The was a of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

. One of a class of eight 2nd-class destroyers, the ship was built by the Fujinagata Shipyard in Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. She was laid down on 16 May 1922, launched 19 March 1923, and commissioned 20 August 1923 as Dai-18-Go Kuchikukan, the name being changed to Karukaya on 1 August 1928.

Design

The Wakatake-class destroyers were essentially slightly modified Momi-class

Momi class destroyer

The Momi class destroyers was a class of twenty one 2nd class destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. All were named for plants. Obsolete by the beginning of the Pacific War, the Momi were relegated to mostly secondary roles, with some vessels serving throughout the war as patrol vessels...

 ships with a deeper draft to improve handling characteristics in heavy seas, particularly against rolling. Weaponry layout, general arrangement and silhouette were all identical with the Momi class.

As with the Momi class, a number of types of turbine

Turbine

A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...

 engines were used for propulsion. Asagao was built with Parsons impulse turbines, Yugao with Escher Wyss & Cie Zoelly turbines, and the remaining vessels, including Karukaya, with Brown-Curtis turbines.

The small displacement and shallow draft of the Wakatake class limited their use as fleet escorts. As with the Momi class, in the 1920s and 1930s, they were mainly used in Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 coastal waters.

World War II

Six of the eight Wakatake-class destroyers still operating on the eve of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 were equally divided between the 13th and 32nd Destroyer Divisions. Desdiv 13 comprised Wakatake, Kuretake and Sanae, and was assigned to the Kure

Kure

Kure can refer to:*KURE, a radio station in Ames, Iowa*Kure Software Koubou, Japanese video game development company*Kure, Hiroshima , a city in Hiroshima prefecture, Japan**Kure Line, a rail line in the city...

 Naval District. These ships were charged with anti-submarine patrols in the waters of the Inland Sea, Bungo Strait, and western Kyūshū

Kyushu

is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....

. Desdiv 32 with Asagao, Fuyō and Karukaya came under the Chinkai Guard District and spent the war's early months screening maritime traffic in the Tsushima Straits.

On 10 April 1942, the 1st Surface Escort Division of the Southwest Area Fleet was created, and Desdivs 13 and 32 were assigned to it to provide protection for convoys against Allied submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 activity. The convoy routes were initially those between Moji

Moji

Moji may refer to:* Hyōon moji or onji, phonic characters used in counting beats in Japanese poetry* Moji-ku, Kitakyūshū, Japanese ward or district* ...Moji, musical album...

, Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 and the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. Later, these routes extended to Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, French Indochina

French Indochina

French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....

, the Netherlands East Indies, and Palau

Palau

Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...

. In the course of this service Karukaya set a record by successfully completing 54 convoy escorts before her loss.

Loss

Karukaya was torpedoed and sunk on 10 May 1944, at 15°38′N 119°25′E, west of Luzon

Luzon

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

by the submarine .