Akizuki-Class Destroyers: In the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II

by Lars Ahlberg, Hans Lengerer

The destroyers of the Akizuki "Autumn Moon" class were very different from the standard fleet type of Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers inaugurated with the Fubuki class. They were designed for the protection of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s carrier task forces, and in order to achieve this they carried a particularly powerful antiaircraft armament and had an extremely long radius of action. However, only 12 out of a planned number of 39 entered service, and they arrived too late to play a crucial role in the decisive carrier battles of World War II. Despite this, their history is of particular interest since the Akizuki class foreshadowed the postwar fleet escort. This is the history of their design and construction, and it relies heavily on Japanese source material and includes numerous photos and drawings.

128 pages, Hardcover

Published March 28, 2023

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of Schiffer’s “Legends of Warfare” series, and contains numerous photos and diagrams supported by a relatively short but very informative text, as well as excellent captions for the various photos/diagrams. The book is written by two established experts on the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the information is based primarily on Japanese-language sources. The standard of writing is solid, the quality of information first-rate, and the detail provided involves far more depth than might usually be expected from an image-heavy work. The attention to detail is excellent, and I didn’t come across a single error.

The authors chose to focus the text on the armament and machinery, with dedicated chapters for both, and the detailed text explanation is supported by a good range of diagrams – valuable for both understanding how the vessel was structured and operated, and also for modellers. The list of chapters also includes the general arrangement, building programs, requirement/design and the repair of Akizuki after it lost its forward part from Frame 75 onwards. The text is supported by a page of notes that provide supplementary information where appropriate.

All up, I very much enjoyed reading this book. A very easy recommendation for anyone interested in the Imperial Japanese Navy or WW2-era ships (particularly destroyers).

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I'm not sure that I'm going to collect the whole set of this series dealing with the IJN, I've always found these vessels particularly interesting due to their specialized role as anti-aircraft ships. Apart from that, the authors do, as much as possible, document the differences between individual ships, with a particular focus on the battle damage that they experienced.