View source for Japanese destroyer Shirotae

{{short description|Destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Harasame-asakase.jpg
|Ship caption=[[Sister ship]] ''Ayanami''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=[[Empire of Japan]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|naval}}
|Ship name=''Shirotae''
|Ship builder=[[Mitsubishi Heavy Industries|Mitsubishi Shipyards]], [[Nagasaki]]
|Ship laid down=25 July 1905
|Ship launched =30 July 1906
|Ship completed=20 November 1906
|Ship fate=Ran aground and wrecked, 31 August 1914
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Header caption=(as built)
|Ship class={{sclass|Kamikaze|destroyer|||1905}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|381|LT|t|lk=on}}
*{{convert|450|LT|t|abbr=on}} ([[full load]])
|Ship length=*{{convert|227|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} ([[Length between perpendiculars|pp]])
*{{convert|234|ft|m|abbr=on}} ([[o/a]])
|Ship beam={{convert|21|ft|7|in|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship draught={{convert|6|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship power=4 boilers; {{cvt|6000|ihp|kW|lk=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts; 2 [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion steam engines]] 
|Ship speed={{convert|29|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{cvt|1200|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}
|Ship complement=70
|Ship armament=
* 2 × single [[QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun|{{cvt|3|in}} 12 cwt guns]]
* 4 × single [[QF 12-pounder 8 cwt gun|{{cvt|3|in}} 8 cwt guns]]
* 2 × single {{cvt|450|mm|1}} [[torpedo tube]]s
}}
|}

{{nihongo|'''''Shirotae'''''|白妙|}} ("White cloth") was one of 32 {{sclass|Kamikaze|destroyer|||1905}}s built for the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] (IJN) in the first decade of the 20th century.

==Design and description==
The ''Kamikaze''-class destroyers were improved versions of the preceding {{sclass|Harusame|destroyer|4}}.<ref name=f1>Friedman 1985, p. 241</ref> They [[Displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|381|LT|t|lk=on}} at normal load and {{convert|450|LT|t}} at [[deep load]]. The ships had a [[length between perpendiculars]] of {{convert|227|ft|m|1}} and an [[length overall|overall length]] of {{convert|234|ft|m|1}}, a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|21|ft|7|in|m|1}} and a [[draft (ship)|draught]] of {{convert|6|ft|m|1}}. The ''Kamikaze''s were powered by two [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|vertical triple-expansion steam engines]], each driving one shaft using steam produced by four [[Kampon]] [[water-tube boiler]]s. The engines produced a total of {{convert|6000|ihp|lk=on}} that gave the ships a maximum speed of {{convert|29|kn|lk=in}}. They carried a maximum of {{convert|100|LT|t|0}} of coal<ref name=wg>Watts & Gordon, p. 243</ref> which gave them a range of {{convert|1500|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|15|kn}}. Their crew consisted of 70 officers and [[naval rating|ratings]].<ref name=j3>Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 133</ref>

The main armament of the ''Kamikaze''-class ships consisted of two 40-[[caliber (artillery)|calibre]] [[quick-firing gun|quick-firing (QF)]] [[QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun|{{convert|3|in|spell=in|adj=on}} 12 cwt guns]]<ref group=Note>"Cwt" is the abbreviation for [[hundredweight]], 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.</ref> on single mounts; the forward gun was located on [[superstructure]], but the aft gun was at the [[stern]]. Four 28-calibre QF [[QF 12-pounder 8 cwt gun|three-inch 8 cwt guns]] on single mounts were positioned abreast the superstructure, two in each [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]]. The ships were also armed with two single rotating mounts<ref name=f1/><ref name=j3/> for {{convert|450|mm|in|adj=on|1}}<ref>Friedman 2011, p. 349</ref> [[torpedo]]es between the superstructure and the stern gun.<ref name=f1/>

== Construction and career ==
''Shirotae'' was [[laid down]] at [[Mitsubishi Heavy Industries|Mitsubishi]]'s [[shipyard]] in [[Nagasaki]] on 25 July 1905 and [[Ship launching|launched]] on 30 July 1906.<ref name=wg/> Completed on 20 November 1906, the ship saw service in World War I and ran aground in [[Jiaozhou Bay]], China, on 31 August 1914 during the [[Siege of Tsingtao]]. She was wrecked beyond repair on 3 September.<ref name=t9>Todaka, et al., p. 218</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==Books==
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal |title= Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-87021-907-3|name-list-style=amp|chapter=Japan|author=Friedman, Norman|author-link=Norman Friedman}}
* {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations; An Illustrated Directory|publisher= Seaforth Publishing |location=Barnsley, UK |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-84832-100-7}}
*{{cite book| last = Jentschura| first = Hansgeorg| first2 = Dieter |last2=Jung|first3=Peter |last3=Mickel| year = 1977| title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869&ndash;1945| publisher = United States Naval Institute| location = Annapolis, Maryland| isbn = 0-87021-893-X|name-list-style=amp}}
*{{cite book |last1=Todaka |first1=Kazushige |last2=Fukui |first2=Shizuo |last3=Eldridge |first3=Robert D. |last4=Leonard |first4=Graham B. |title=Destroyers: Selected Photos from the Archives of the Kure Maritime Museum; the Best from the Collection of Shizuo Fukui's Photos of Japanese Warships |date=2020 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=978-1-59114-630-8 |series=Japanese Naval Warship Photo Album|name-list-style=amp}}
*{{cite book
| last1 = Watts
| first1 = Anthony J.
| last2 = Gordon
| first2 = Brian G.
| year = 1971
| title = The Imperial Japanese Navy
| publisher = Macdonald
| location =London
| isbn = 0-35603-045-8|name-list-style=amp
}}

{{Kamikaze class destroyers (1905)}}
{{August 1914 shipwrecks}}

{{coord missing|China}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirotae (1905)}}
[[Category:Kamikaze-class destroyers (1905)]]
[[Category:1906 ships]]
[[Category:World War I destroyers of Japan]]
[[Category:Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of China]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Yellow Sea]]