The Kaba-class destroyers were improved versions of the preceding . They displaced 665LT at normal load and 850LT at deep load. The ships had a length between perpendiculars of 260feet and an overall length of 274feet, a beam of 24feet and a draught of 7feet. The Kabas were powered by three vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft using steam produced by four Kampon water-tube boilers.[1] Two boilers burned a mixture of coal and fuel oil while the other pair only used oil.[2] The engines produced a total of 9500ihp that gave the ships a maximum speed of 30kn.[3] They carried a maximum of 100LT of coal and 137LT of oil which gave them a range of 1600nmi at a speed of . Their crew consisted of 92 officers and ratings.[4]
The main armament of the Kaba-class ships consisted of a single quick-firing (QF) 12cm (05inches) gun located on the bow. They were also armed with four QF 3inches guns on single mounts. Two guns were positioned abreast the middle funnel, one gun was on the aft superstructure and the fourth gun was on the stern. The destroyers' torpedo armament consisted of two twin rotating mounts[4] for 450adj=onNaNadj=on[5] torpedoes located between the superstructure and the stern gun.[4]
Kusunoki was launched on 5 March 1915 at Kawasaki's shipyard in Kobe[1] and completed on 31 March.[4] During World War I the ship patrolled the area around Singapore[2] and later served as a convoy escort in the Mediterranean Sea.[6] She was stricken from the navy list in November 1931,[4] decommissioned on 1 April 1932[2] and subsequently broken up.[1]
. Paul G. Halpern. A Naval History of World War I. 1995. UCL Press. 978-1-85728-498-0.