The Minekaze class (峯風型駆逐艦 Minekazegata kuchikukan) was a class of fifteen 1st-class destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy.^[1] Obsolete by the beginning of the Pacific War, the Minekaze-class ships were relegated to mostly secondary roles, serving throughout the war as patrol vessels, high speed transports, target control vessels, and as kaiten (suicide torpedo) carriers. Most ultimately were lost to U.S. and Britishsubmarines. The basic design of the Minekaze was used for the next three classes of Japanese destroyers, a total of 36 ships.