Destroyer Nowaki

Nowaki was a Kagerō-class destroyer laid down at Maizuru Naval Arsenal on 8 November 1939, launched 17 September 1940, and commissioned 28 April 1941. She served extensively in the Solomons campaign and was present at the Battle of Midway.

During the Battle of Leyte Gulf she sailed with Vice Admiral Kurita's Center Force. On 25 October 1944, in the Battle off Samar, the heavy cruiser Chikuma was crippled by American air attack. Nowaki was detached to stand by her and was photographed alongside by American pilots early that afternoon; when Chikuma sank, Nowaki rescued between 100 and 150 of her crew from the water.

By then the rest of Kurita's force had withdrawn toward the San Bernardino Strait, and Nowaki, now alone and laden with survivors, followed far behind. Shortly after midnight on 26 October 1944 she was intercepted by an American surface force. She was hit repeatedly by 6-inch gunfire from the light cruisers USS Vincennes, USS Miami and USS Biloxi and left dead in the water, then finished off by torpedoes from the destroyers USS Owen and USS Miller. She sank about 65 miles east-southeast of Legaspi at approximately 13°0′N 124°54′E.

The loss was doubly tragic: Nowaki went down with all hands, and with her died every one of the Chikuma survivors she had risked her own survival to rescue.