The Sakura class retreated from Umikaze's turbines to triple-expansion engines that Japanese yards could build confidently. It retained a 120 mm gun, the newer light gun, and two twin 18-inch torpedo launchers, preserving much of the desired combat improvement. Sakura and Tachibana were completed at Maizuru in 1912 and joined a force of more than fifty Japanese destroyers by the start of the First World War. Their machinery and fuel arrangements gave them better range than many close-coast predecessors, allowing deployments farther afield under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. The class served until 1932 and established a practical operating standard, visible as well in the shift from four funnels to a three-funnel layout.
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Sakura restores range with proven machinery
By returning to triple-expansion engines while retaining heavier guns and twin torpedo launchers, the Sakura class became a dependable long-range standard for wartime service.