===
Russo-Japanese War=== These twenty-three 'turtle-back' destroyers, all authorised under the Ten Year Naval Expansion Programme of 1898, comprised six
Ikazuchi class built by Yarrow and six
Murakumo class built by
Thornycroft in the UK, each carrying 1 × 12-pdr (aft) and 5 x 6-pdr guns and 2 × 18 in torpedo tubes, and followed by two larger ships from each of the same builders (the
Shirakumo class from Thornycroft and the
Akatsuki class from Yarrow), in which a second 12-pdr replaced the foremost 6-pdr, and finally by seven
Harusame class built in Japan. All were later rated as 3rd Class destroyers (under 600 tons each). The programme also included sixteen First Class torpedo boats, included below (47 smaller 2nd and 3rd Class boats from this Programme are not included)
— 6 ships — 6 ships ====
Shirataka class – 1 1st class torpedo boat==== ====
Hayabusa class – 15 1st class torpedo boats====
— 2 ships ====
Akatsuki class – 2 ships====
— 7 ships — 1 ship ===
World War I=== Before and during World War I, Japan established three grades of destroyers - the large (over 1,000 tons) 1st Class or ocean-going type, the medium (600 to 1,000 tons) 2nd Class type and the small (below 600 tons) 3rd Class type. Between 1904 and 1918, Japan built thirty-two 3rd Class destroyers (the
Kamikaze class), twenty-two 2nd Class destroyers (the
Sakura,
Kaba,
Momo and
Enoki classes) and eight 1st Class destroyers (the
Umikaze,
Isokaze and
Kawakaze classes). They also purchased two further 1st Class destroyers (the
Urakaze class) built in the UK by Yarrow. ====
Kamikaze class – 32 ships====
— 2 ships — 2 ships — 10 ships — 2 ships — 4 ships — 4 ships ====/
Kanran class – 2 ships==== (both ships loaned from the
Royal Navy from June 1917 to 1919)
— 2 ships — 6 ships The Inter-War Period From 1919 onwards, a series of destroyers were built regularly in Japan. No further 3rd Class ships were built after 1909, and only two further classes of 2nd Class ships (the
Momi and
Wakatake classes) were built by 1923, after which all were 1st Class. The ships of the
Wakatake,
Kamikaze and
Mutsuki classes were initially given numbers rather than names, but names were assigned on 1 August 1928. The numbering system continued after 1928, but were not assigned to ships, which were all named.
— 21 ships The total of 21 excludes 7 cancelled. ( lost in August 1927; , and scrapped by 1940, leaving 17 which served in the
Pacific War)
— 15 ships — 8 ships The total of 8 excludes 5 cancelled in 1922. ====
Kamikaze class — 9 ships====
— 12 ships (Special Type I) — 10 ships ====
Ayanami class (Special Type II) — 10 ships==== ====
Akatsuki class (Special Type III) — 4 ships====
— 6 ships — 4 ships These four vessels were nominally "torpedo boats". Built under the
1st Naval Armaments Supplement Programme of 1931. ===The
Second Sino-Japanese War and
World War II===
— 8 ships These eight vessels were nominally "torpedo boats". The total of 8 excludes another 8 cancelled units.
— 10 ships — 10 ships (Type A) — 19 ships ====
Akizuki class (Type B) — 12 ships==== The total of 12 excludes 1 uncompleted (
Michitsuki) and 3 cancelled; 21 intended further ships were never ordered.
(Type A) — 19 ships The total of 19 (11 ordered under 1939 Programme, 16 under 1941 Programme - the latter referred to by Japan as
Hamanami Group) excludes 8 cancelled. ====
Shimakaze class (Type C) — 1 ship==== The total excludes 16 cancelled.
(Type D)— 18 ships (Modified Matsu - Type D Kai) — 14 ships The total excludes 9 never completed and cancelled units ==
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ==