyer
Image source: Internet Special commentary: Pacific Miscellaneous
During World War II, the Japanese Navy's modern fleet destroyers totaled eleven classes and 111 ships, including 12 mutsuki class and 24 special types (specifically divided into 10 "Blowing Snow" class (special type i), 10 "Ayami" class (special type II), 4 "Xiao" class (special type III) ships), 4 "Early Spring" class, 10 "Bailu" class and "Asami" class, 38 A (specifically divided into "Yangyan" class and "Yuyun" class 18 each), "Autumn Moon" class 12 ships and "Island Wind" class 1 ship. The main forces include the A type, which is mainly tasked with fleet lightning strike operations, the "Autumn Moon" class (type B) with air defense direct defense as the main task, and the "Island Wind" class (type C) with heavy mine-mounted destroyers as the main task. The following is a selection of 12 painted works to restore the appearance of the Japanese fleet-type destroyers in World War II.
Destroyer Muzuki
Special commentary: The painting depicts the Muzuki in the waters off Tonga in July 1941, and since the Pacific War had not yet broken out, the white number 30 near the bow of the ship can be seen, which is not the ship's hull number, but proves that it belongs to the 30th Destroyer. The appearance of the Muzuki is also well depicted, with the "well" glyph deck at the front of the hull, the four three-year single-mounted naval guns arranged on the yanzhong axis, and the two twelve-year-type triple torpedo tubes (with shields, which first appeared on Japanese destroyers) arranged on the centerline. It is worth mentioning that the ship was experimenting with a camouflage livery that claimed to interfere with the aiming of enemy guns, so there were rare camouflage blocks on the hull, and some sources show that this camouflage livery, which had been tested in tropical waters, was eventually implemented on some ships active in the North Pacific Theater.
Destroyer Blowing Snow
Special commentary: The painting depicts the "Blowing Snow" (1942 state) that is fiercely firing against enemy ships, with a displacement of 1680 tons, equipped with closed nautical bridges, three 127 mm twin turrets, and a speed of 37 knots of the "Blowing Snow" class destroyers that shocked the veteran maritime powers as soon as they came out, this class of fast-moving, fierce fleet-type destroyers almost overwhelmed all the classes in service in the United States and Britain at that time, and the Japanese Navy proudly named it a special type. To show the special status of this class of ships (stronger than the same type of warships of the maritime powers). Prominent features of the Blowing Snow class, including spoon-shaped bows, three-year naval gun turrets (type A), closed nautical bridges, and shielded triple torpedo tubes, are depicted in great detail.
Destroyer Ayami
Special Commentary: The painting depicts the Ayami (in 1942 state) located in front of the Solomon Gate, the most successful of the ships of this class. In the Battle of Guadalcanal (the second night), which broke out on the night of November 14-15, 1942, it single-ship against four American destroyers, achieving a major result of sinking 2 ships, seriously damaging 1 ship, and wounding 1 ship. The biggest difference in appearance between the Ayawa class and the Blowing Snow class is the use of a three-year naval gun turret (type b) with a maximum elevation angle of up to 75 degrees and an enlarged bridge. Since it had entered the wartime, the painting "Ayami" had erased the destroyer number on the bow, the kana in the middle of the hull, and the identification strip on the chimney.
The destroyer "Ring"
Special commentary: The painting depicts the "Ring" (1944 state) after the completion of the air defense reinforcement project, which belongs to the "Xiao" class (special type III), and is the only ship of this class to survive the great war, with the nickname of "Immortal Bird". In order to cope with the growing air threat, the "Ring" was repeatedly modified by air defense enhancement in 1943-1944, and the second turret of the stern was dismantled and replaced with two Type 96 triple anti-aircraft machine guns, and the machine gun platform was also installed on the front of the bridge, and the horn-shaped No. 22 sea search radar was added to the radar platform in the middle of the foremast, and the thirteenth air search radar in the shape of "Feng" was added to the rear mast, which was also the standard equipment of the Japanese fleet-type destroyers in the late Pacific War. It is worth mentioning that due to the use of new boilers, the front chimney of the "Xiao" class is relatively thinner, which is also one of the main features that distinguish it from the "Ayaba" class and the "blowing snow" class.
