The Yūgumo class was a repeat of the preceding with minor improvements that increased their anti-aircraft capabilities. Their crew numbered 228 officers and enlisted men. The ships measured 119.17m (390.98feet) overall, with a beam of 10.8m (35.4feet) and a draft of 3.76m (12.34feet).[1] They displaced 2110t at standard load and 2560t at deep load.[2] The ships had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of 52000shp for a designed speed of 35kn.[3]
The main armament of the Yūgumo class consisted of six Type 3 1271NaN1 guns in three twin-gun turrets, one superfiring pair aft and one turret forward of the superstructure.[2] The guns were able to elevate up to 75° to increase their ability against aircraft, but their slow rate of fire, slow traversing speed, and the lack of any sort of high-angle fire-control system meant that they were virtually useless as anti-aircraft guns.[4] They were built with four Type 96 251NaN1 anti-aircraft guns in two twin-gun mounts, but more of these guns were added over the course of the war. The ships were also armed with eight 610mm torpedo tubes in a two quadruple traversing mounts; one reload was carried for each tube. Their anti-submarine weapons comprised two depth charge throwers for which 36 depth charges were carried.[2]
On 12 July 1943, Kiyonami was on a troop transport run to Kolombangara. In the Battle of Kolombangara, she contributed torpedoes to the spreads that sank the destroyer, and damaged the cruisers and .
On 20 July Kiyonami was on another troop transport run to Kolombangara. She was sunk by U.S. Army B-25s while rescuing the crew of the destroyer, 42miles north-northwest of Kolombangara (-7.2167°N 201°W). About sixty men survived the sinking, but only one was rescued after several days, leaving only one survivor from Kiyonami's crew of 241 men, and no survivors from Yūgure's crew of 228.[5] [6]