Japanese destroyer Harukaze (1922)

Harukaze (春風) was the second of nine 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.

Construction
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. Harukaze, built at the Maizuru Naval Arsenal, was the second ship completed in this class. It was laid down on May 16, 1922, launched on December 18, 1922 and commissioned on May 31, 1923. Originally commissioned simply as “Destroyer No. 5”, it was assigned the name Harukaze on August 1, 1928.

World War II
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Harukaze was part of Desron 5 under Destroyer Division 5 in the IJN 3rd Fleet, and deployed from Mako Guard District in the Pescadores as part of the Japanese invasion force for the "Operation M" (the invasion of the Philippines), during which time it helped screen landings of Japanese forces at Aparri and at Lingayen Gulf.

In early 1942, Harukaze was assigned to escorting troop convoys to Malaya and French Indochina. Assigned to "Operation J" (the invasion of Java in the Netherlands East Indies), she participated at the Battle of Sunda Strait on March 1, 1942. During that battle, she launched torpedoes at the cruisers HMAS Perth (D29) and USS Houston (CA-30) and took damage to her bridge, engine room and rudder in return, with three crewmen killed and over fifteen injured.

From March 10, Harukaze and Destroyer Division 5 were assigned to the Southwest Area Fleet and escorted troop convoy from Singapore to Penang, Rangoon, French Indochina, Rabaul and New Guinea. On November 16, Harukaze hit a mine at Surabaya, which completed severed her bow. Repairs at Surabaya took until May 1943, but Harukaze was still deemed not combat-worthy, and returned to Kure Naval Arsenal in Japan on May 27, 1943. After repairs were completed on August 25, Harukaze departed Kure as escort for a convoy to Palau, and continued to escort shipping around Palau to the end of the year.

In 1944, Harukaze continued to escort convoys from Palau to the Japanese home islands and Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo. On October 24, 1944, while escorting a convoy from Manila to Takao, Harukaze made contact with USS Shark (SS-314) and dropped depth charges. After losing and regaining the contact, the destroyer dropped another 17 depth charges which resulted in "bubbles, heavy oil, clothes and cork" coming to the surface, indicating that the submarine had been destroyed. However, Harukaze was in turn torpedoed on November 4 by USS Sailfish (SS-192) in Luzon Strait, suffering some damage.

On January 10, 1945, Harukaze was reassigned to the General Escort Command, but was further damaged in an air attack by United States Navy aircraft from Task Force 38 near Mako on January 21 and was subsequently towed to Sasebo Naval Arsenal. However, by this stage in the war, Japan no longer had the resources or equipment to effect repairs, and Harukaze remained docked at Sasebo unrepaired to the surrender of Japan.

Harukaze was struck from the navy list on November 10, 1945. It was subsequently towed to the north coast of Hyōgo Prefecture on the Sea of Japan and scuttled to from part of the breakwater at Takeno Port (presently part of Toyooka city.