IJN Destroyer Amagiri (Fubuki Class)

Signing the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty allowed the five countries victorious in World War I to limit Japans possession of battleships, aircraft carriers and even cruisers. Forced to rethink the strategy,  the Imperial Japanese Navy decided to boost its fleet of light cruisers and other small support ships not limited by the treaty. They started with improvements in destroyers. The first of these new “special type” (Fubuki-class) destroyers was delivered in 1928 this class was not only larger than previous types but also held greatly improved armament and seaworthiness. The 15th of the type was ‘Amagiri’ which was launched in 1930. Amagiri participated in bothe the 1932 Shanghai Incident and the war against China, she continued to see action during World War II. In 1943 Amagiri’s anti-aircraft armament was upgraded and increased. During August of that year, while running ‘Tokyo Express’ supply missions to the Solomon Islands it rammed US patrol torpedo boat PT-109 piloted by future US president John F. Kennedy.