Japanese destroyer Kawakaze (1936)

Destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Kawakaze (江風) was the ninth of ten s, and the third to be built for the Imperial Japanese Navy under the Circle Two Program (Maru Ni Keikaku). Completed in April of 1937, Kawakaze saw minor roles in the battles of the Java Sea, Eastern Solomans, Santa Cruz, and Guadalcanal, usually not doing much of note, but torpedoed and sank the destroyer USS Blue in the aftermath of the Battle of Savo Island, and came to her own in the Battle of Tassafaronga where she torpedoed and sank the heavy cruiser USS Northampton. Kawakaze was sunk by a mass torpedo attack from US destroyers at the Battle of Vella Gulf.

The Shiratsuyu class destroyers were modified versions of the , and were designed to accompany the Japanese main striking force and to conduct both day and night torpedo 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. Kawakaze, built at the Fujinagata Shipyards was laid down on 25 April 1935, launched on 1 November 1936 and commissioned on 30 April 1937.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Kawakaze was assigned to Destroyer Division 24 of Destroyer Squadron 4 of the IJN 2nd Fleet, and had sortied from Palau as part of the Philippine invasion force, covering landings at Legaspi and Lamon Bay. From January 1942, Kawakaze participated in operations in the Netherlands East Indies, including the invasions of Tarakan Island, Balikpapan and Makassar. After covering the invasion of Java, Kawakaze engaged a group of Allied destroyers during the Battle of the Java Sea, though she did little of note, only rescuing 35 British survivors from ships sunk by other Japanese vessels. In April, Kawakaze assisted in the invasion of Panay and Negros in the Philippines. From 10 May, Kawakaze was reassigned to the IJN 1st Fleet and returned to Sasebo Naval Arsenal for repairs at the end of the month. During the Battle of Midway on 4–6 June, Kawakaze was part of the Aleutians Guard Force under Admiral Shirō Takasu, however, on 14 July she was assigned back to the IJN 2nd Fleet and returned to Truk in mid August together with the aircraft carrier Japanese aircraft carrier Chitose.

On 21 August, while patrolling off of Guadalcanal, Kawakaze located American destroyer Blue which had managed to survive the Battle of Savo Island on the 9th of August. Kawakaze launched her torpedo battery, landing at least one hit that destroyed Blue's engine and steering gear, resulting in her sinking two days later. She participated in the Bombardment of Henderson Field on 24 August and was part of the escort for Japanese troop ships at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. In the remainder of August through early November, Kawakaze participated in ten "Tokyo Express" high speed transport runs or surface attack missions to Guadalcanal, as well as participating briefly in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on 26 October under Admiral Nobutake Kondō. During the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on the night of 12–13 November 1942, Kawakaze rescued 550 survivors from the torpedoed transport Brisbane Maru. For the rest of the month, Kawakaze patrolled between Shortland Island, Buna and Rabaul.

On November 30th, Kawakaze played a critical role in the Japanese victory at the Battle of Tassafaronga, where a Japanese destroyer line battled a United States cruiser force. First the Japanese flagship, the destroyer Takanami was sunk by the combined gunfire of the heavy cruisers New Orleans and Minneapolis, but not before firing her torpedo battery. One torpedo hit New Orleans, while two hit Minneapolis, blowing the bows clean off of both ships (but not sinking them). Trailing behind the crippled cruisers to help out the situation came the heavy cruisers Pensacola and Northampton and the light cruiser Honolulu. The Japanese ships, Kawakaze included, fired off their torpedo batteries. Honolulu remained undamaged, but a torpedo from the destroyer Oyashio scorched Pensacola. Meanwhile, two of Kawakaze's torpedoes hit Northampton. The aft engine room flooded, and three of her four propellers stopped working as Northampton immediately listed 10 degrees to port and lit aflame. 50 men were dead. With intense flooding overwhelming damage control, Northampton sank over two hours and sixteen minutes. Kawakaze was not damaged during the battle. On 9 February, she suffered significant damage in a collision with cargo ship Toun Maru and had to be towed by the destroyer Japanese destroyer Kuroshio to Rabaul for emergency repairs, which allowed her to limp back to Sasebo by the end of March. Repairs completed by the end of May, Kawakaze returned to Truk, transported troops to Nauru in early June, and to Kwajalein in late June and Tuluvu on 1 August.

On 7 August 1943, Kawakaze was on a troop transport run to Kolombangara. The American destroyers Dunlap, Craven and Maury had snuck up to a broadside angle, taking advantage of the Japanese ship's lack of radar, and each ship fired their torpedoes, sending out 22 torpedoes towards the formation in what would be known as the Battle of Vella Gulf. A single torpedo from Dunlap struck Kawakaze amidships, wrecking the ship's magazines and starting a huge fire. Mass flooding occurred as Kawakaze sank between Kolombangara and Vella Lavella at position Of her crew, 169 were killed, including her captain, Lieutenant Commander Yanase. Another one of Dunlap's torpedoes struck Kawakaze's sistership Shigure, but the torpedo was a dud and Shigure escaped the battle virtually undamaged. Maury hit the destroyer Hagikaze with two torpedoes, which immediately exploded and sank, while Craven hit the destroyer Arashi with two torpedoes as Arashi immediately took on water and began to sink, with a magazine explosion from gunfire damage destroying any chance at potentially saving the ship. Kawakaze was removed from the navy list on 15 October 1943.