The "Hatsuharu"-class destroyers used the same 50 caliber 12.7 cm gun as the "Fubuki" class, but all turrets could elevate to 75° to give the main guns a minimal ability to engage aircraft. During the war the single turret was removed on all surviving ships after 1942. The only anti-aircraft guns were two water-cooled, license-built Vickers ("pom pom"). These guns were deemed to be too heavy, slow-firing and short-ranged and were replaced by license-built French Hotchkiss "Type 96" anti-aircraft guns in single, double and triple mounts from 1943 for the surviving ships. These powered mounts were still unsatisfactory because their traverse and elevation speeds were too slow to engage high-speed aircraft and more single mounts were fitted to ships in the last year of the war.