# Japanese destroyer Nowaki (1940)

Nowaki (野分, "Autumn Gale") was a Kagerō-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

## Design and description

The Kagerō class was an enlarged and improved version of the preceding Asashio class. Their crew numbered 240 officers and enlisted men. The ships measured 118.5 meters (388 ft 9 in) overall, with a beam of 10.8 meters (35 ft 5 in) and a draft of 3.76 meters (12 ft 4 in). They displaced 2,065 metric tons (2,032 long tons) at standard load and 2,529 metric tons (2,489 long tons) at deep load. The ships had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of 52,000 shaft horsepower (39,000 kW) for a designed speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph). The ships had a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).
The main armament of the Kagerō class consisted of six Type 3 127-millimeter (5.0 in) guns in three twin-gun turrets, one superfiring pair aft and one turret forward of the superstructure. They were built with four Type 96 25-millimeter (1.0 in) anti-aircraft guns in two twin-gun mounts, but more of these guns were added over the course of the war. The ships were also armed with eight 610-millimeter (24.0 in) torpedo tubes for the oxygen-fueled Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedo in two quadruple traversing mounts; one reload was carried for each tube. Their anti-submarine weapons comprised 16 depth charges.

## Construction and career

The destroyer was ordered in 1937. Nowaki was laid down on 8 November 1939 and launched on 17 September 1940. The ship was commissioned into the IJN on 28 April 1941, and she was assigned as the third ship of the 4th destroyer division (Arashi, Hagikaze, Nowaki, and Maikaze). In the lead up to the second world war, Nowaki steamed through the Terashima Strait and regrouped with Admiral Kondō's fleet.

### Start of WW2

With the start of the Pacific War on 7 December 1941, Nowaki steamed with the fleet to support the invasion of the Philippines, and it was the next day she scored her first victory on an enemy ship. The Norwegian cargo ship Helius was located by the 4th destroyer division, prompting Nowaki and Hagikaze to inspect her, and ordered Helius to regroup with the fleet, capturing the vessel, escorting her to Japanese waters where she was renamed the Setsuzan Maru and transferred to the Imperial Japanese Army. For the following days, Nowaki provided distant cover for the Japanese troop convoys invading the Philippines, and escorted the Malaya troop convoys. With the Philippines successfully captured, Nowaki switched her focus to the Dutch East Indies, escorting invasion convoys for Staring Bay, and operating in Dutch waters as distance support.

### Battle of Tjilatjap

On 1–4 March, while in company with the cruisers Maya, Atago, Takao, and destroyer Arashi, she was involved in sinking a number of Allied vessels during operations in the Java Sea. On 1 March, Nowaki assisted Arashi in sinking the Dutch motorship Toranja and the British minesweeper Scott Harley, and later that day captured the Dutch steamship Bintoehan. On 2 March, Nowaki assisted in sinking the destroyer HMS Stronghold. On 3 March 1942, Nowaki helped sink the gunboat USS Asheville. On 4 March, Nowaki assisted in sinking the Australian sloop Yarra and the British Motor Minesweeper 51, tanker Francol, and depot ship Anking.

### Battle of Midway

During the Battle of Midway, Nowaki took survivors off the damaged aircraft carrier Akagi and then helped scuttle her with torpedoes. Later that year Nowaki and the remaining destroyers of Destroyer Division 4 were reassigned to Destroyer Squadron 10 based in Truk.

### Solomon Islands

For the remainder of 1942 and most of 1943, Nowaki operated in and around the Solomon Islands. Nowaki fled Truk on 17 February 1944 in the midst of the massive American air and surface attack known as Operation Hailstone and escaped pursuit by US Task Force 50.9 with minor splinter damage despite being straddled several times by 16 inch salvos from USS Iowa and USS New Jersey at extreme range.

### Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf

Returning to the Central Pacific after repairs in Japan, Nowaki took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
In the Battle off Samar on 25 October 1944, Nowaki took part in the torpedo attack on the U.S. escort carriers and assisted in sinking the destroyer USS Johnston. Later, she removed survivors from the cruiser Chikuma and scuttled her with torpedoes, although recent studies suggests that she only managed to arrive in time to rescue the survivors, as Chikuma herself had sunk beforehand. The next day, Nowaki was isolated from the rest of the centerforce when she was met by the gunfire of the light cruisers USS Vincennes, USS Miami, and USS Biloxi. Lit aflame and badly crippled by gunfire, Nowaki was finished off by torpedoes from the destroyer USS Owen, 65 miles (105 km) east-southeast of Legaspi (13°0′N 124°54′E﻿ / ﻿13.000°N 124.900°E﻿ / 13.000; 124.900). There were no survivors, including the rescued Chikuma sailors.