Kan Colle Warship Girls “Military History” Profiles: Hatsukaze

Kan Colle Warship Girls “Military History” Profiles: Hatsukaze

It has been confirmed that the destroyer Hatsukaze will be added to the Kantai Collection (Kan Colle) lineup as part of its large remodeling. In this article, we are going to introduce Hatsukaze, a ship that fought together with Yukikaze in the most crucial naval battles of the Pacific War.

The most glorious time for Hatsukaze was her time together with Yukikaze.

The new warship added in the big Aug. 26 remodeling of Kan Colle has proven herself in the fleet through being lead by veteran admirals.

That warship is the Hatsukaze Kagero-class destroyer No. 7. By the way, Kagero-class No. 8 is the above mentioned Yukikaze. The reason her face resembles Kuroshio (No. 3) is that it was completed only 19 days after, nearly the same time as Kuroshio (in budget, Hatsukaze was No. 7, but it was fifth in completion), and both of them were born in Kansai shipyards (Kuroshio was built at Fujinagata Shipyard in Osaka, while Hatsukaze was built at Kawasaki Shipbuilding Yard in Kobe.). Is it because of their twin-like relationship with Yukikaze, which was completed just one week before Kuroshio at Sasebo Naval Arsenal?

Kan Colle has yet to feature famous ships, such as Amatsukaze, Tokitsukaze, Tanikaze, and Nowaki, so with its plain existence among all the other Kagero-class ships, one might think, “Why Hatsukaze?” However, she participated in the Dutch East Indies campaign from the outbreak of the war to the first battles as part of the Destroyer Squadron 2, led by Jintsu. In the Battle of the Java Sea, the climax of the campaign, Hatsukaze’s Destroyer Squadron 2, together with Destroyer Squadron 4 led by Naka, and ships Haguro and Nachi, squashed the united American-British-Australian-Holland fleet. Combining forces with Jintsu, Naka, Haguro, and Nachi is very lucky.

In the Battle of Midway in June 1942, she was escorting the transport fleet and didn’t appear in the front stage. However, from August to October, she participated in the violent carrier battles fought for Guadalcanal, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. There, she protected regular aircraft carriers Zuikaku and Shoukaku as part of the 3rd Fleet, which uses aircraft carriers as its main force, so it seems she is highly compatible with carrier fleets.

After her long military service and participating in famous, large-scale naval battles, in November 1943 during the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, she became immobile after colliding with Myoko, and sunk due to taking concentrated fire from enemy ships. For that reason, she probably doesn’t have good feelings toward Myoko (according to Kan Colle’s mysterious way of thinking).

Yukikaze was her battle buddy, who fought alongside her from the outbreak of war until the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands as part of Destroyer Squadron 16. The two of them never lost a battle together, but in January 1943, Hatsukaze was hit by lightning and had to be taken home for repairs. After taking different routes, Yukikaze also continued to lose battle after battle. Yukikaze didn’t participate in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, where Hatsukaze sunk. It could be that being together made them happy.

Source: Netolabo
Source article written by Kazuya Nagahama

Destroyer Hatsukaze, newly added in the Aug. 26 update.
Destroyer Hatsukaze, newly added in the Aug. 26 update.
Sister ship Kagero-class destroyer Yukikaze (from Tamiya’s 1/350 Ship Series).
Sister ship Kagero-class destroyer Yukikaze (from Tamiya’s 1/350 Ship Series).

All kinds of otaku are welcome at the TOM Fan Club! Join here: https://otakumode.com/fb/8iy