Destroyer "Early Spring"
Special commentary: The painting depicts the recently completed "Early Spring" (1933 state), and the imbalance caused by excessive stacking of armament can be seen from the main gun on the bow and the piggyback torpedo tube in the middle of the ship. With the signing of the London Naval Treaty in 1930, the Japanese Navy's attempt to restrain its main opponents in the Pacific by continuing to develop special-class super-destroyers was completely shattered, but the Japanese Empire, which had become increasingly extreme, did not abandon its efforts to strengthen the combat power of destroyers. In this context, the Japanese Navy formulated the "First Naval Armament Supplementary Plan" in 1931, which clearly put forward the requirement to build the main indicators of speed, endurance and armament on the hull of the 1400-ton ship, which are basically equivalent to the new destroyers of the special type, which is the background of the birth of the "Early Spring" class. It can be said that the "early spring" class has forced into various equipment similar to the latter in the case of a standard displacement of 280 tons less than the special type, which in itself is a "gambling"-style attempt produced under great pressure, leaving a huge design hidden danger. The "Yuzuru Incident" in March 1934 completely exposed the shortcomings of overweight armed ships.
Destroyers Murayu and Yuki
Special commentary: The painting depicts the "Village Rain" and "Xi Li" (in the state of the end of 1941) moored side by side in the early stages of the war, of which the "Xi Li" later made a splash in the Solomon Sea, known as the "Ghost God of Solomon". Due to the impact of the "Yuzuru Incident", the construction of the "Early Spring" class, which planned to build 12 ships, was forced to stop construction after the completion of 6 ships, and the design plan was revised. This is the origin of the "white dew" grade, which is called the "early spring" level of enlarged and improved type. Compared with the failed "Early Spring" class, this class of ships is still a very well-designed ship type. It can be said that the "Bailu" class laid the foundation for the design and construction of subsequent destroyers of the Japanese Navy. This work is very accurate for the "Bailu" class weapons equipment, you can see that there are two guns in the rear of the hull in a back-to-back configuration, which is one of the most prominent features of the "Bailu" class in appearance.
Destroyer USS Asahi
Special commentary: The painting depicts the Asahio (early 1942 state) sailing at sea in the early stages of the war, and because it is a rear-view, the armament at the stern can be clearly seen, including the water-pressure deep-shell drop-off platform, the large minesweeper, and the Type 94 deep-bomb projector and the deep-bomb reloading station. As the pioneering work of the new generation of destroyers of the Japanese Navy, the "Asashio" class has many similarities with the previous large-scale special type, equipped with the same powerful artillery and torpedo weapons and learning from the lessons of the "Fourth Fleet Incident", the hull strength has been particularly strengthened, and the displacement has increased by 300 tons compared with the special type. A large number of new technology-based ships of this class can be said to have relatively perfect performance, and have become a model for subsequent Japanese destroyers.
Destroyer Using the Dancing Wind
Special commentary: The painting depicts the "Dancing Wind" (1942 state) located in front of the Solomon Front, the dark night, flares, and soaring water columns constitute the classic scene of the night battle, the "Dancing Wind" in the painting is turning on the searchlight to illuminate the enemy ship, while the two rear main guns are firing violently, the gun muzzle flame is very clear, proving that no smokeless gunpowder is used, which is easy to become the enemy's aiming point in the night battle. Due to the lack of speed and endurance of the "Asashio" class in terms of speed and endurance could not satisfy the expanding Imperial Japanese Navy, the military command required the construction of a new type of fleet destroyer of the first class, which should be the same as the special type destroyer in terms of hull size, equipped with armament that could not be weaker than the special type, and at the same time, the speed and endurance should exceed that of the "Asahi" class destroyer. In the end, after a compromise, the new ship's public test displacement was required to not exceed 2500 tons, the maximum speed could reach 35 knots, and the endurance reached 5000 nautical miles/18 knots, which was not weaker than the special type, which was the original plan of the "Yangyan" class, which was later known as the ideal destroyer.
