NIPPON'S DESTROYERS

By LIEUTENAlI-'T KEISUKE NAGASHThIA, 1. J. N.

It tl1(lS on the rel'urn from one of my tnTH to Japan. The paue'l{Jutl hadbun cuked t<1 the di"ing room to ~ instructed by 1M captain whcU to do in ca.te ofan tn~rgency. When the captain had jlnuhed. II ymmg Japanese came to me O1ld

CQurleously inquired i" excellent German whethn- I Aad urtderMood. Upon mj( denialhe repeated the captain's wonl8 i,. German. Thtu toe becama aequointed. It tu.rnedQtlt that lie tcCU a First Lieuumant of the Imperial Japanue Navy. on hu way to a'lew assignment in Slwnghai after a year's combat duty on a duWoyer. The tollrme'llhusiaslll witll which Lieutena'it N agaaAimu spoke of Au ezperUncu and comraduon lhe de81royer showed that his heart was still there. Even now, almose II year later,he lil'u '1<1/hi'l(1 beUer tman to recall those daytl oj hard. perilous, eXCilinf1 liJe.-K.M.

I N the days of sail, when guns were theonly weapons, the ship of the linehad nothing to fear from anything

thlt floated. Nothing except anothership of the line could stand up to thetremendous blows that her broadsidecould deal, so that frigates and smallerfry could never venture within range ofthe great ship, which rode the waves inproud supremacy. This state of affairssurvived the advent of steam and armorplate; for, although the steam-drivenironclad grew to the size of the line, shein turn was just as supreme as the three­decker had been.

TORPEDOES AND BATTLlllSHIPS

But her supremacy did not survive theinvention of the Whitehead torpedo inthe 1870's. Here was a weapon whichcould be used by the smallest craft yetwas effective against the largest, andprophets were not lacking who predictedthat the days of the great ship wereover. Their doctrines carried convictionmainly in France-at that time Britain'schief naval rival-where the building ofbig vessels was temporarily suspended infavor of small, fast torpedo boats in largenumbers. The theory was that, sincethe largest battleship of that day wouldbe sunk if hit by a single torpedo, asufficiency of torpedo boats, small andnimble enough to be safe from big guns.would ensure, in war, the destruction ofall ships larger than themselves, leaving

command of the seas to the possessor ofthe torpedo boats.

The torpedo boats did indeed constitutea menace which made the tactios of closeblockade, for instance, impossible. Butthey did not turn out to be as omnipotentas the enthusiasts had prophesied. Forthe British Navy evolved the "torpedo­boat destroyer," a craft larger, faster,and thorefore more seaworthy than thetorpedo boat, but not so large as to be apracticable target for the somewhat er­ratic torpedo of those days. The firsttwo'of these torpedo-boat destroyers werethe Havoc1c and the Darling, both ofwhich were launched in 1893 and addedto the British fleet to "destroy" the tor­pedo-boat power of the French. Bothvessels were of 220 tons. The torpedo­boat destroyer-eoon contracted to"destroyer"-proved a complete antidoteto the torpedo boat; but it was still smallenough to play the torpedo boat's partagainst larger ships.

ALL-PURPOSE VESSELS

Thus, though originally conceived as asingle-purpose craft, with a gun armamentfor the destruction of torpedo boats, thedestroyer 800n came to carry torpedoesof its own. Before long, the originalsmall torpedo boats were superseded bythe larger destroyer, which for a timewas the only effective torpedo craft.Hence for many years the name wasreally meaningless. However, it actually

THE XXth CENTURY

recovered its meaning in 1917 with thedevelopment of effective antisubmarinemethods. Thus the full title might nowwell be "submarine destroyer."

A destroyer is what in the days ofromance would have been described as"a long, low, fast, rakish looking craft."She is well armed with guns, torpedoes,antiaircraft guns, and depth charges, andshe is equipped with searchlights andmysterious devices which enable her tolocate and hunt submerged submarines.Moreover, she is regarded as the fastestlarge craft afloat.

It will thus be seen that a destroyer isa "general service ship" competent forany fighting duty. That is the reason, nodoubt, why she has steadily grown fromthe 200 or 300 tons of the first destroy­ers to the 2,000 tons of today-the sizeof a third-class cruiser of the last century.

lITJPPON'S GREYHOUNDS

Torpedo-carrying naval craft haveplayed a great role in the victorious his­tory of the navy of new Nippon. In1895, the heavy naval engag~mentof theYellow Sea was brought to a close by thebold attack made by Nippon's torpedo­boat flotilla at Weihaiwei. Again, thenaval engagements during the Russo­Nipponese War opened with the daringtorpedo-boat assault on Port Arthur andended when the mortally wounded rem­nants of the Baltic Fleet were attackedand destroyed by Admiral Togo's swifttorpedo-boat flotillas on the historic nightof May 27, 1905. Then came the GreatWar of 1914/18. Nippon dispatched herdestroyers to the Mediterranean theaterof war, where they won world-wide rec­ognition for their high efficiency, strongarmament and, most of all, for theirable, ",illing, tough, and loyal officersand crews.

