Belatedly, the Imperial General Staff, which set Japanese naval construction and design requirements, authorized new classes of first-class destroyers to augment their capital ships under their “Eight-Eight” program (modified to the “Eight -Four” program) during the latter years of WWI. The new destroyer designs emphasizing greater speed, firepower, range, and quality.  Construction of the first units commenced just as the First World War approached its end.

Speed was the major driving consideration as most new capital ships, particularly the battlecruisers, were projected to feature speeds over 30 knots. Almost none of the existing Japanese destroyer designs was up to the task.  By the time the Washington Naval Disarmament Conference of 1922 convened, three new, capable classes of destroyer had been completed for the IJN, each an incremental improvement over the proceeding class. The Mutsuki class of twelve ships was the last of these classes. 
 

In the new class, four, single 12cm/4.7inch gun mounts comprised the main armament, along with three sets of twin 53cm/21inch torpedo tubes. One torpedo mount was set behind the forecastle in a well deck in front of the bridge, the other two placed further aft of the funnels. More powerful, turbine driven engines for higher speed were installed, which also enabled more greater range. When completed, the new Minekazes were considered the equal of foreign contemporary destroyers. 

The second class of new destroyers, the Kamikazes, tweaked the original design with a strengthened bridge structure and a wider bean for greater stability. Some re-arrangement of the deckhouse and main armament occurred as well in the last few units. There were subtle tweaks to the main armament shielding as well.

The Mutsukis, the last class of new destroyers, were tweaked yet again. A new bow form, referred to as a double spooned bow, was incorporated, along with more flare to help with seakeeping. Beam and draft were again slightly enlarged, better to accommodate a new, heavier torpedo armament.

For the first time in a Japanese ship, 61cm/24” torpedoes were installed, in two new triple tube mounts. Reloads for six torpedoes were also provided for. More depth charges were added to the stern. Some ships were equipped with minelaying rails, while others were equipped with minesweeping paravanes. Engine machinery remained the same as the proceeding class with 38,500shp and a top speed of just over 37 knots. Range remained the same, that of 3,600nm at 14 knots.

All class members underwent reconstruction between 1935 and 1937 as a result of issues with structural weaknesses exhibited by some vessels during damaging encounters with typhoons. The hull and bridge were reinforced, and the bridge reduced in width, made more aerodynamic, and given a steel roof.   An RDF loop and compartment were added aft. The funnel tops were raked back and the torpedo tube mounts were enclosed by a weather and splinter proof shield. A twin 13mm AA mount aft of number two funnel was added to most units as well. Overall displacement increased, and top speed was reduced to 32.5 knots. A degaussing cable was added to the outside of the hull just prior to the beginning of hostilities in 1941. 

Eventually, new destroyer designs beginning with the succeeding Fubuki type rendered the Minekaze and Kamikaze classes obsolete by the mid-1930s. Most of these ships were subsequently assigned secondary duties. The enlarged and improved torpedo batteries of the Mutsukis were seen as an asset, and these ships were retained as first line ships at the outset of the Pacific war. 
 

Mutsuki was heavily damaged in the 4th Fleet Incident of Sept, 1935, when she and many other ships encountered a severe typhoon. Her bridge face was completely smashed, her captain killed, and the ship lost steering. Thankfully, emergency steering was quickly restored and the ship saved.  She subsequently underwent reconstruction and modernization.  Afterwards, Mutsuki and DesDiv 30 participated in numerous landings and provided fire support during various operations in Chinese coastal waters in the late 1930s.

She was active from the outset of the Pacific war, participating in the invasions of Wake Island, the Solomon Islands, Rabaul, New Ireland, New Britain, Lae, Salamua, and the Shortland Islands; all by the end of April, 1942. Sprinkled among the invasions was a number of convoy escort missions in conjunction with her division. Of note was a brief period of maintenance at Truk, where she had a small sponson added forward of her bridge and a twin 13mm mount added on the starboard side.

In May, she and DesDiv 30 escorted the troop convoy tasked with the invasion of Port Moresby as part of Operation MO. However, the concurrent Battle of the Coral Sea stymied that intent. The invasion was postponed after the clash, as the withdrawal of the IJN’s carrier force eliminated air cover for the invasion force. Without air cover, the convoy was now clearly vulnerable to enemy air attack and ordered to return to base at Rabaul.

Afterwards, there was a lull in activity, save for some new escort missions. Eventually, in late June, Mutsuki escorted a ship loaded with a construction battalion to Tulagi in the Solomon Islands, across from Guadalcanal, in order to begin construction of an airfield. She then reported to Sasebo Naval Base in mid-July for a refit and maintenance, which was completed by mid-August. While there, the division was re-assigned to Eighth Fleet, newly created to support operations around Guadalcanal and New Guinea.

