Fighting in the Dark Naval Combat at Night, 1904-1944 by Naval Institute Press

Author:Naval Institute Press [Naval Institute Press]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

PHOTO 5.2. A fine study of the Fubuki-class destroyer Shikinami at speed. Her turrets (one forward, two aft) and torpedo tubes (one between the funnels, two between the aft funnel and “X” turret) are all clearly visible. Note, too, the long forecastle and flared bow for better seakeeping and the distinctive air intakes around both funnels. Fukui Collection

Unsurprisingly, the emergence of these formidable vessels sent ripples of consternation through the world’s navies—particularly those of the British and the Americans. As is the nature of most military technologies, it was not long before Japan’s rivals began laying down larger, more capable destroyers of their own. Indeed, at one point the Japanese briefly stopped building more Toku gatas, in order to head off the naval arms race they had just initiated. But it was too late for that—the die had been cast.

What foreign observers were unaware of were Fubuki’s limitations. In order to cram the necessary powerplant and armament into a compact hull, Japanese designers had employed every possible weight-saving measure. Fubuki’s machinery was lighter than originally specified, and her speed was lower. Her upper works were built with lighter, weaker alloys, and her hull made extensive use of welding (which was still an emerging technology for naval construction) and butt joints, rather than standard overlapping riveted joints. This improved the ships’ weight and speed, but unknown to Fubuki’s builders it also diminished her structural strength. Even with this, Fubuki still was two hundred tons overweight when she was launched—much of it topside, which lowered her stability.⁴⁸

Fubuki was also not a well-rounded design. Where most navies’ destroyers were jacks-of-all-trades that could perform surface attack, defensive screening, and antisubmarine work, Fubuki was fundamentally skewed toward offense.⁴⁹ Her sonar was rudimentary, she carried only a small number of depth charges, and her main armament eventually would be shown to be inadequate against aircraft.⁵⁰ She was a magnificent surface-warfare platform, but that was it. However, these deficiencies would not become apparent until later.

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