Harukaze
Harukaze is a shipgirl from the browser game Kantai Collection, representing the third vessel of the Kamikaze-class destroyers. Assigned to the 5th Destroyer Division, she was introduced during the Spring 2016 Event. Embodying the charm of the Taisho era with her retro-modern attire, she presents herself with the quiet elegance of a well-bred young lady. She addresses the player as Commander and exhibits a deeply devoted and refined demeanor.
Overview
Harukaze is a shipgirl from the browser game Kantai Collection, representing the third vessel of the Kamikaze-class destroyers. Assigned to the 5th Destroyer Division, she was introduced during the Spring 2016 Event. Embodying the charm of the Taisho era with her retro-modern attire, she presents herself with the quiet elegance of a well-bred young lady. She addresses the player as Commander and exhibits a deeply devoted and refined demeanor.
Appearance
Harukaze has scarlet eyes and brown medium-length hair styled with side-parted bangs and long twin curls draped over her shoulders, tied with a prominent scarlet bow. She wears a pink kimono with scarlet trim over a white layer, complemented by a jade-colored waist sash and a scarlet hakama skirt decorated with flowing cherry blossom patterns and an anchor-adorned tie. Her footwear consists of brown high-heeled long boots, and she carries a scarlet Japanese paper umbrella. Her bust is notably large for a destroyer. Her rigging is attached near her waist featuring a central unit with a funnel and mast, flanked by twin torpedo launchers, alongside extended side platforms that hold a single 12cm gun in front and a 25mm triple autocannon at the back.
Personality
Harukaze is exceptionally quiet, gentle, and refined, radiating an air of delicate nobility. She naturally uses archaic vocabulary and communicates in a soothing whisper. Despite giving the impression of an inexperienced homebound lady, she possesses impressive domestic skills and takes pride in looking after others. Aware of her status as an older vessel, she leans toward escort duties over aggressive fleet actions and finds genuine happiness in supporting her fellow shipgirls at the naval base.
Abilities
Her equipment setup includes two single 12cm naval guns, two triple 25mm mount autocannons, and two twin torpedo launchers. Rather than specializing in direct surface fleet engagements, her capabilities excel in maritime escort duties and protecting transport convoys against aerial and subsurface threats.
Background
Constructed as part of the second-generation Kamikaze-class destroyers, Harukaze was already considered obsolete by the outbreak of World War II. Despite this, she was assigned to escort duties under the 5th Torpedo Squadron and took part in crucial transport missions. She endured severe damage—including the severance of her bow by a friendly sea mine—and survived countless encounters with enemy submarines and air raids, remaining afloat until the war's conclusion. Her legacy continued into the postwar era, inspiring the name of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's first domestically built destroyer.
Relationships
She looks up to the lead ship of her class as a respected older sister figure. She holds a particularly close attachment to the second ship, Asakaze, viewing her as an indispensable partner. Her younger sister Hatakaze affectionately addresses her as an older sister. Among non-sister ships, she maintains polite interactions with others and shares a lighthearted connection with the light cruiser Sendai, who invites her to night battles in return for cooking advice.
Trivia
Her outfit features a color palette that inverted compared to her sister ship Kamikaze. The historical vessel she is based on engaged in only one major fleet battle—the Battle of Sunda Strait—and earned a reputation for protecting merchant fleets so successfully that her convoys were dubbed fortunate. She remains recognized as one of the few Japanese destroyers to survive intact until the end of the conflict.
