Destroyer Hamakaze

Hamakaze was built at Uraga Dock Company, laid down 20 November 1939, launched 25 November 1940, and commissioned 30 June 1941. As a Kagerō-class destroyer she shared the same specifications as Yukikaze and Isokaze: 2,529 tons deep load displacement, six 127mm guns, and eight Long Lance torpedo tubes. Hamakaze participated in some of the most significant operations of the Pacific War, including the attack on Pearl Harbor, the carrier strikes on Rabaul, Darwin and the Indian Ocean, and the Guadalcanal campaign. She also served at the Battle of Midway, where she helped take off the crew of the carrier Sōryū, and later fought in the Solomons night actions of 1943. On 6 April 1945, Hamakaze joined Yamato's final sortie — Operation Ten-Go. The following day, 7 April 1945, the formation was overwhelmed by over 380 U.S. carrier aircraft. Hamakaze was hit by a bomb and a torpedo — the attack is usually credited mainly to aircraft from the light carrier USS San Jacinto — broke in two and sank with the loss of 100 men approximately 150 miles (280 km) southwest of Nagasaki, in the same area as her sister Isokaze.