Ayanami (綾波) ("cross wave") was the last of 32 Kamikaze-class destroyer (1905) destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the first decade of the 20th century.

Design and description

The Kamikaze-class destroyers were improved versions of the preceding Harusame-class destroyer. They displaced 381 LT at normal load and 450 LT at deep load. The ships had a length between perpendiculars of 227 ft and an overall length of 234 ft, a beam of 21 ft and a draught of 6 ft. The Kamikazes were powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft using steam produced by four Kampon water-tube boilers. The engines produced a total of 6000 ihp that gave the ships a maximum speed of 29 kn. They carried a maximum of 100 LT of coal which gave them a range of 1500 nmi at a speed of 15 kn. Their crew consisted of 70 officers and ratings. The main armament of the Kamikaze-class ships consisted of two 40-calibre quick-firing (QF) 3 in 12 cwt guns on single mounts; the forward gun was located on superstructure, but the aft gun was at the stern. Four 28-calibre QF three-inch 8 cwt guns on single mounts were positioned abreast the superstructure, two in each broadside. The ships were also armed with two single rotating mounts for 450 mm torpedoes between the superstructure and the stern gun. When Isonami was converted into a minesweeper in 1924, she was rearmed with a pair of 12 cm 3rd Year Type guns taken from older ships on single mounts and the three-inch 8 cwt guns were removed.

Construction and career

Ayanami was launched at Maizuru Naval Arsenal on 20 March 1909 and completed on 26 June. The ship served during World War I and participated in the Siberian Expedition. She was converted into a minesweeper on 1 December 1924 and was renamed W-9 on 1 August 1928. The ship was decommissioned on 1 June 1930, but she continued in service as a tugboat and a dispatch boat until 19 April 1935 and was subsequently scrapped.

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