asakaze (kancolle)

Asakaze (lit. "Morning Wind") is the second of nine Kamikaze-class destroyers as personified in Kantai Collection.

Appearance

Similar to Kamikaze, Asakaze wears a Meiji schoolgirl uniform with a white furisode top, including a gradient to blue in the loose sleeves, along with a cobalt blue hakama skirt tied with a sash bearing an anchor on the end, and knee-high lace-up boots. She has blue eyes and long, wavy light brown hair with her bangs parted in the middle providing long sidelocks and exposing her forehead. She also wears two large blue hair ribbons on either side of her head.

Her rigging includes a funnel attached to her back with an adjoining mast and twin-tube torpedo launcher. To her sides, at thigh-level, are cutoff-ship-deck-like platforms that bear a single-cannon turret. She also carries a single-cannon turret in her left hand like a pistol, which is modeled like a ship's bow bearing the number "5".

Personality

Asakaze has an energetic personality, proud of her accomplishments but also highly sensitive to criticism. Her in-game lines include several instances of indignation over perceptions of anyone "making fun of her" even when none existed. Possibly because of the meaning her name, she also seems to love mornings, getting up at 4 AM to see the sunrise. Inversely, she becomes notably more nervous at night, likely due to the circumstances of her sinking.

History

Originally commissioned merely as "Destroyer No. 3" as part of the 8-8 Fleet Program, the name Asakaze was only assigned in 1928, five years after launch. At the time of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Asakaze was part of Destroyer Division 5, alongside sister-ships Harukaze, Matsukaze, and Hatakaze.

Already aging by the start of the war, Asakaze mostly escorted landing craft in campaigns like the Philippines, Java, and Andaman Islands. At the Battle of Sunda Straight, Asakaze launched torpedoes that assisted in the sinking of HMAS Perth and USS Houston.

Throughout most of the rest of the war, she was a convoy escort ship. Asakaze was torpedoed by the submarine USS Haddo at 22:35 on August 23rd near Luzon while on escort duty. During the night, efforts to save her proved unsuccessful, and in the pre-dawn hours of August 24th, she capsized and sank.

Trivia

Although she was the second of the nine Kamikaze-class destroyers, due to IJN numbering at the time she was listed as "Destroyer No. 3" at launch due to sharing a number scheme with the Wakatake-class destroyers.

Her seiyuu is Itou Shizuka.

Kamikaze-class Destroyers

• Kamikaze - first Kamikaze-class destroyer
• Asakaze
• Harukaze - third Kamikaze-class destroyer
• Matsukaze - fourth Kamikaze-class destroyer
• Hatakaze - fifth Kamikaze-class destroyer

External links

• Kancolle Wiki: Asakaze
• Kancolle English Wikia: Asakaze
• Wikipedia: Japanese destroyer Asakaze (1922)