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Yukikaze — Japanese Premium Tier VIII Destroyer
Famously known as the "Fortune Ship" for her achievements in World War II.
HP: 15,576
Citadel Protection: 5%
Fire & Flood Resistance: 10%
Damage Reduction: 4.50%
Torpedo Damage Reduction: 3%
Max Speed: 34.18 kts
Acceleration: 9.31 s
Max Traverse Speed: 9.40 Deg/s
Traverse Acceleration: 2.7 s
127 mm L/50 3 rd Year Type 3x2
Reload Time: 5.50 s
Rate of Fire: 65.45 RPM
Range: 7.85 km
Flight Time: 3.93 s
Initial Velocity: 271 m/s
Minimum Dispersion: 48 m
Maximum Dispersion: 144 m
Maximum Vertical Dispersion: 50.40 m
Sigma: 10
HE Damage: 401
Fire Chance: 4%
AP Damage: 413
Citadel Chance: 0%
Citadel Damage Rate: 150%
Turret Traverse Speed: 10 Deg/s
610mm Type 91 2x4
Reload Time: 52.5s
Rate of Fire: 3.43SPM
Range: 8.1km
Wide Degree of Spread: 4Deg
Narrow Degree of Spread: 2Deg
Torpedo Damage: 4114
Flood Chance: 16%
Torpedo Speed: 58.35kts
Torpedo Concealment: 1.68km
Reaction Time: 11.07s
Torpedo Expiration Time: 29.98s
Torpedo Tube Traverse Speed: 24Deg/s
Large Caliber AA Damage: 85
Large Caliber AA Range: 3.60 km
Small Caliber AA Damage: 45
Small Caliber AA Range: 1.80 km
Total AA Damage: 130
Concealment: 5.82 km
After firing a salvo: 8.1 km
Skill floor: Simple
Skill ceiling: Moderate
She can be played just like any other Japanese torpedo boat destroyer, however she performs worse in this role as her torpedo stats are weaker than her tech tree sister, the Kagero. It will however be somewhat easier to do so with the extremely good concealment, making it a ship that could work in the hands of a casual player.
Her skills (Fuel Smoke III, Engine Accelerator I, and Sonar I) is unique among Japanese destroyers, with no other Japanese destroyer having Fuel Smoke. This makes her potent in rushing the enemy as well, although you have to be careful as some ships have sonar or/and Radar (ie German BBs, US CLs) which can render your smoke useless and become easy prey at close range.
if used correctly her skills can be deadly. Her fuel smoke allows her to rush enemies undetected at her top speed, which can be increased even more with her Engine Accelerator skill. Her sonar makes rushing ships that carry torpedoes safer too, as you can detect them earlier making it easier to dodge. Particularly useful in rushing Cruisers. This can make counter-play against a rushing Yukikaze in a ship without sonar or radar extremely difficult, if not impossible.
How to play this ship:
Against Battleships, your torpedo alpha is not enough to one shot them. I usually launch one salvo torpedoes before getting detected, wait for the reload to come down a little, and if the BBs hitpoints is low enough, I will rush
Against Heavy cruisers, you still do not have enough alpha to one shot some of them. If they are slightly damaged however you definitely can torpedo them, if otherwise, it probably isn’t worth using torpedoes on them when you have BBs or CLs to torpedo, as you can neither cause enough damage to destroy them like most light cruisers, nor farm damage from them using floods like you can on BBs due to their relative low hit points pool.
Against light cruisers, it is not a great idea to rush most, as they either have Sonar or Radar, and they absolutely will melt you quickly.
Against destroyers, you most definately will not win in a gunfight against most other destroyers, and thus engaging them is not recommended. Rushing them with torpedoes and fuel smoke can work occasionally, but is not worth going after them as you waste a fuel smoke rushing a DD which you can only get 10k+ damage out of, while you can actually use it against other targets like a BB instead, which allows you to cause more damage.
Things to be aware of:
Never rush a ship that has sonar or radar, or a ship that has a ship with these skills near it. If you get detected while rushing you most likely will not get away alive.
Keep your eyes open to see what ships have used their damage controls to farm flooding damage.
Stay away from CLs.
You don’t have to rush, you have IJN torpedoes, although they are slightly weaker.
Use your guns if the situation allows it.
Capture target areas.
Conclusion: This is a Kagero that trades some torpedo stats for amazing concealment and a very strong smoke. This allows her to stand out from other IJN DDs for her ability to rush ships, while others mostly do long range torping. She is unique among Japanese DDs, and a fun ship to play, though not a competitive or very powerful one
nYukikaze was a destroyer of the Kagero class, and saw extensive service throughout WWII, Even participating in operation ten-go with battleship Yamato, and survived the attack. She was then refered to as the "Fortune ship" for her luck in WWII, and will go on to see further service with the Republic of China Navy (ROCN) She would then be scrapped, despite the request from Japan for her to be returned as a museum ship for her achievements. However Her rudder and one of her anchors were repatriated to the Japan Navy Academy museum as a good will gesture.