Maikaze was a Japanese destroyer whose keel was laid in 1940, launched in March 1941, and commissioned in the Imperial Japanese Navy in July 1941. The length of the ship at the time of launching was 118.5 m, width 10.8 m, and the actual full displacement - 2,490 tons. The maximum speed of the destroyer Maikaze was up to 35 knots. The main armament at the time of the launch was 6 127 mm guns in three twin turrets, and the secondary armament was 4 25 mm cannons, depth charge launchers and eight 610 mm torpedo tubes with eight spare torpedoes.
Maikaze was the eighteenth Kagero-class destroyer. Units of this type were created as part of the Japanese fleet expansion program of 1937 and 1939. They returned to the use of strong artillery (6 127 mm guns), which had already appeared on the Fubuki-class destroyers in the 1920s. The provisions of the disarmament treaties were also not respected, thanks to the czum the Japanese designers had complete freedom in designing. As a result, ships with strong artillery and torpedo armaments, good sea performance, and especially - unlike the previous Japanese destroyers - had no problems with stability and overall durability of the structure. The only drawback was the weak anti-aircraft armament, which, however, was systematically strengthened during the war in the Pacific. The combat career of destroyer Maikaze was rich and began in World War II with the cover of Japanese landings in the Malaya and Philippine regions. In March and April 1942, he escorted supply units for ships participating in the Indian Ocean raid. In June, it took part in the Battle of Midway as a cover unit for the Japanese carrier team. From August 1942 to February 1943, Maikaze served in the Solomon Islands archipelago, fighting for Guadalcanal. In the course of these struggles, he took part in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. From July 1943 to the end of that year, he served as convoy in the square: Truk, Yokosuka, Shanghai and Rabaul. The destroyer Maikaze was sunk by the American on-board aviation and as a result of artillery fire on February 7, 1944.