Japanese destroyer Fumizuki (1925)

Fumizuki (文月) was one of twelve Mutsuki-class destroyer destroyers, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. Advanced for their time, these ships served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, but were considered obsolescent by the start of the Pacific War.

History
Construction of the Mutsuki-class destroyers was authorized as part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's build up following the abandonment of the Washington Naval Treaty from fiscal 1923. The class was a follow-on to the earlier Minekaze-class destroyer and Kamikaze class destroyers, with which they shared many common design characteristics. Fumizuki, built at the Fujinagata Shipyards in Osaka was laid down on October 20, 1924, launched on February 16, 1926 and commissioned on July 3, 1926. Originally commissioned simply as “Destroyer No. 29”, it was assigned the name Fumizuki on August 1, 1928.

World War II history
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Fumizuki was part of Desron 22 under Destroyer Division 5 in the IJN 4th Fleet, and deployed from Mako Guard District in the Pescadores as part of the Japanese invasion force for "Operation M" (the invasion of the Philippines), during which time it helped screen landings of Japanese forces at Lingayen Gulf and at Aparri.

In early 1942, Fumizuki was assigned to escorting troop convoys from French Indochina for "Operation E" (the invasion of Malaya) and "Operation J" (the invasion of Java, Netherlands East Indies), in February. From March 10, 1942 Fumizuki and Destroyer Division 5 were re-assigned to the Southwest Area Fleet and escorted troop convoy from Singapore to Penang, and Rangoon. She returned to Sasebo Naval Arsenal for repairs on June 17, and returned to Mako in early September.

On September 16, Fumizuki sustained heavy damage after a collision with the transport Kachidoki maru in Formosa Strait, forcing a return to Sasebo for repairs until early 1943.

At the end of January 1943, Fumizuki escorted the seaplane tender JAPANESE SEAPLANE TENDER Kamikawa Maru from Sasebo via Truk and Rabaul to Shortlands, and remained throughout February to cover Operation KE (troop evacuations from Guadalcanal). On February 25, Fumizuki was reassigned to the IJN 8th Fleet. It participated in several “Tokyo Express” troop transport missions throughout the Solomon Islands through the end of April, suffering damage from strafing attacks at Finschhafen in March and at Kavieng in April.

Fumizuki returned to Yokosuka Naval Arsenal for repairs on May 4. It departed Yokosuka on August 20 escorting convoys via Sasebo to Saipan, Truk and Rabaul. From September through January 1944, it made numerous “Tokyo Express” runs to evacuate troops from Kolombangara and Vella Lavella and to land troops at Buka, Bougainville and various areas in New Guinea. On November 2, Fumizuki was strafed during an air raid by United States Navy aircraft while at Rabaul, with six crewmen killed and four injured. It was again damaged in an air raid near Kavieng on the night of January 4, 1944.

While at Truk on February 17, 1944, Fumizuki was torpedoed by during Operation Hailstorm, when carrier-based US Navy aircraft attacked the Imperial Japanese Navy fleet anchorage. The torpedo caused gradual flooding, which the crew could not control, and Fumizuki sank on February 18 at 7.4°N, 151.73333°W, with 29 crewmen killed.

Fumizuki was struck from the navy list on March 31, 1944.