Japanese destroyer Nowaki (1940)

Nowaki (野分) was a Kagerō-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

The Nowaki was initially assigned to Destroyer Division 4 of the Destroyer Squadron 4. At the beginning of World War II, she was engaged as an escort during the invasion of the Philippine Islands and during the following operations around Malaya. During the period of March 1–4, while in company of the JAPANESE CRUISER Maya, JAPANESE CRUISER Atago and JAPANESE CRUISER Takao and the destroyer Arashi, she was involved in the sinking of a number of allied vessels during operations in the Java Sea. On 1 March the Nowaki assisted the Arashi in sinking Dutch motorship Toranja and British minesweeper Scott Harley, and later that day captured the Dutch steamship Bintoehan. On 2 March the Nowaki assisted in the sinking of the destroyer HMS Stronghold. On 3 March 1942 the Nowaki helped sink the gunboat USS Asheville (PG-21). On 4 March the "Nowaki" assisted in the sinking of the Australian sloop Yarra and British Motor Minesweeper 51, tanker Francol and depot ship Anking.

During the Battle of Midway, the Nowaki took survivors off of the damaged JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Akagi and then helped scuttle her with torpedoes. Later that year the Nowaki, along with the remaining destroyers of Destroyer Division 4 were reassigned to Destroyer Squadron 10 based out of Truk. For the remainder of 1942 and most of 1943 the Nowaki operated in and around the Solomon Islands.

Returning to the Central Pacific after a trip to Japan, the Nowaki took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. In the Battle off Samar on 25 October 1944, Nowaki took part in the torpedo attack on the U.S. escort carriers and assisted in the sinking of USS Johnston (DD-557). Later, she removed survivors from the cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Chikuma and scuttled her with torpedoes, although recent studies suggests that she only managed to arrive in time to rescue the survivors, as Chikuma herself was sunk beforehand. After being crippled by gunfire from U.S. cruisers on 26 October, she was finished off by torpedoes from USS Owen (DD-536), 65 miles (120 km) East-southeast of Legaspi (13°N, 124.9°W).