Yukikaze: the unsinkable ship
In Japan, the destroyer Yukikaze is known as an unsinkable ship. When Japan started the war with America there was a total of 113 destroyers operated by Japan. During the course of the war the Japanese Empire would build another 63. By wars end there where only 42 left unsunk by the Allies, most of which were badly damaged. A Kagero class destroyer, Yukikaze was at the time of her completion the equivalent to any other nation’s destroyers at the time. Armed with six 5” guns and 8 torpedo tubes armed with the devastating Long Lance torpedo, only the lack of Radar would hinder this proud ship. When war broke out with the US, Yukikaze would spend the first months escorting various invasion forces including Legaspi, Lamon Bay, Menado, Kendari, Ambon, Timor, Eastern Java, Western New Guinea, and the failed Midway invasion.
In late February of 44 she took part in the torpedo attack on the ABDA fleet at JavaSea before taking up anti-submarine duty. Later in the year in Late October and early November she escorted Admiral Nagumo’s Strike Force at the Battle of Santa Cruz, and escorted Admiral Abe’s Bombardment force into the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, engaging the USS Cushing and striking the USS Laffey with a torpedo. She survived through the Battle of the BismarkSea and contributed torpedoes to the spreads that sunk the USS Gwin and damaged the USS Honolulu and USS St. Louis in the Battle of Kolombangara. Escorted the 2nd supply force during the Battle of Philippine Sea, and scuttled the Seiyo Maru. After taking a bit of damage she was in Kure for repairs when the crew of Yukikaze bore witness to the unexpected sudden explosion of the battleship Mutsu. She watched as the Musashi went down in the Sibuyan Sea, before participating in the Battle off Samar and assisting in sinking the USS Johnston. Her final three mission of the war though would prove to be all disasters. All three were escorting mission and she watched helplessly as the Kongo, Shinano, and Yamato all sank.
Throughout her career she watched as five battleships and one carrier slip beneath the waves of the Pacific, and participated in some way in almost every major battle in the Pacific. Of 19 ships in her class, Yukikaze was the only one left by wars end. About the only major Japanese blunders of the war Yukikaze didn’t witness was the plight of the carriers at Midway and the Philippine Sea. In 1947 Yukikaze was given to China as war reparations. She was scrapped in the 1970 after China rejected a request to repatriate the ship.
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