parsifal
Colonel
Shimakaze was the sole example of her kind, and was the foreunner of the new fleet destroyer for the Japanese fleet. She was not as well protected as the gearings, lacking unitised machinery spaces, and her AA defences were also inferior. She carried 16 x 25mm AA, and the 6 x 5 in guns provided a marginal AA capacity (better than the Brit 4.7, but worse than the 5 in/38 cal US weapon). She was adequately equipped for ASW defence, being provided with 18 DCs and sonar from the start. She was also completed with radar.
Her noteworth features were her heavy armament, and her speed. On trials she made 42 knots, and in service, fully laden, her sea speed was 39 knots. Whilst other DDs had higher theoretical speeds, particuarly the French Contre Torpilleurs, none could maintai such a high speed for such an extended period of time.
The heavy armament was evident in both her guns and her torpedoes. Carrying 15 24 in torps (of the very latest kind), she was able to engage with torps out to about 18000 yds. When you consider that even battleships seldom engaged at ranges more than this (the record being 26000 aet by Warspite in 1940, with Scharnhorst also scoring a similar record against the Glorious, also in 1940) the full power of this type becomes apparent. Her 5in guns also outranged (in terms of effective range) the guns of the gearings by at least 5000 yds.
The downfall of these ships were their cost, their indifferent AA and ASW armament. By the time they arrived, the dominance of carrier aircraft had been well and truly established, and the much cheaper, and more durable Akitsukis offered a better investment for the Japanese. The Akisukis represented, in my opinion the best value for money so far as AA deence was concerned, but in terms of the traditional fleet destroyer, the Shimakaze was the "battleship" of the destroyers.
Her noteworth features were her heavy armament, and her speed. On trials she made 42 knots, and in service, fully laden, her sea speed was 39 knots. Whilst other DDs had higher theoretical speeds, particuarly the French Contre Torpilleurs, none could maintai such a high speed for such an extended period of time.
The heavy armament was evident in both her guns and her torpedoes. Carrying 15 24 in torps (of the very latest kind), she was able to engage with torps out to about 18000 yds. When you consider that even battleships seldom engaged at ranges more than this (the record being 26000 aet by Warspite in 1940, with Scharnhorst also scoring a similar record against the Glorious, also in 1940) the full power of this type becomes apparent. Her 5in guns also outranged (in terms of effective range) the guns of the gearings by at least 5000 yds.
The downfall of these ships were their cost, their indifferent AA and ASW armament. By the time they arrived, the dominance of carrier aircraft had been well and truly established, and the much cheaper, and more durable Akitsukis offered a better investment for the Japanese. The Akisukis represented, in my opinion the best value for money so far as AA deence was concerned, but in terms of the traditional fleet destroyer, the Shimakaze was the "battleship" of the destroyers.