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Asashio ("Morning Tide") was the lead ship of the ten Asashio-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the mid-1930s. Asashio saw action at Midway and Guadalcanal before being sunk by an Allied air attack during 1943's Battle of the Bismarck Sea. The Asahio-class destroyers were larger and more capable that the preceding Shiratsuyu class, as Japanese naval architects were no longer constrained by the provisions of the London Naval Treaty. These light cruiser-sized vessels were designed to take advantage of Japan's lead in torpedo technology, and to accompany the Japanese main striking force and in both day and night attacks against the United States Navy as it advanced across the Pacific Ocean, according to Japanese naval strategic projections. Despite being one of the most powerful classes of destroyers in the world at the time of their completion, none survived the Pacific War.