Sister ship Ayanami
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Wakaba
Builder	Yokosuka Naval Arsenal
Launched	25 November 1905
Completed	28 February 1906
Decommissioned	1 April 1928
Reclassified	As a minesweeper, 1 December 1924
Fate	Scrapped, 1928
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Kamikaze-class destroyer
Displacement	381 long tons (387 t) 450 long tons (460 t) (full load)
Length	227 ft (69.2 m) (pp) 234 ft (71 m) (o/a)
Beam	21 ft 7 in (6.6 m)
Draught	6 ft (1.8 m)
Installed power	4 boilers; 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Range	1,200 nmi (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	70
Armament	2 × single 3 in (76 mm) 12 cwt guns 4 × single 3 in (76 mm) 8 cwt guns 2 × single 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes

Wakaba (若葉) ("Young leaves") was one of 32 Kamikaze-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the first decade of the 20th century.

Design and description

The Kamikaze-class destroyers were improved versions of the preceding Harusame class.^[1] They displaced 381 long tons (387 t) at normal load and 450 long tons (460 t) at deep load. The ships had a length between perpendiculars of 227 feet (69.2 m) and an overall length of 234 feet (71.3 m), a beam of 21 feet 7 inches (6.6 m) and a draught of 6 feet (1.8 m). The Kamikazes were powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft using steam produced by four Kampon water-tube boilers. The engines produced a total of 6,000 indicated horsepower (4,500 kW) that gave the ships a maximum speed of 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph). They carried a maximum of 100 long tons (102 t) of coal^[2] which gave them a range of 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). Their crew consisted of 70 officers and ratings.^[3]

The main armament of the Kamikaze-class ships consisted of two 40-calibre quick-firing (QF) three-inch (76 mm) 12 cwt guns^{[Note 1]} on single mounts; the forward gun was located on superstructure, but the aft gun was at the stern. Four 28-calibre QF three-inch 8 cwt guns on single mounts were positioned abreast the superstructure, two in each broadside. The ships were also armed with two single rotating mounts^[1][3] for 450-millimetre (17.7 in)^[4] torpedoes between the superstructure and the stern gun. When Wakaba was converted into a minesweeper in 1924, she was rearmed with a pair of 12-centimetre (4.7 in) 3rd Year Type guns taken from older ships on single mounts and the three-inch 8 cwt guns were removed.^[1]

Construction and career

Wakaba was launched at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 25 November 1905^[1] and completed on 28 February 1906. The ship saw service in World War I and participated in the Siberian Expedition. She was converted into a minesweeper on 1 December 1924. Wakaba was decommissioned on 1 April 1928^[5] and subsequently broken up.^[3]