Shimakaze embodied the Japanese plan to wear down an approaching enemy before a decisive fleet battle. Her unusually heavy torpedo battery was meant to impose attrition and provoke mistakes during that approach. By the time the ship entered service, the tactical sequence that justified concentrating so many torpedoes in one large destroyer was becoming less plausible. A more anti-aircraft-oriented design or a modernization of an existing destroyer type would better fit the changed war. The original design followed a coherent prewar doctrine, but its role had been overtaken by the war it actually entered.
Notable Point · 1:06:31-1:08:38
Why Shimakaze's torpedo-heavy role was already fading
A late answer would replace Shimakaze with a more anti-aircraft-focused destroyer because the massed torpedo role no longer matched wartime conditions.