On completion,
Ikazuchi was assigned to Destroyer Division 6 along with her
sister ships, , , and , under the
IJN 1st Fleet and participated in operations in the
Second Sino-Japanese War.
World War II At the time of the
attack on Pearl Harbor,
Ikazuchi was assigned to Destroyer Division 6 of Desron 1 of the IJN 1st Fleet, and had deployed from
Mako Guard District to provide cover for landing operations in the
Invasion of Hong Kong. After assisting the cruiser in sinking
British gunboats HMS
Cicada and HMS
Robin, she helped secure
Victoria Harbour. After the start of 1942,
Ikazuchi deployed from Hong Kong to
Davao, providing cover for landing operations during the
Battle of Ambon, and
Battle of Timor in the
Netherlands East Indies. On 2 March 1942,
Ikazuchi rescued the remaining 400 odd survivors who were still in the water from the
Royal Navy cruiser (some of whose survivors had been rescued on 1 March) and the destroyer , both ships having been sunk the previous day in the
Second Battle of the Java Sea between
Java and
Borneo. The survivors had been adrift for some 20 hours, in rafts and life jackets or clinging to floats, many coated in oil and unable to see. Among the rescued was Lieutenant (later Sir)
Sam Falle, an officer aboard
Encounter, who would go on to become a
British diplomat. This humanitarian decision by Lieutenant Commander
Shunsaku Kudō placed
Ikazuchi at risk of submarine attack, and interfered with her fighting ability due to the sheer numbers of rescued sailors. The action was later the subject of a book and a 2007 TV programme.
Ikazuchi deployed from
Ōminato Guard District in support of Admiral
Boshiro Hosogaya’s Northern Force in the
Aleutians campaign, patrolling waters around
Kiska and
Attu during June and July, and towing the damaged destroyer from Kiska back to Shimushu in the
Chishima Islands. She continued to be assigned to northern patrols in the Chishima islands and
Aleutian Islands through the beginning of August. From September,
Ikazuchi was reassigned as escort for the new aircraft carriers and , which the destroyer accompanied to
Truk, and missions in the
Solomon Islands and back to
Kure Naval District. From October,
Ikazuchi was used for numerous “
Tokyo Express" high speed transport runs throughout the Solomon Islands. On 25 October 1942
Ikazuchi, , and conducted a daylight raid into the waters off
Guadalcanal. In the resulting action, the fast
minesweeper was damaged and fleet tug and patrol craft
YP-284 were sunk before the Japanese ships were driven off by
US Marine coastal artillery.
Ikazuchi suffered light damage from strafing attacks by
Allied aircraft, with four crewmen killed.
Ikazuchi participated in the first night action of the
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942. Stationed on the right flank of the
battleships and with two other destroyers, she engaged several U.S. warships, among them the cruiser , and received hits to her forward gun mount, which caught fire. In the battle, 21 crewmen were killed and 20 injured, and she had to return to Truk for emergency repairs. After repairs at
Yokosuka Naval Arsenal from December to the end of February 1943,
Ikazuchi returned to the north Pacific, and was present at the
Battle of the Komandorski Islands on 26 March but saw no action. On 30 March, she collided with the destroyer , suffering moderate damage.
Ikazuchi was reassigned to Desron 11 of the IJN 1st Fleet on 1 April 1943. After repairs at Yokosuka, she returned to Truk, and escorted convoys between Truk and the Japanese home islands until mid-April 1944. Under the command of Lieutenant Commander Ikunaga Kunio, on 13 April 1944, while escorting the transport
Sanyō Maru to
Woleai,
Ikazuchi was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine , approximately south-southwest of
Guam at position . There were no survivors. On 10 June 1944,
Ikazuchi was removed from the
navy list. ==Notes==