Type: Kagero-class destroyer
Keel laid: 8/2/38, Sasebo Kaigun Kosho (Sasebo Navy Yard)
Launched: 3/24/39
Completed: 1/20/40
Assigned to: Destroyer Division 16, Squadron 2, 2nd Fleet
DATES |
COMBAT ACTIONS |
February 27 – 28, 1942 |
JAVA SEA: participated in torpedo attack (no hits scored). |
June 3 – 6, 1942 |
MIDWAY: escorted Admiral Kondo’s Midway Occupation Force. |
October 12 – 13, 1942 |
RECONNAISSANCE ACTION: searched for U.S. seaplane base on Ndeni Island. Accompanied by Cdr. Tameichi Hara in the destroyer AMATSUKAZE. |
October 26, 1942 |
SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS: escorted Admiral Nagumo’s carrier force. |
November 12 – 13, 1942 |
FIRST BATTLE OF GUADALCANAL: escorted Admiral Abe's Bombardment Force. Operated with light cruiser NAGARA; probably engaged USS CUSHING (DD-376) and USS LAFFEY (DD-459), torpedoing the latter. Stood by crippled battlecruiser HIEI during air attacks. Minor damage in engineering spaces due to near-misses. Removed Admiral Abe, then assisted in rescue of HIEI survivors. |
February 1 – 7, 1943 |
GUADALCANAL EVACUATION: made three “Tokyo Express” runs to bring out troops. |
March 1 – 4, 1943 |
BISMARCK SEA: escorted troop convoy from Rabaul towards Lae. On 2 March assisted destroyer ASAGUMO in rescuing survivors from troopship KYOKUSEI MARU and took them to Lae. On 3 March rejoined convoy, then weathered air attacks without damage. Removed crew from crippled destroyer TOKITSUKAZE and assisted in rescuing survivors of sunken ships, then carried them via Kavieng to reach Rabaul on 5 March. |
July 12, 1943 |
KOLOMBANGARA: covering force for troop transport run to Kolombangara Island. Led counterattack on U.S. cruiser-destroyer group; contributed torpedoes to spreads that sank USS GWIN (DD-433) and damaged USS HONOLULU (CL-48) and USS ST. LOUIS (CL‑49). |
May 22, 1944 |
Propeller clips submerged rock while conducting ASW sweep near Tawitawi anchorage: top speed reduced to 25 knots (repaired at Kure Kaigun Kosho from July 5 to August 15). |
June 19 – 20, 1944 |
PHILIPPINE SEA: escorted 2nd Supply Force. On 20 June removed crew of crippled supply ship SEIYO MARU and scuttled with torpedo. |
October 23 – 25, 1944 |
LEYTE GULF: escorted Admiral Kurita's 1st Diversion Attack Force (Center Force). In Battle off Samar on 25 October, took part in torpedo attack on U.S. escort carriers and assisted in sinking of USS JOHNSTON (DD‑557). |
April 6 – 7, 1945 |
THE IJN’S FINAL SORTIE: escorted superbattleship YAMATO and light cruiser YAHAGI (commanded by Tameichi Hara, now a Captain) from Inland Sea on “special attack mission” to Okinawa. Rescued YAMATO and YAHAGI survivors; later removed survivors from crippled destroyer ISOKAZE and scuttled with torpedoes. Light damage in attacks by aircraft of TF 58 due to strafing; three dead and 15 injured. |
Of the more than 100 first-class fleet destroyers that served in the Nihon Kaigun during the Pacific war, only three were still afloat at the time of the Japanese surrender. Of those three, YUKIKAZE was the only one still capable of offensive action…the only one still ready to carry its “Long Lances” into battle against the enemy.
Once the surrender was signed on the USS MISSOURI, YUKIKAZE entered Maizuru Navy Yard. Her guns, turrets, torpedo mounts and ammunition were removed, temporary shelter spaces were installed on her main deck, and special markings (including her name in big Romanji letters on each side of her hull, as shown below) were painted on. (Note how high she rode in the water without the weapons and ammo.) From 2/10/46 to 12/18/46 she repatriated more than 13,000 Japanese military and civilian personnel from China, Rabaul, Bangkok, Port Moresby and Okinawa, sailing more than 38,000 miles in the process.
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A modified armament suite was then installed. On 7/6/47 she was formally handed over as war reparations to the Nationalist Chinese navy, who renamed her TANG YAN, or TAN YANG (also referred to as DAN YUNG, as in the model photo below). She was in active service until about 1965, when she was relegated to reserve service. In May of 1970 she ran aground during a typhoon: owing to her age, it was decided to break her up in situ. In 1971 the Taipei Chinese returned her rudder and one of her anchors to Japan, where they now reside at the Naval Educational Museum at Etajima.
But the “Snow Wind” name didn't end there. After the peace treaty officially went into effect in April of 1952, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) was formed. At first it used surplus US Navy vessels, but the JMSDF was soon designing and building its own full-sized destroyers for anti-submarine defense. Construction of the first indigenous ships of this type, the Harukaze-class destroyers, began in 1954. The YUKIKAZE came off the slipways a month before her sister, making her the first Japanese vessel of war to be launched in the postwar period. She and HARUKAZE were commissioned in 1956, and served until 1985. The photo below is of the JMSDF HARUKAZE.
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