Japanese destroyer Yukikaze

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Career (Japan)

Ordered:
Laid down:
Launched:
Commissioned:
Decommissioned:
Struck:	5 October 1945
Fate:	Transferred to Republic of China, 6 July 1947
Career (China)
Acquired:	6 July 1947
Commissioned:
Decommissioned:
Fate:	Scrapped in 1970
Struck:
General Characteristics
Displacement:	2,490 tons
Length:	388 ft 9 in (118.5 m)
Beam:	35 ft 5 in (10.8 m)
Draft:	12 ft 4 in (3.8 m)
Speed:	35 knots (65 km/h)
Complement:	240
Armament:	6 × 5 in (127 mm) / 50 caliber DP guns, up to 28 × 25 mm AA guns, up to 4 × 13 mm AA guns, 8 × 24 in torpedo tubes, 36 depth charges

Yukikaze (雪風, Yukikaze^? "Snowy Wind") was a Kagero-class destroyer in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. She was the only member of her class to survive the war. The attrition rate of Japanese destroyers was extremely high due to the need to use them for transporting supplies to the many scattered island garrisons.

Early in the war she took part in the invasions of the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. She participated in the battles of Midway, Santa Cruz, Leyte Gulf, and the Philippine Sea, as well as a lengthy stint on Guadalcanal troop runs and the naval battles around the island. Yukikaze also survived Operation Ten-Go (the abortive attack on the American force landing on Okinawa) during which the Yamato was sunk. Between these major engagements, Yukikaze participated in escort duty for ships in transit. She spent the last months of the war on security duty in Japanese harbors.