Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze (1939)

Amatsukaze (天津風) was a Kagero-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Service history
During the first year of the Pacific War, the destroyer was under the command of Tameichi Hara and participated in the Battle of the Java Sea, Battle of the Eastern Solomons and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. During the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the ship sank the destroyer USS Barton (DD-599) with two torpedoes, but suffered damage including silenced guns, a jammed rudder and had 43 crewmen killed.

On 11 January 1944, while escorting a convoy of four ships in the South China Sea, Amatsukaze was torpedoed by the submarine USS USS Redfin (SS-272). The resulting magazine explosion severed the bow of the ship and killed 80 crewman. Miraculously, the ship did not sink. Presumed sunk, the ship was not discovered for six days until she was spotted by a patrol plane. Amatsukaze was eventually towed to Singapore where a temporary bow was rigged.

On 6 April 1945, Amatsukaze was attacked by USAAF B-25s, six miles east of Amoy (24.5°N, 118.16667°W). Her crew managed to beach the ship; salvage attempts were abandoned on 8 April. On 10 April, the ship was scuttled by charges placed on the ship.

In 2012, the wreckage of Amatsukaze was found by a Chinese engineering ship. About 30 tons of the wreckage was salvaged, cut into pieces and sold as scrap metal before the intervention of local relics administration departments. According to Chinese media, a museum will be built to protect the remaining wreckage.