JP - Fubuki Class Destroyer Summary

The Fubuki Class is the standard Japanese destroyer sculpt in all the major A&A game versions.

The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 placed Japan in an inferior position vis-a-vis the United States and Great Britain in terms of capital ships. The obvious course of action would be to build large numbers of other types of ships not restricted by the treaty, like destroyers, with the most powerful weaponry possible. These destroyers were intended to operate with the new series of fast and powerful cruisers also under consideration as part of a program intended to give the Imperial Japanese Navy a qualitative edge with the world's most modern ships.

The resultant Fubuki class was completed between 1926 and 1931. Their performance was a great improvement over previous destroyer designs. The large size, powerful engines, high speed, large radius of action, and unprecedented armament gave these destroyers the firepower similar to many light cruisers in other navies. The closest equivalents in the United States Navy were the Porter and Somers-class destroyers, of which only thirteen vessels were constructed in the 1930s to function as destroyer squadron leaders.

Between June 1928 and March 1933, twenty-four Fubuki-class destroyers were built. Several modifications took place over the course of production, and the twenty-four units can be broken down into three groups. The final four ships were so different they were given a new class name. As completed, Fubuki had twin 5-inch guns with triple torpedo tubes making them the most powerful destroyers in the world at the time of their completion.

The class as a whole suffered eggregious losses, with only 2 of 24 surviving the war. Eight ships of the class were sunk by submarines, two by mines, and the rest by air attacks. 

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