The "Momi" class was a development of the second-class destroyers, relying on the same basic hull. They were quite small, comparable to Royal Navy corvettes. The design incorporated features discovered on German destroyers awarded as reparations from World War I, including a lengthened forecastle with a break forming a well deck immediately forward of the bridge, and a front gun battery placed on a pedestal on the centerline so that it could be operated in heavy weather. This arrangement also offered the advantage of a low, semi protected area for the forward torpedo tubes albeit at the cost of becoming awash in heavy seas. Initial problems with stability during high-speed turns were later corrected by widening the beam and bringing up the waterline.