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Shinonome was representive of the first group (also called 'Type 1') of the revolutionary Fubuki-class destroyers. When they first appeared in 1928, they were so powerful and so fast that they forced all other naval powers to reconsider their own destroyer designs.

First, they were, in comparison to contemporary destroyers, enormous: 380 feet long, displacing 1750 tons, with steam turbine engines generating 50,000 horsepower, and (in their original design) capable of 38 knots.  They carried six, 5-inch guns, in three completely enclosed turrets: more firepower than many light cruisers of the day. The enclosed turrets, a first for destroyers, were not only water-proof, but also gas-proof, still a concern for naval architects in the 1920s. Shinonome and the other Fubukis carried nine torpoedo tubes. All of this weaponry and machinery was really too much for the original structure of the class. When caught in a September 1935 typhoon, the Japanese Fourth Fleet suffered extensive damage, especially the new destroyers. In the next two years, they were extensively re-designed, to include reduction from nine to six torpedo tubes and strengthenin of the hull. As a result, the modified and strengthened Fubukis' top speed dropped to 34 knots. But they were still formidable warships.

Shinonome participated in the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies in December, 1941, but was lost in that action. Off the coast of Borneo, she exploded, with the loss of all 228 of her crew. Dutch source claimed that one of their flying boats, X-32, had hit her; other sources suggest she hit a mine.

Sources: Public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

and pictures from my father's 1943 Naval Recognition Manual

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