The modern Nipponese destroyer pro­vides the naval shipbuilders and designerswith many problems. The best of ex­perts are working day and night onimprovements in her offensive armamentnnd protective armor, her machinery andspeed, and the construction of her hull,living quarters, and so forth. Although

the origins of the Imperial Navy's ship­building may lie in the Occident, thestandard of warshipbuilding has beengreatly elevated and has even gone sofar that, in various fields, it distinctlyoutshines that of all other nations.

This is particularly true of the highefficiency of the Nipponese destroyer oftoday. Not only is she an aestheticmasterpiece of shipbuilding, but at thesame time she possesses within herslender body a punch equaled by none.A powerful battery of guns, shining tor­pedoes always ready to fly from theirsturdy but smoothly operating torpedotubes, newest antiair arms, death-loadeddepth charges, and highly sensitive sub­marine detectors, threaten positive de­struction to any foe that might venturewithin her effective radius. When thedestroyer was provided with an oil­burning engine in place of the old coalburner, it was just like oni ni ka7l400(Jt.=. -t-.ff.). which means something like"supplying a caveman with an iron club,"in other words that her fighting abilityhad been multiplied. The Nipponese,destroyer of today is the pride of theImperial Navy and a menace to allenemy surface craft a,nd submarines.

SCORES OF DUTIES

This nimble greyhound of the seas hasa vast range of duties to perform, namely,scouting, reconnaissance, coastal patrol,blockading and guarding of enemy portsand other bases of operation, antisub­marine warfare, acting as protectiveescort for capital ships or aircraft carriersand, when the situation demands, sweep­ing the seas, clearing the course of naviga­tion or a selected anchorage of enemymines so that no mishap may befall theproceeding fleet. Furthermore, the de­stroyer often has to replace the battlecruiser in convoy duty as well as in de­struction duty against enemy shipping; insome cases she also assumes the duties of agunboat shelling enemy coastal positions.

Nippon's destroyer flotillas are univer­sally regarded as being the best-trained,hardest hitting, and most feared cham­pions of night attack in the world. They

NIPPON'S DESTROYERS

have sacrificed both ships and men duringnumberless maneuvers in order to attainthe flawless perfection of which they arenow masters.

Since the outbreak of the ourrent wa~,

our flotillas have, especially in the SouthPacific theater of war, been well providedwith opportunities to demonstrate theirprowess and tactics developed over themany years of careful study and strenuousyet silent training. Throughout the pres­ent war it has been the destroyers which,with their high speed, faultless training,and tireless efficienoy, have taken theheaviest toll of the Allied submarinesthat occasionally venture within our fieldof operation.

Whenever big shipe, battleships, oraircraft carriers are in waters whereenemy submarines might be encountered,they are accompanied by enough destroy­ers to form an effective soreen. No soonerhas one of these duties been completedthan another has to be undertaken. Theresult is an unending steaming about forevery flotilla and every single ship in it.This I know only too well from my ownexperience, having recently spent a yearon one of our first-class destroyers.

ONE BIG IrAKILY

One of the most typical features of lifeon a Nipponese destroyer is undoubtedlyits pronounced family-like oharacter.Scores of men who. prior to joining thenavy, had different jobs and occupations,men who oome from all parts of thecountry, form a unique society within theiron walls of the slim hull. They sharehappiness and sorrow. joy and hardships-life and death. A family-like atmos­phere is inevitable in such circumstances.and the feeling of general friendliness isto be found not only among co-ordinatesbut also between superiors and subordi­nates. This "harmony of men" (hito 110

wa, A.~ "") is of utmost importance inbattle, when joint action is essential, andcannot, therefore, be overlooked in thecomposition of the fighting strength of avessel.

Not very long after the outbreak of thecurrent war. a Nipponese destroyer was

sunk during a night attack on an enemycruiser which it succeeded in sending tothe bottom of the sea. The followingepisode which took place after the engage­ment represents an example of the re­lations between the officers and men ofa Japanese destroyer.

THE DROWNING OFFICER

Dawn was breaking. The ill-fated shiphad long since vanished from Bight. Swim­ming alone in the dark sea was a sailor whohad not left the ship till the last moment.As i~ grew lighter, his eye caught sightof somebody swimming close by. It wasone of his officers. The sailor noticed thatthe officer held a life jacket under his arm.

