[5] Even by 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff realized that attrition of its destroyer force was not sustainable.

There was a growing need for a simplified design which could be quickly mass-produced, and which could serve primarily as convoy escorts and as destroyer-transports in front-line locations, but would still be capable of working with the fleet if necessary.

Emphasis was placed on anti-aircraft guns and anti-submarine weapons, and radar, as operations against surface targets was deemed unlikely.

The Imperial Japanese Navy had plans to build another hundred and twelve Tachibana-class vessels, but only fourteen were completed before construction was cancelled, with resources diverted to "special-attack units".

[5] Designed for ease of production, the Matsu class was smaller, slower and more lightly armed than previous destroyers as the IJN intended them for second-line duties like escorting convoys, releasing the larger ships for missions with the fleet.

Only one vessel, Take, was modified to launch a single kaiten manned torpedo from her stern, although there were plans to convert another 11 to this configuration just before the war came to an end.

Another thirty-two vessels were authorised in Fiscal Year 1944 under the Wartime Naval Armaments Supplement Programme as #4801-#4832, all to the Tachibana design.