Suzutsuki was the third ship from the series of the most powerful
Akizuka destroyers, designed specifically as anti-aircraft defense
ships, whose main armament consisted of 8 universal 100 mm caliber guns
with excellent ballistic characteristics. The Akizuia destroyers were
designed before the beginning of World War II as anti-aircraft ships for
fast Japanese groups of aircraft carriers. They were completely
different from the previous Japanese destroyers, in which the emphasis
was put on strong artillery (127 mm guns) and torpedo armament. They
were inspired by the British _Dido _class light anti-aircraft
cruisers, however, in contrast with them, the Akizuka destroyers were
medium size ships intended for anti-aircraft defense of groups of fleet.