Editing Fubuki-class destroyer (section)

==Development==
[[File:Fubuki-class.jpg|right|thumb|300px|[[Office of Naval Intelligence]] recognition drawing of the ''Fubuki'' class]]

The first group, or ''Fubuki'' class, consisting of the first ten vessels completed in 1928 and 1929, were simpler in construction than the vessels that followed. They had a rangefinder on the compass bridge and an exposed gun-fire control room, and were equipped with a "Type A" gun turret that elevated both of its barrels at the same time and only to 40 degrees.<ref name="Fitzsimons, 1040">Fitzsimons, ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare'' p.1040.</ref> The first group can be distinguished from later ships by their massive circular air ducts abreast the two stacks leading to the boiler room, with the exception of {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Uranami|1928|2}}, which integrated the ventilation ducts into the platforms built around the stacks.<ref name="Stille"/>

The second group, or ''Ayanami'' class, were built in 1930 and 1931, and had larger bridges that encompassed the rangefinder, an [[azimuth compass]] sighting device and the gun-fire control room, as well as a range finding tower. Furthermore, the boiler room's air inlet was changed from a pipe to a bowl shape. They also benefited from the deployment of "Type B" turrets, which could elevate each gun separately to 75° for [[antiaircraft|AA]] use, making them the world's first destroyers with this capability.<ref name="Fitzsimons, 1040"/>

The third group, also known as the {{sclass|Akatsuki|destroyer (1931)|4}}, were built from 1931 to 1933. These vessels had three larger boilers instead of the previous four and a narrower fore funnel. Improvements included a unique splinter-proof torpedo launcher-turret, which allowed the torpedo launcher tubes to be reloaded in action.<ref name="Fitzsimons, 1040"/>

However, the ''Fubuki'' class also had a number of inherent design problems. The large amount of armament combined with a smaller hull displacement than in the original design created issues with stability. Despite design features intended to reduce weight, including use of welding on the hull and lighter alloys above the main deck, the ships exceeded their design weight by over 200 tons, which was even more of a problem with the Group II ships, with their larger bridge and heavier gun mounts. After the [[Tomozuru Incident|''Tomozuru'' Incident]], in which the top-heavy design of many Japanese warships called basic design issues into question, additional [[ballast tank|ballast]] had to be added.

In the [[Fourth Fleet Incident]], during which a [[typhoon]] damaged virtually every ship in the [[IJN 4th Fleet|Fourth Fleet]], an issue with the longitudinal strength of the ''Fubuki''-class hull was discovered. As a result, all vessels were reconstructed between 1935 and 1937. An additional 40 tons of ballast was added, the bridge reduced in size and the height of the smoke stacks was decreased. The number of torpedo reloads were reduced from nine to three (for the center launcher only), and fewer shells were stored for the guns. The amount of fuel carried was also increased to help lower the center-of-gravity. Eight of the ''Ayanami'' class were retrofitted with the lighter "Type C" gun mounts. These changes increased the displacement to 2050 tons standard tons and over 2400 tons full load.<!--this is correct usage, don't change it--> The rebuild reduced the top speed slightly to 34 knots.