was the sixth and last , built for the Imperial Japanese Navy under the Circle One Program (''Maru Ichi Keikaku''). Three were laid down in JFY 1931 and the next three in JFY 1933.

History

Construction of the advanced ''Hatsuharu''-class destroyers was intended to give the Imperial Japanese Navy smaller and more economical destroyers than the previous and destroyers, but with essentially the same weaponry.GlobalSecurity.org
IJN ''Hatsuharu'' class
/ref> These conflicting goals proved beyond contemporary destroyer design, and the initial ships of this class were top-heavy design, with severe stability problems and with inherent structural weaknesses. After the "''Tomozuru'' Incident" of 1934 and "IJN 4th Fleet Incident" in 1935, ''Yūgure'' underwent extensive design changes and modifications prior to launch to remedy these issues. ''Yūgure'' was laid down at Maizuru Naval Arsenal in Maizuru, Kyoto on 9 April 1933, launched on 6 May 1934 and commissioned on 30 March 1935.

Operational history

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, ''Yūgure'' was assigned to Destroyer Division 27 of Destroyer Squadron 1 of the

IJN 1st Fleet The was the main battleship fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy. History First established on 28 December 1903, the IJN 1st Fleet was created during the Russo-Japanese War when the Imperial General Headquarters divided the Readiness Fleet into ...

together with her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s , , and , and was based at

Hashirajima is an island in southern Hiroshima Bay of the Inland Sea, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Located southeast of Iwakuni, it is part of the Kutsuna Islands within the Bōyo Islands group. The island covers and as of 2013 had a population of 184 ...

in Japanese home waters on anti-submarine patrol. In January 1942, ''Yūgure'' escorted aircraft carriers and to Palau and to

Ambon Ambon may refer to: Places * Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia ** Ambon, Maluku, a city on Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province ** Governorate of Ambon, a colony of the Dutch East India Company from 1605 to 1796 * Ambon, Morbihan, a co ...

during the invasion of the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, and was a participant in the

Darwin air raid The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the town, ships in ...

of 19 February 1942. Afterwards, she was based at Staring Bay, in

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

from which she conducted escort patrol missions to the end of March. She returned to

Sasebo Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. History The Sasebo Naval District was established at Sasebo, Nagasaki in 1886, as the third of the naval districts responsible for the defense of the ...

for repairs from 22 March to 15 April 1942. At the end of April, she went to Truk as part of the escort for the aircraft carriers and and was part of Admiral Takagi's force at the

Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the batt ...

. In May, ''Yūgure'' was assigned escort the cruisers and back to Kure. During the Battle of Midway, she was part of the escort for the Aleutian diversionary force under Admiral

Shirō Takasu Admiral was a career naval officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Biography Takasu was a native of Sakuragawa Village, (currently part of Inashiki, Ibaraki), and graduated from the 35th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval ...

. Reassigned to the IJN 2nd Fleet on 14 July, she was then detached for temporary duty with the IJN 4th Fleet in a sortie from Truk to

Jaluit Jaluit Atoll ( Marshallese: , , or , ) is a large coral atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is , and it encloses a lagoon with an area of . Most ...

on 20 August. After bombarding Ocean Island on 23 August, a landing party from ''Yūgure'' occupied that island on 26 August as part of "

Operation RY Operation RY was the Imperial Japanese plan to invade and occupy Nauru and Ocean islands in the south Pacific during the Pacific conflict of World War II. The operation was originally set to be executed in May 1942 immediately following Operat ...

" until relieved by a garrison force on 30 August. ''Yūgure'' was then assigned to the Solomon Islands, participating in numerous ''

Tokyo Express The Tokyo Express was the name given by Allied forces to the use of Imperial Japanese Navy ships at night to deliver personnel, supplies, and equipment to Japanese forces operating in and around New Guinea and the Solomon Islands during the P ...

'' high speed transport runs throughout the Solomon Islands through January 1943. Although she did not participate in the

First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the Battle of the Solomons, the Battle of Friday the 13th, or, in Japanese sources, the , took place from 12 to 15 November 1942, and was t ...

, she assisted in rescue operations afterwards, taking on crew from the stricken battleship After returning to Sasebo for repairs through the middle of January 1943, ''Yūgure'' escorted a convoy to Tsingtao, and from there to Palau and Wewak by the end of February. She escorted another convoy from Truk to Wewak and back to Yokosuka in March and again in May. She returned to Truk at the end of the month as escort for the carrier , returning with the battleship at the end of May. In early June, she escorted the aircraft carrier to Truk, and returned with the same damaged ship a few days later. In late June, she escorted the carrier from Yokosuka to Truk. In early June, she was assigned to cover troop transport runs to

Kolombangara Kolombangara (sometimes spelled ''Kulambangara'') is an island in the New Georgia Islands group of the nation state of Solomon Islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The name is from a local language, a rough translation of its meaning is ...

. On 12 July 1943, ''Yūgure'' participated in the Battle of Kolombangara, assisting in sinking the American destroyer and damaging the cruisers , and New Zealand's . However, a few days later on the night of 19 July 1943, while on a troop transport run to Kolombangara, ''Yūgure'' was bombed and sunk by U.S. Marine Grumman TBF Avengers from

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

, north-northwest of Kolombangara (). The rescue destroyer picked up about twenty survivors but was sunk in turn soon thereafter, leaving no survivors from ''Yūgure''s crew of 228 men, and only one survivor from ''Kiyonami'' herself.IJN Yugure: Tabular record of movement
/ref>

References

Notes

Books

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OCLC 77257764
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External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yugure (1934) Hatsuharu-class destroyers World War II destroyers of Japan Shipwrecks in the Solomon Sea Ships built by Maizuru Naval Arsenal 1934 ships Maritime incidents in July 1943 Ships lost with all hands Destroyers sunk by aircraft Ships sunk by US aircraft