After completion of the refit, Mutsuki and DesDiv 30 joined those forces at Rabaul and the Shortland Islands. In early August, US forces had invaded Guadalcanal, and 8th Fleet became the focus of Japanese naval efforts to dislodge the Americans. On the evening of August 24th, Mutsuki joined division-mate Yayoi and three other destroyers in bombarding the newly established, American-held airfield known as Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. This happened to be one of the initial actions that were part of what became known as the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Elsewhere, opposing forces had engaged this same day in a series of damaging carrier actions, with both sides subsequently withdrawing their carrier forces from the scene. 

On the following morning of the 25th, Mutsuki and her bombardment companions were made part of a large cruiser and destroyer escort to a small troop reinforcement convoy commanded by Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka. The convoy itself was composed of three transports and several patrol boats, all carrying men to be landed on Guadalcanal. However, the bombardment of Henderson Field by Mutsuki and her consorts the night before had been mostly ineffective, leaving American air power based on the field mostly intact. Several of those aircraft subsequently attacked the convoy and its escorts during mid-morning, damaging both the convoy flagship, CL Jintsu, and one of the transports. Mutsuki pulled alongside the damaged transport Kinryu Maru to take off her crew and embarked troops.

It was then that four US Army Air Force B-17s from Espiritu Santo arrived overhead and proceed to make a bomb run over the two motionless ships. Mutsuki’s captain elected to keep his ship alongside Kinryu Maru to continue the evacuation. Several bombs hit on or around the ships, with at least one direct hit in Mutsuki’s engineering spaces. She quickly sank, with 41 dead (including the captain) and 11 injured. Division sister Yayoi took off her survivors as well as those of Kinryu Maru. After scuttling the transport with a torpedo, Yayoi took the survivors back to base in the Shortland Islands.
 

Personally, I always thought these to be very good efforts for 1970s era kits. Though the superstructure and deckhouse are simplified and erroneous (particularly around the funnels), and despite a mix of fits represented within a single kit, the basic shapes and scale are pretty well done. The overall molding is generally sharp, the bow edge is fine and its profile is very good. Perhaps most impressive was the scaling of the main battery, particularly the shields, which is correct, even if it’s devoid of detailing. The bridge superstructure is certainly passable, and the box art for Mutsuki is notable as well.  Dimensionally, the kit was decent, if perhaps 2mm too long.

Some 30+ years later, Pit-Road offered its own take on the class, beginning in 2008. Since then, they’ve issued a couple of different class members in early, mid and late war fits, some with the full hull option. Far more detailed and accurate in many ways over the Hasegawa versions, these newer kits still have some drawbacks. Most disconcerting is the scale of the 12cm/4.7inch main battery, particularly the shields for the gun. It’s clearly oversized and makes the ship look awkward and top-heavy.

The bow profile is also a bit exaggerated. Dimensionally, the waterline length is 1mm too long, while the overall length was correct. This discrepancy produces a bow profile that is a little off, in that the protrusion of the lower bow forward is more pronounced that necessary. A small point, to be sure, but one that does catch the eye.

Yamashita Hobby has evidently decided to address the more outstanding discrepancies of these kits with its own, new Mutsuki class kit. The kit is molded in a light grey plastic with uniformly sharp detailing. It is a waterline version only; no full hull option is available. There are 13 sprues and approximately 180 pieces, though not all are used. Dimensions and the scale of the main armament are the most notable of the improvements. 

It’s marketed as Mutsuki, late 1941; right out of the box, this kit can be built as any of the first eight sisters (those with mine rails) after modernization.  The fit is either immediately prior to or at the outset of the war, though the kit does not provide a degaussing cable on the hull. 
 

Again, everything shows really nice detailing. There are PE alternatives for the trestles, if one so desires. 
 

Only one type of gun and shield is used, designated parts 1 & 2. The unused parts appear to be the earlier shield and breech block/housing used aboard the Minekaze class ships. 
 

As I have stated in earlier YH reviews, the scale and sizing of these pieces continues to be smaller and finer than anything previously offered in styrene, and rivals some offerings available in brass or 3D printing. For anyone who ever chiseled off the molded-on deck reels on the waterline kits and then wondered why all the better detailed replacements seemed so oversized, the answer is that, until these were released in 2015, no one was willing, or able, to mold them small enough to be in scale with any reasonable detail. This is a great set of fittings.
 

The YH700C & YH700E sprues are not used in this kit. I don’t know why they weren’t clipped off before packing. 
 

The breakdown and detail of the torpedo tubes is on a par with, to the Fubuki class version issued by Pit-Road with its NE07 equipment set. It’s also comparable to similar Finemolds accessories. Most everything is sharply defined. The practice loader is a little tall, but’s it’s also sized as a 12.7cm mount, not a 12cm mount. 
 

The sprue marking system continues to a little confusing, as some sprues are marked by similar letters or numbers. Yamashita did take care to list the sprue number next to every part number, which helps greatly to eliminate confusion. Cross-checking the sprues with the sprue/parts list in the instructions will be helpful in keeping things straight.  There are different prefixes in Japanese marked on the instructions, but that’s not particularly helpful to those who don’t read Japanese. Still, it’s not rocket science, and the correct parts can be ascertained by paying close attention to the assembly portion of the instructions.