Japanese destroyer Yūnagi (1924)

Yūnagi (夕凪) was the ninth and final vessel of the Kamikaze-class 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 large-sized Kamikaze-class destroyers was authorized as part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's 8-4 Fleet Program from fiscal 1921–1923, as a follow on to the Minekaze-class destroyer, with which they shared many common design characteristics. Yūnagi, built at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal, was laid down on September 17, 1923, launched on April 23, 1924 and commissioned on May 24, 1925. Originally commissioned simply as “Destroyer No. 17”, it was assigned the name Yūnagi on August 1, 1928.

World War II history
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Yūnagi was assigned to Destroyer Division 29 of Desron 6 in the IJN 4th Fleet, based at Truk. It provided cover for the Gilbert Islands invasion force from December 8–10, 1941, and subsequently was assigned to the second Wake Island invasion force from December 23.

From January through March 1942, Yūnagi provided cover for the landings of Japanese forces during "Operation R" (the invasion of Rabaul, New Britain) and "Operation SR" (the invasion of Lae and Salamaua). While patrolling out of Lae on March 10, she suffered medium damage from strafing attacks, forcing a return to Sasebo for repairs by April. Once repairs were completed in June, Yunagi escorted convoys from Moji in Kyūshū back to Rabaul, via the Philippines and Palau.

Yūnagi participated in the Battle of Savo Island from August 8–9, 1942, engaging USS Jarvis (DD-393) in combat, but withdrawing without taking any damage. She spent the remainder of August through March 1943 on patrols in the Solomon Islands and central Pacific.

After refit at Sasebo in March 1943, Yūnagi was reassigned to the IJN 8th Fleet, returning to Rabaul in June. During June and July, she made several "Tokyo Express" troop transport runs to Kolombangara, assisting in the sinking of USS Strong (DD-467) on July 4 and in the Battle of Kolombangara on July 12. On July, while at Shortland, Yūnagi was hit by an Allied air strike, which caused medium damage to her hull.

On October 2, Yūnagi helped provide cover for the evacuation of Japanese troops from Kolombangara and made numerous “Tokyo Express” runs throughout the Solomon Islands through the end of the year.

In January 1944, Yūnagi returned to Sasebo for repairs, after which she escorted troop convoys to Saipan in March and April. In May, it was reassigned to Destroyer Division 22, Desron 3, Central Pacific Area Fleet, performing Philippines-area convoy escort duties through June.

On June 19–20, Yūnagi escorted Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa’s 1st Supply Force at the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Afterwards, she was assigned to escort tanker convoys via Manila to Kure.

On July 18, 1944 Yūnagi was reassigned directly to the Combined Fleet. From August 10–18, 1944, she escorted a convoy from Moji via Mako towards Manila, but detached to Takao to assist the damaged transport Eiyō Maru. On her return from Takao to Manila, she was torpedoed and sunk 20 mi north-northeast of Cape Bojeador, Luzon at position 18.76667°N, 120.76667°W by the United States Navy submarine USS Picuda (SS-382) on August 25, 1944, with 32 crewmen killed and 19 wounded.

Yūnagi was struck from the navy list on October 6, 1944.