Destroyer USS Asahi
Special commentary: The painting depicts the "Asaho" during the "Tianyi Operation", the battleship in the rear of the flank is the "Yamato", the whole picture gives people a sense of killing, the "Asahi" in the painting has been fortified against the air, equipped with radar and a large number of Type 96 single-mounted 25 mm machine guns, and at the same time put a certain protection on the machine gun position, it is worth mentioning that because the "Yuyun" class is equipped with a D-type main turret with an elevation angle of 75 degrees, As a result, the rear second main turret was not removed, as was the case with most Japanese destroyers later in the war. Dissatisfied with some of the performance of the so-called "ideal destroyer", the "Yangyan" class, the increasingly crazy Japanese military command demanded that the first-class destroyer, later the "Yuyun" class, be improved on the basis of the "Yangyan" class. There are four main differences between the "Xiyun" class and the "Yangyan" class: one is the size of the hull is different (50 cm longer); the second is that the shape near the stern waterline is different, and the fist shape is changed to reduce the resistance of the high-speed navigation sewage; the third is the use of a new streamlined bridge; the fourth is the use of a large elevation angle of the D-type turret, at the same time, the installation position of the front main turret is moved 1.65 meters backward compared with the "Yangyan" class.
Destroyer Hatsuzuki
Special commentary: The painting depicts the Hatsuzuki (1944 state) that is engaged in air combat, and several American aircraft have been hit in the painting, one of which is a TBF torpedo aircraft, and the four Type 98 100mm anti-aircraft turrets of the Hatsuzuki are high to escort a "Xianghe" class aircraft carrier not far away. It is worth mentioning that the "Chuyue" in the painting in the painting has completed the strengthening of the anti-air weapon, and the rear type 94 anti-aircraft command device has been removed and replaced by a type 96 triple anti-aircraft machine gun. Like the British and American maritime powers, Japan also began to notice the threat of aircraft to ships before the outbreak of World War II, and in order to meet the air defense needs of the fleet, the Japanese Navy began to study "anti-aircraft direct guards" with strong anti-aircraft firepower. The first draft of the 1938 design presented a new type of ship without any torpedo tubes, which caused strong resentment among some traditionalists to install the same torpedo uniform as the Type A destroyer. However, if this demand is to be met, the displacement and construction costs of the ship will inevitably increase significantly, and finally the two sides will compromise and provide for the installation of a four-in-row torpedo tube and a reloading device in the amendment, and the standard displacement will be increased accordingly. This was the Akizuki class, later known as the B destroyer.
Destroyer "Island Wind"
Special commentary: The painting depicts the "Island Wind" sailing at high speed on the ocean, the waves split by the bow prove that its speed is quite good, and at the same time, three Zero five-pack torpedo tubes can be seen in the middle of the hull, which is also the most important weapon of this class of ships. Before the war, the Japanese Navy learned that the speed of the new destroyers of the US military had reached more than 37 knots, and the speed of the new battleships was more than 27 knots, compared with the speed of 35 knots of the Yangyan class, and the salvo capability of 8 torpedoes in a single round was not outstanding among the destroyers of various countries in the same period. In order to obtain a stronger torpedo assault capability in the envisaged fleet battle, the Japanese Navy requested the design of a high-speed heavy mine destroyer, which is the C destroyer. The design focus of the class is on high speed and improved lightning strike capability, equipped with a new boiler, which is 44% higher than that of the Yangyan class, and the speed reaches 40 knots. In terms of armament, it is also very exaggerated, equipped with 3 Zero-type five-pack torpedo tubes, which can fire 15 torpedoes at a time, which is unprecedented, and has become the "speed lightning strike double material king" of Japanese destroyers.
Despite their outstanding torpedo assault capabilities, the Tendency of japanese Navy fleet destroyers to neglect other duties of destroyers (such as anti-submarine, air defense, escort, etc.) is also evident. Of course, this is related to Japan's national conditions and thinking on the use of troops, but the objective law of war is not subject to people's subjective will, and it is difficult for Japanese destroyers that despise air defense and anti-submarine capabilities to adapt to the Pacific theater with sea-air three-dimensional warfare as the main mode of operation, and eventually have to face an extremely tragic fate and become a war consumable full of tragic colors.
ps: The last work in April, which is also a supporting article for the previous US aircraft carrier painting appreciation, is also the end. As an aside, this dish especially likes ship models, but unfortunately it is really handicapped, unable to make a mold (a handful of blood tears), so I had to collect some paintings and explain it. Because it is original, it takes a lot of time and energy, and it takes a lot of time and energy to work during the day, only at night, I hope you have more support, this dish has been thanked first, and I wish everyone a happy May Day in advance.