The Shirakumo-class destroyers were ordered under the 1900 fiscal budget as a follow-on to the earlier Murakumo class. Both were ordered on 7 (or 16) November 1900 from the yard of John I. Thornycroft & Company in Chiswick, England.^[2]

Compared with the previous Murakumo class, the Shirakumo class was significantly larger in displacement with a somewhat more powerful engine. The main difference externally between the vessels was in the design of their rudders. With the previous class, the rudder was semi-balanced, and had a portion exposed above the waterline. This made the vessel vulnerable to disablement by stray gunfire.

The design of the three-boilered Murakumo-class destroyers had been similar to that of the two-funnel torpedo boat destroyers produced by Thornycroft for the Royal Navy; (from 1913 these were grouped as the D class), also known as the "Thirty Knotters". However the Shirakumo class had four boilers and four funnels, and was closer to the 'special' three-funnel destroyer Albatross built for the Royal Navy. Both vessels had a flush deck design with a distinctive "turtleback" forecastle that was intended to clear water from the bow during high speed navigation, but was poorly designed for high waves or bad weather. The bridge and forward gun platform were barely raised above the bow, resulting in a wet conning position. More than half of the small hull was occupied by the boilers and the engine room. With fuel and weaponry, there was little space left for crew quarters, although slightly more than in the Murakumo class.

All were powered by triple expansion steam engines for 7,000 shp (5,200 kW) and had coal-fired water-tube boilers. Armament was one QF 12 pounder 12 cwt gun on a bandstand on the forecastle, five QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss (two sited abreast the conning tower, two sited between the funnels and one on the quarterdeck) and 2 single tubes for 18-inch (460 mm) torpedoes.^[3]

Both Shirakumo-class destroyers arrived in Japan in time to be used in combat service during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 and were assigned to the 4th Destroyer Squadron under Admiral Dewa Shigeto. Both played an especially distinguished role in the crucial Battle of Tsushima.^[4]

On 28 August 1912, both vessels were re-classified as third-class destroyers and were removed from front-line combat service. They were converted to auxiliary minesweepers on 1 April 1922, but were used for only a year until converted to unarmed utility vessels.^[5]

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