The Kagerō-class destroyers (陽炎型駆逐艦, Kagerō-gata Kuchikukan) were a class of nineteen 1st Class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during the 1930s, and operated by them during the Pacific War, when all but one were lost. It also called Shiranui-class destroyers (不知火型駆逐艦, Shiranui-gata Kuchikukan) because the second ship, Shiranui was launched before first ship, Kagerō

The class was also one of a series called Destroyer Type-A (甲型駆逐艦, Kō-gata Kuchikukan) within the Imperial Japanese Navy from their plan name. At the time of introduction, these destroyers were among the deadliest destroyers afloat, primarily due to the excellent range and lethality of their "Long Lance" torpedoes.

Following on the success of the Asashio class, the Kagerō class was very similar in design, but was slightly larger and incorporated a number of improvements which had been gained through operational experience. It had a heavier main battery and much heavier torpedo armament than other contemporary foreign destroyer designs.^[1] The first 15 ships of this class were ordered in 1937 under the 3rd Naval Armaments Supplement Programme and the final four vessels were ordered in 1939 under the 4th Naval Armaments Supplement Programme. The final vessel in the class, Akigumo, was sometimes mistaken for part of the succeeding Yūgumo class by immediate postwar historians due to confusion over the number of fictitious destroyers listed in the Japanese budgetary records in an effort to conceal the budget devoted to the secret Yamato-class battleships.

The Kagerō class used the same hull and bridge as the preceding Asashio class and had an almost identical silhouette. The main visual difference was that the reloads for the forward torpedo launcher were located in front of the launcher instead of to the rear.^[1] The ships measured 118.5 meters (388 ft 9 in) overall, with a beam of 10.8 meters (35 ft 5 in) and a draft of 3.76 meters (12 ft 4 in).^[2] They displaced 2,065 metric tons (2,032 long tons) at standard load and 2,529 metric tons (2,489 long tons) at deep load.^[3] The displacement and beam were thus slightly larger than for the Asashio class, giving greater stability.^[1]

Their crew numbered 240 officers and enlisted men. 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 52,000 shaft horsepower (39,000 kW) for a designed speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph). The ships had a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).^[4] Amatsukaze had an experimental boiler which developed a higher steam pressure, but this did not result in any increase in performance.^[1]

During the war the Kagerō class was used extensively in the Solomons campaign, and wartime attrition was severe, with 18 of 19 vessels lost. In all, six were sunk by air attack, five by submarine attack, five in battle with other surface forces, one by a mine, and the remaining two sunk by a combination of mines and air attack. Yukikaze was the only Kagerō-class ship afloat at the end of the war. All but the Natsushio (sunk in February 1942) took part in the Battle of Midway. 7 out of the only 9 destroyers of the Pearl Harbor strike force were of the Kagero class.