Destroyer Hatsukaze

Hatsukaze was laid down at Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation, Kobe on 3 December 1937, launched 24 January 1939, and commissioned 15 February 1940. She served in Destroyer Division 16 and participated in the invasions of the southern Philippines and the Dutch East Indies, the Battle of the Java Sea, and the carrier battles of the Eastern Solomons and the Santa Cruz Islands in 1942; in January 1943 she was torpedoed by a PT boat off Guadalcanal and spent months under repair. On the night of 1–2 November 1943, the IJN dispatched a reinforcement force to Bougainville under Rear Admiral Omori Sentaro. This force — including heavy cruisers Myōkō and Haguro escorted by several destroyers — was intercepted by a U.S. cruiser-destroyer force under Rear Admiral Merrill in Empress Augusta Bay. During the chaotic night engagement, Hatsukaze collided with Myōkō and had her bow sheared off. Limping away at about 10 knots, she was engaged by USS Spence (DD-512) and then finished off by gunfire from Captain Arleigh Burke's Destroyer Division 45 — USS Charles Ausburne (DD-570), Claxton (DD-571), Dyson (DD-572) and Stanly (DD-478). She sank at approximately 6°00′S 153°58′E with the loss of 164 men, including her captain. The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay was a clear U.S. tactical victory that secured the Bougainville landings.