"Are you all right. sir1" called thesailor to his superior.

"How about yourself1 Aren't you hurtl""No air, I'm all right, thank you, sir."

replied the sailor and, encouraged by theunexpected reunion, eagerly swam to­wards the officer. As he got closer. thesailor was surprised to find that theofficer had been badly wounded and thathis strength seemed to be waning.

"Hang on to me. air," he cried, as helabored his way through the heavy seas.When he came within reach, the officersaid to him with a smile:

"I won't last much longer with theseburns covering my body. Here, take thelife belt. I shan't be needing it . . .. Don'thesitate. . . . Keep your chin up and stayas calm as possible and wait for resoue."

Forgetting his pain. this officer thought- only of the safety of his young subordinateand, although mortally injured, 8pokecalmly and in the same tone in which heused to address his boys on the ship.He did this in order not to upset theyoung sailor's presence of mind and willpower, which are 80 important in time ofdanger. He pushed his belt towards thesailor and, before the boy could reject it,the waves had swallowed the dying man.The expressionless swirling foam of thesea resumed its monoton oua rhythm, asif nothing had happened.

The young sailor was later rescued byone of our ships.

THE XXtb CENTURY

CAPT.uN A ND FATHER

I recall another instance, which tookplace on the deck of one of our fellowdestroyers. The greyhound had just re­turned from action, a fierce engagementwith a US naval squadron which theNipponese unit bad completely wipedout. But the destroyer had also beenhit and there had been some casualties., .Upon arrival at the base of operation,the bodies of the fallen men were broughton deck, where a farewell ceremony washeld in their honor and attended by theentire personnel. The time came ft'Jr theparticipants to burn incense in token offarewell at the altar which had beenhurriedly erected at the feet of the deadheroes by their comrades.

Silence reigned throughout the ship.The captain was the first to approachthe altar. Deep emotion marked his8unburnt features with an expression ofprofound sorrow, as he solemnly removedhis cap. Mter performing his duty, hewalked up to the dead heroes lying instate on the ship's stretchers. As hequietly stroked their heads and shoulderswith his hand, he spoQ to each hero asif he were still alive and were only leavingthe ship after the accomplishment of hisduties to be transferred to another post.JIe- thanked them each in turn for the .loyalty they had shown during the hard­fought battle, in which they had giventheir lives to the Emperor and to thenation. There was not a sound to beheard. No one stirred. Each was tryingto hide the tears which he eould notsuppress. Although he had kept it to'himself, the captain had loved his menlike his own children.

Now he stood before them, his headlowered in a deep, final prayer, a prayerfor the repose of their souls. The voiceof the deck officer broke the silence when,'m a lowered tone, he reminded the senioroiBcer that it was his turn to proceed tothe altar.

MY OWN FAREWELL

When I left my destroyer, on which Ihad /lerved just over a year, to take up

duties in Shanghai, I was given a heartysend-off by the whole ship. As themotor launch which took me ashorepulled away from the destroyer's aide,I saw the captain, the officers, and allthe crew lined up on deck, along thewhole length of the ship. They werethere to see me off. I realized I mightnever see them again as I saluted themin farewell. When my farewell salutationwas returned by the ship, the officer onduty gave orders to "wave caps." Every­one, from the captain to the mess boy,swung their caps high above their heads,as the distance between my boat and theship rapidly widened. Filled with amingled emotion of gratitude and regretI had to exert all my strength to preventthe lump in my throat from getting thebetter of me. It was gra1,itude to thosewho had helped me in my duties, to thosewho had served under me with suchloyalty, to those who had made life evenunder the m08t trying conditions sopleasant; and regret that I. h~ to leavethem, just on the eve of weIghing a~ch.or,

to sail without me on the new DllSSlOnto which the destroyer had just beenassigned-deep into enemy-infested wa­ters.

Suddenly I noticed somebody racingdown the deck towards the stern, parallelto the course my motorboat was taking.It was Warrant Officer N, a fine manand an expert turret commander, wh~private life was heavily burdened Withfamily troubles which he had often con­fided to me. Reaching the end 9f thedeck he leaned over the railing and,waving his oap~ sbo1Jted to the retreatingmotorboat, "Sayona-ra, Lieutenant!" Icould no longer keep back my teara.They were rolliDg down my cheeks as Ishouted back, almost in an echo, "N,gamba-rei" <jJli. v), a popular call of en­couragement.

It was at this moment that I fullyrealized the powerful tie of unity whichexisted between aU the individuals onboard regardless of rank, and howdeepl; the past twelve months had .at~ta.ched me to this greyhound of the highse~.

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~CINIUR

NIPPON'S

GREYHOlJ DS

OF THE IIIGII SEAS

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