A detailed, illustrated look at the earliest seven classes of destroyer fielded by the Imperial Japanese Navy of World War II.

Several classes of Japanese destroyer were built before the war. This includes the famous Fubuki class (called “Special Type” by the Japanese, which were, when completed in the late 1920's, the most powerful class of destroyers in the world). This design forced all other major navies to follow suite and provided the basic design for the next many classes of Imperial Navy destroyers. This book also examines the three classes built before the Special Type which were based on a German World War I design, as well as two classes built afterward.

Pacific War expert Mark Stille evaluates the success of these designs - from the first battles of the Pacific War up until the death sortie of the superbattleship Yamato - and compares them to similar Allied destroyer designs.