IJN Asakaze Class Destroyers

The Asakaze class destroyers were a modified form of the British designed Harusame. In all, 32 ships were laid down from 1905 to 1909. Due to the large number of vessels, the Asakaze class were the first class to be outsourced from traditional naval yards to commercial shipbuilders. This resulted in a slower completion and with the later models actually being obsolete by the time of commissioning. Nearly all the Asakaze were converted into minesweepers in the 1920's. Most of the ships were initially armed with 3.1in guns.