was the seventh of ten s built for the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

in the mid-1930s under the Circle Two Supplementary Naval Expansion Program (''Maru Ni Keikaku'').

History

The ''Asashio''-class destroyers were larger and more capable that the preceding , as Japanese naval architects were no longer constrained by the provisions of the

London Naval Treaty The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Empire of Japan, Japan, French Third Republic, France, Kingdom of Italy, Italy, and the United Stat ...

. These

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

-sized vessels were designed to take advantage of Japan's lead in

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

technology, and to accompany the Japanese main striking force and in both day and night attacks against the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as it advanced across the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, 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 The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

. ''Natsugumo'', built at the

Sasebo Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. History The Sasebo Naval District was established at Sasebo, Nagasaki in 1886, as the third of the naval districts responsible for the defense of the ...

was laid down on 1 July 1936, launched on 26 May 1937 and commissioned on 10 February 1938.

Operational history

At the time of the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

, ''Natsugumo'', under the command of Lieutenant Commander Moritaro Tsukamoto, was assigned to Destroyer Division 9 (Desdiv 9), and a member of Destroyer Squadron 4 (Desron 4) of the

IJN 2nd Fleet The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) created as a mobile strike force in response to hostilities with Russia, and saw action in every IJN military operation until the end of World War II. History Established on 27 October 1903, ...

, escorting the Philippines invasion forces to

Vigan Vigan, officially the City of Vigan (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

and

Lingayen Lingayen, officially the Municipality of Lingayen (; ; ; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality and capital of the Philippine Province, province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 10 ...

. She then assisted in the landings of Japanese forces at

Tarakan Tarakan is an island and co-extensively the sole city within the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. The island city is the largest urban area in North Kalimantan population-wise and is located in northern Borneo, midway along the coast of ...

Balikpapan Balikpapan is a seaport city in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Located on the east coast of the island of Borneo, the city is the financial center of Kalimantan. Balikpapan is the city with the largest economy in Kalimantan with an estimated 20 ...

Makassar Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, ...

and

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

in the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

. During the

Battle of the Java Sea The Battle of the Java Sea (, ) was a decisive naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Allied navies suffered a disastrous defeat at the hand of the Imperial Japanese Navy on 27 February 1942 and in secondary actions over succ ...

of 27 February, she was on detached duty escorting the troop convoy and thus did not see combat. However, on 1 March, she damaged the submarine with

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s. ''Natsugumo'' participated in the Battle of Christmas Island from 31 March–10 April, escorting the damaged cruiser to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, and then returning to

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...

on April 12 for repairs. ''Natsugumo'' joined the escort for Admiral

Nobutake Kondō was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. As commander of IJN 2nd Fleet, the Navy's principal detached force for independent operations, Kondō was regarded as second in importance only to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Biog ...

’s Midway Invasion Force during the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of t ...

from 4–6 June 1942. Afterwards, she was reassigned to the Ominato Naval District and assigned to patrols of the

Kurile Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands are a volcanic archipelago administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the Russian Far East. The islands stretch approximately northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, separating the ...

and north Pacific to mid-July. However, on 19 July, she received orders to escort the cruiser from Kure to Truk. From Truk, she made a transport run to Kwajalein and returned to Yokosuka by 8 August. On 11 August, ''Natsugumo'' departed Yokosuka for Truk, and was part of the escort for the aircraft carrier at the

Battle of the Eastern Solomons The naval Battle of the Eastern Solomons (also known as the Battle of the Stewart Islands and in Japanese sources as the Second Battle of the Solomon Sea) took place on 24–25 August 1942 and was the third carrier battle of the Pacific campa ...

on 24 August. She was assigned to patrols out of Truk in September, and ordered to

Shortland Island Shortland Island (once known as ''Alu'') is the largest island of the Shortland Islands archipelago, in the Western Province (Solomon Islands), Western Province of Solomon Islands, at . The original name was a Melanesian word, while the curren ...

in October. During the month of October, she made four “

Tokyo Express The Tokyo Express was the name given by Allied forces to the use of Imperial Japanese Navy ships at night to deliver personnel, supplies, and equipment to Japanese forces operating in and around New Guinea and the Solomon Islands during the ...

transport runs to

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

. On the fourth run, while escorting and ''Chitose'', she went to the assistance of the destroyer which itself had become the victim of early morning air raids while attempting to assist survivors of the heavy cruiser , sunk during the previous night's

Battle of Cape Esperance The Battle of Cape Esperance, also known as the Second Battle of Savo Island and in Japanese sources as the , took place on 11–12 October 1942, in the Pacific War, Pacific campaign of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and United ...

. Attacked by

dive bombers, near misses ruptured ''Natsugumos'' hull, and she sank after only 39 minutes at position approximately west-northwest of

Savo Island Savo Island is an island in Solomon Islands in the South Pacific ocean. Administratively, Savo Island is a part of the Central Province of Solomon Islands. It is about from the national capital of Honiara. The principal village is Alialia, i ...

. The attack killed 16 crewmen, including her captain (LtCdr Moritaro Tsukamoto); the destroyer took off her 176 survivors She was removed from the

navy list A Navy Directory, Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a co ...

on 15 November 1942.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * *

External links

CombinedFleet.com: ''Asashio''-class destroyers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Natsugumo Asashio-class destroyers Ships built by Sasebo Naval Arsenal World War II destroyers of Japan Destroyers sunk by aircraft 1937 ships Maritime incidents in October 1942 Shipwrecks in the Solomon Sea Ships sunk by US aircraft