IJN Yugumo
Contents
Description
The Yugumo-class, IJN Yugumo, 1942 is a rank II Japanese destroyer
with a battle rating of 4.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.89 "Imperial Navy". This is a last torpedo focused boat, before player gets introduced into the gunboat-style of the Akizuki destroyer.
General info
Survivability and armour
IJN Yugumo upgrades over IJN Ayanami in survivability, primarily due to its lower profile, but also higher crew count. Notably Yugumo has a much lower freeboard, lower forecastle and much smaller smoke funnels. This in effect gives it a better chance of avoiding enemy fire, especially at the long range, even though overall it is a longer ship. Additionally its survivability further is aided by having ammunition stored deep underneath the water line, what ensures survival if faced with AP shells, and having torpedo turrets protected against fragmentation damage, though they are still one of the easiest components to damage on the ship.
That said though, comparing to the equivalents in its BR, the ship has a relatively low crew count, sailing just a 2/3 of the Leningrad men, in a short-range fights Yugumo has to rely on its overwhelming firepower to take down the enemy before suffering overwhelming causalities itself.
Mobility
Stock Yugumo has a maximum speed of 58 km/h, which upgrades to 79 km/s with all the seakeeping modifications. Overall its relatively comparable with equivalents in other nations, if not slightly slower, though the differences are within 5% range between most of the destroyers in the same BR. Maximum reverse speed is -23 km/s stock and -31 km/h spaded.Armament
Primary armament
Yugumo's primary guns are shared with Ayanami, offering the same capabilities and the same shell choice. Despite of being in a higher BR the ship stands a fair chance against its counterparts, though with increasingly challenging opponents and added care has to be put in an accurate gunnery and torpedoes play an even more important role in disposing opponents.
Secondary armament
The Yugumo is equipped with two twin mountings of the 25 mm Type 96 autocannon. Its setup clearly plays a primary role as an anti-aircraft weaponry, having turrets located to provide optimal AA coverage, however they are classified as an auxiliary armament and will use those crew skills instead of anti-aircraft. The high-explosive type rounds this gun fires will have no trouble knocking out any airplane it hits. AP type rounds are also available and can be used against small torpedo boats that want to sneak. Each twin mounting is placed on side of the ship which mean they can't shoot at the same target unless its aircraft.
- Universal belts: good balance between firepower and tracer contents, useful for newcomers to the Japanese 25 mm autocannon.
- APT belts: Full of AP shells, good against boats but you might not meet lots of them in destroyer.
- HEI belts: Trades tracer rounds for extra firepower, harder to aim but very good at knocking out aircraft.
Torpedo armament
Unlike its predecessors, Yugumo uses a new, Type 93 Model 1, Mod 2 torpedoes. Those are much more powerful, having over 30% more explosive power, which enables it to sink nearly any destroyer with a single hit. To compare with equivalents of other nations, Yugumo's torpedoes have an equivalent of 627.2 kg TNT, while German G7a has 358.4 kg, British Mk.IX has 340kg or US Mk.15 has 224 kg, all also having much lower range and slower speed. It's one of the best torpedoes available, bested only by Type 93 Model 3 or more modern anti-ship torpedoes, such as Mk.16.
| Number per turret |
Mass (kg) | Maximum speed in water (km/h) | Travel Distance (km) | Explosive TNT equivalent (kg) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type 90 | IJN Ayanami IJN Mutsuki | 3 | 2540 | 85 | 7 | 480 |
| Type 90 + Torpedo Mode | IJN Ayanami IJN Mutsuki | 3 | 2540 | 65 | 15 | 480 |
| Type 93 Model 1, Mod 2 | IJN Yugumo | 4 | 2700 | 91 | 20 | 627.2 |
| Type 93 Model 3 | IJN Akizuki | 4 | 2800 | 91 | 15 | 998.4 |
Special armament
Yugumo has a tire IV modification available that unlocks the Bomb Mortar, allowing it to equip 8 Type 95 depth charges. All are stored above deck and ejected pneumatically to either port or starbord, up to four on each side.
Depth charges currently have an extremely limited use, having no submarines in the game and being limited to a combination of a static position where they were dropped at, and a specific time at which enemy has to arrive in order to risk any damage from the charge. Realistically it should be the last modification researched on the ship, as it provides no palatable benefit during the gameplay.
Usage in battles
IJN Yugumo is one of the most formidable destroyers, owning it largely to its outstanding torpedo armament, but also otherwise well-rounded mix of survivability, mobility and the firepower. Due to lack of AP rounds and a relatively low crew compliment Cruisers are its absolute bane, being able to one-shot it with a single lucky salvo, while themselves not having to worry much about anything but torpedoes. Like all torpedo-centric destroyers Yugumo excels in Arcade Battles with an ability to re-spawn torpedoes mid-battle, while having much tougher time in Realistic Battles.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Can release 8 torpedoes at once
- One of the best torpedoes (Long Lance)
- Good mobility
- Small profile
Cons:
- No access to armour-piercing shells
- Weak anti-aircraft armament, especially against higher altitude bombers
- Torpedo tubes are damaged easily
- Low crew count
History
IJN Yugumo (夕雲) was the lead ship of her class, launched in March 1941, she took part in some of the most important battles of the Pacific War. She started with a vain attempt of chasing down the carrier group that launched Doolittle Raid, took part in a Battle of Midway. A large portion of her career was spent participating in the Guadalcanal Campaign, where she served primarily as a part of the Tokyo Express. She then proceeded to the North part of the Pacific, where she evacuated Aleutians, and finally returned back to the Solomon Islands where she sunk Fletcher-class destroyer in a mutual kill by torpedoes on a night 6/7 October 1943. None of the ships of her class survived the war.
Media
Front profile in the Operation FROST garage
Rear profile in the Operation FROST garage
See also
Ships of comparable role, configuration and era
- IJN Ayanami (predecessor)
- Fletcher (DD-445)
- Type 1934A (1940)
- Pr. 206
- Tribal (F75)
External links
| Japan destroyers | |
|---|---|
| IJN | |
| Momi-class | IJN Momi |
| Mutsuki-class | IJN Mutsuki · IJN Satsuki |
| Fubuki-class | IJN Ayanami |
| Hatsuharu-class | IJN Hatsuharu · IJN Nenohi |
| Shiratsuyu-class | IJN Yuudachi |
| Yugumo-class | IJN Yugumo · IJN Hayanami · IJN Kiyoshimo |
| Shimakaze-class | IJN Shimakaze |
| Akizuki-class | IJN Akizuki · IJN Hatsuzuki |
| JMSDF | |
| Ariake-class* | JDS Yūgure (DD-184) |
| Harukaze-class | JDS Harukaze (DD-101) |
| Murasame-class | JDS Murasame (DD-107) |
| * Modified Fletcher-class destroyers | |
