Destroyer Shimakaze

Shimakaze was laid down at Maizuru Naval Arsenal in August 1941, launched 18 July 1942, and commissioned 10 May 1943. She was an experimental "Type C" destroyer prototype intended to test new high-pressure steam turbines developing 79,240 shp — giving her a design speed of 39 knots and an astonishing trial speed of 40.9 knots (75.7 km/h). Her armament was equally exceptional: three quintuple 610mm torpedo tube mounts carrying 15 Type 93 Long Lance torpedoes, a torpedo battery carried by no other destroyer. Despite these formidable qualities, Shimakaze spent 1943–44 largely on escort duty: after covering the evacuation of Kiska in July 1943 she shuttled between Japan, Truk and the Dutch East Indies, and at Leyte Gulf in October 1944 she never fired her torpedoes. On 11 November 1944, during the Battle of Ormoc Bay in the Philippines, she was attacked by U.S. aircraft from Task Force 38. Disabled by strafing and near misses, she drifted and burned for hours before exploding and sinking at 10°50′N 124°35′E, 715 feet below the surface. Her wreck was discovered by Paul Allen's research vessel RV Petrel on 1 December 2017; the three quintuple torpedo tube launchers confirmed her identity.