Natsugumo was the seventh of ten Asashio-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the mid-1930s under the Circle Two Supplementary Naval Expansion Program.

The Asashio-class destroyers were a class of ten destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy in service before and during World War II. The overall layout of the class proved successful in service and created a powerful ship that served as the basis for the design of the following two classes of destroyers.