Super-destroyer proposals and the cost of late ambition

Work on super-Shimakaze proposals was redirected into super-Akizuki designs. These developments promised substantial fighting power, with armament possibilities including five twin 100 mm gun mountings and, in some proposals, two quintuple torpedo launchers. The arrangements varied between proposals, so they do not establish one settled armament specification. Their usefulness depended on when orders were placed and how many ships could reach service. Beginning such a programme in 1937 or 1938 is presented as more plausible than introducing it after 1941, when Japan already faced a shortage of hulls. The criticism accepts the designs' fighting potential while questioning their timing and industrial demands.