Ikazuchi-class destroyer

The Ikazuchi class was a group of six torpedo boat destroyers built in Britain in 1897 to 1899 by Yarrow and Company at Poplar, London, for the Imperial Japanese Navy. They were the second group of destroyers bought by Japan, and all six were named after celestial phenomena: Ikazuchi, Inazuma, Akebono, Sazanami, Niji and Oboro. The design followed the four-funnel Thirty Knotter destroyers of the Royal Navy, with a flush deck and a turtleback forecastle meant to clear water from the bow at speed. The ships were powered by triple expansion steam engines with coal-fired water-tube boilers and were armed with one 12 pounder gun, five 6 pounder guns and two single tubes for 18 inch torpedoes. All six reached Japan in time for the Boxer Rebellion, Niji was lost in an accident in 1900, and the other five fought in the Russo-Japanese War. Inazuma was lost in a collision in 1909, and the last two survivors, Akebono and Oboro, were scrapped in 1925.