was an

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

. Her name means "Winter Moon".

Construction and career

On 25 May 1944, ''Fuyutsuki'' was completed at Maizuru Naval Arsenal, and she was assigned to the 11th Destroyer Squadron, Combined Fleet. On 24 June, she sailed to Yokosuka with ''Landing Ship No. 4'' and ''Landing Ship No. 104''. On 25 June, she escorted the ''I-Gō Transport Squadron'', on 29 June, she was deployed to Chichi-jima with the cruiser and destroyer . They returned to Yokosuka on 3 July.National Archives of Japan, reference code: C08030127500, p. 5. On 11 July, she sailed to Tokuyama with the destroyer . On 14 July, she joined the ''Ro-Gō Transport Squadron'', and sailed to

Nakagusuku Bay is a bay on the southern coast of Okinawa Island on the Pacific Ocean in Japan. The bay covers and ranges between to deep. The bay is surrounded by the municipalities of Uruma, Kitanakagusuku, Nakagusuku, Nishihara, Yonabaru, Nanjō, all in ...

. On 15 July, she was assigned to the 41st Destroyer Division, 10th Division, 3rd Fleet with the destroyer .National Archives of Japan, reference code: C08030127500, p. 31. ''Fuyutsuki'' returned to Kure on 26 July. On 12 October, while escorting the light cruiser from Yokosuka to the

Inland Sea An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a continental body of water which is very large and is either completely surrounded by dry land or connected to an ocean by a river, strait, or "arm of the sea". An inland se ...

, she was hit in the bow by a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

fired from the

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

. She returned to Kure where she was repaired. On 31 January 1945 she ran aground on a sandbar near Ōita during a training mission in the Inland Sea. ''Fuyutsuki'' participated on the last mission of the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

(6–7 April 1945). She sank the crippled destroyer with two torpedoes after taking aboard her crew. She was one of the few surviving ships, even though lightly damaged by 127 mm rockets and bombs. Her own losses were 12 dead and 12 injured. On 20 August 1945, ''Fuyutsuki'' hit a

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

at Moji,

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

, suffering heavy damage to her

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

. She surrendered unrepaired and without armament.

References

Notes

Sources

* * *Ushio Shobō (Ushioshobokojinsha Co., Ltd.), Tōkyō, Japan. **''The Maru Special'', Imperial Japanese Vessels No. 19, ''Destroyer Asashio-class and Akizuki-class'', 1978. *''

Senshi Sōsho The , also called the , is the official military history of Imperial Japan's involvement in the Pacific War from 1937 to 1945. The task of compiling the official account of the Japanese involvement in World War II began in October 1955 with the op ...

'', Asagumo Shimbunsha Inc., Tōkyō, Japan. **Vol. 31, ''Naval armaments and war preparation (1), "Until November 1941"'', 1969. *

Japan Center for Asian Historical Records Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

(http://www.jacar.go.jp/english/index.html),

National Archives of Japan The preserve Japanese government documents and historical records and make them available to the public. Although Japan's reverence for its unique history and art is well documented and illustrated by collections of art and documents, there is al ...

, Tokyo, Japan. **Reference code: C12070120400, ''October (1)'', Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of the Navy, 1943. **Reference code: C08030127400, ''Wartime log book from June 1, 1944 to June 30, 1945, 11th Torpedo Squadron (1)'', HQ of 11th Destroyer Squadron, Imperial Japanese Navy, 1944. **Reference code: C08030127500, ''Wartime log book from June 1, 1944 to June 30, 1945, 11th Torpedo Squadron (2)'', HQ of 11th Destroyer Squadron, Imperial Japanese Navy, 1944.

External links

CombinedFleet.com: ''Akizuki''-class destroyers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuyutsuki Akizuki-class destroyers (1942) World War II destroyers of Japan 1944 ships Ships sunk as breakwaters Ships built by Maizuru Naval Arsenal