Tanikaze was one of 19 s built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during the 1930s, which saw extensive action throughout World War II, spending her early war career operating alongside Japanese aircraft carriers. Tanikaze was damaged by American dive bomber aircraft during the Battle of Midway, 6 June 1942, and helped to sink the light cruiser at the battle of Kula Gulf on 6 July 1943. Tanikaze was eventually torpedoed and sunk by the submarine on 9 June 1944.
Design and description The Kagerō class was an enlarged and improved version of the preceding . Their crew numbered 240 officers and enlisted men. The ships measured overall, with a beam of and a draft of .Chesneau, p. 194 They displaced at standard load and at deep load.Whitley, pp. 200–01 The ships had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of for a designed speed of . The ships had a range of at a speed of .Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 148
The main armament of the Kagerō class consisted of six Type 3 guns in three twin-gun turrets, one superfiring pair aft and one turret forward of the superstructure. They were built with four Type 96 anti-aircraft guns in two twin-gun mounts, but more of these guns were added over the course of the war. The ships were also armed with eight torpedo tubes for the oxygen-fueled Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedo in two quadruple traversing mounts; one reload was carried for each tube. Their anti-submarine weapons comprised 16 depth charges.
Construction and commissioning
The ore that eventually became the Tanikaze was delivered to the Fujinagata Shipyards for the construction of a new Kagerō-class destroyer. Tanikaze was laid down on 18 October 1939, launched on 1 November 1940, and commissioned on 26 April 1941. Commander Katsumi Motoi was delegated to Tanikaze upon commissioning. She was assigned as the second ship of destroyer division 17 (Urakaze, Tanikaze, Isokaze, Hamakaze)
World War II
Attack on Pearl Harbor
From 18–22 November, Tanikaze steamed from Saeki to Hitokappu Bay to meet up with the Kido Butai, Japan's major aircraft carrier force consisting of the fleet carriers , , , , , and . Tanikaze, along with six other Kagerō-class destroyers and two s, was tasked with escorting the Kido Butai to a surprise Attack on Pearl Harbor, a major American naval port and facility in Oahu, Hawaii Territory. On 26 November, Tanikaze and the other ships departed Hitokappu Bay destined for Pearl Harbor. The force cruised at for 11 days, and on 7 December 1941, the Japanese carriers launched their attack. Two massive waves of aircraft sank or critically damaged 18 American ships, including several US battleships, and in turn suffered only 29 aircraft and 4 midget submarines sunk. As there were no attacks on the Kido Butai, Tanikaze did not see direct combat, and after the attack was over, she initially escorted the carriers to Kure, but en route Sōryū and Hiryū broke off to attack Wake Island, and took Tanikaze with them. On 21 December, they attacked Wake Island, assisting in capturing the island. Tanikaze escorted the pair back to Kure, and arrived on 29 December.
On 8 January 1942, Tanikaze escorted Shōkaku and Zuikaku from Kure to Truk, arriving on the 12th, before escorting them during strikes on Rabaul on the 20th. Three days later, Tanikaze escorted Akagi and Kaga during attacks on Kavieng, before withdrawing to Truk on the 27th. On 19 February, Tanikaze escorted Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū and Hiryū during an air strike on Port Darwin which sank eight troopships and the destroyer . The destroyer escorted the carriers throughout operations in the Java Sea, then on 7 March, Tanikaze escorted the battleships and during the bombardment of Christmas Island. Tanikaze fired her guns for the first time bombarding the island with her 12.7 cm (5 in) guns, leading to a successful capture and surrender of Allied troops. On 27 March, Tanikaze departed alongside the Kido Butai to escort them during the Indian Ocean raid, which lasted throughout early April and sank several major British warships. On 27 April, Tanikaze finally returned to mainland Japan, and was drydocked in Kure for maintenance.
Battle of Midway
On 4 June 1942 Tanikaze escorted the Japanese aircraft carriers at the battle of Midway, intended to destroy the US aircraft carrier fleet. However, Admiral Nagumo exposed bombs, fuel, and other munitions in the hangar bay due to rearming his aircraft to land attacks, and when formations of planes from US aircraft carriers attacked, Tanikaze witnessed the sinking of the aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Sōryū as she attempted to fend off air attacks. The next day, Tanikaze was sent by Admiral Nagumo to ensure the last IJN aircraft carrier Hiryū had actually sunk, to scuttle her if necessary, and collect any survivors.
Tanikaze had the unfortunate luck of being seen by 61 US Dauntless dive bombers sent to destroy Hiryū if she was still afloat. After they were unable to locate the aircraft carrier (she had sunk about an hour earlier), the dive bombers turned back to simultaneously attack the hapless Japanese destroyer, since their bombs needed to be jettisoned before landing anyway. Through aggressive maneuvering (zig zagging) by the ship's commander Katsumi Motoi (勝見 基), not one of the 61 dive bombers managed a direct hit, although shell fragments and shrapnel from a near-miss slashed across the No.3 aft 12.7 cm gun turret and triggering an explosion inside the turret that killed all of its six crew. Anti-aircraft fire from the Tanikaze managed to down one of the attacking dive bombers, piloted by Lt. Adams of 's VS-5, plunged into the wake of the maneuvering destroyer. A short time later, five Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress level bombers operating out of Midway attacked Tanikaze from an elevation of . The bombers scored no hits. Tanikaze counted 11 bombers during this particular attack due to some of the B-17s making multiple attack runs. One of the B-17s accidentally jettisoned its auxiliary fuel tanks along with its bombs and was lost with all its crew (another B-17 was lost due to fuel shortage on its way back as well). Tanikaze arrived too late to inspect the Hiryūs hulk, which had already sunk, and instead returned to rendezvous with the combined fleet.Shattered Sword, p. 365
Operations in Guadalcanal and Solomon Islands After the Battle of Midway, it was off to the Guadalcanal campaign. On 13 July, Tanikaze was reassigned to the 3rd fleet, and on 8 August steamed from Saipan to Kure, arriving on the 14th. Two days later, Tanikaze departed on a troop transport run to Guadalcanal, arriving on the 18th, then on the 25th Tanikaze escorted the Milne Bay invasion force, and between the 28–29 July, transported more troops to Milne Bay. On 1 September, Tanikaze took part in another troop transport run to Guadalcanal, then on 4–6 September escorted a convoy from the Shortlands to Rabaul. For the rest of September and into most of October, Tanikaze took part on patrol duties off north of the Soloman Islands. On 11 October, Tanikaze departed as an escort to Japanese aircraft carriers during an attempt to lure out and sink American shipping off Guadalcanal, mostly operating alongside Admiral Abe's vanguard force. On the 15th, Zuikaku sank the destroyer , and on the 26th American aircraft carriers intercepted the Japanese ships in what became known as the battle of Santa Cruz. Several ships were damaged, but none were sunk, and Tanikaze avoided any damage whatsoever. In exchange, the Japanese planes sank the aircraft carrier and the destroyer , ending the battle in a Japanese victory. After the battle, Tanikaze escorted the heavy cruiser , which was damaged by dive bombers from Hornet, arriving at Truk on the 29th. After escorting the light carrier and the heavy cruiser to Japan, Tanikaze was drydocked in Kure from 2–7 November for maintenance.
From 22 November to 4 December, Tanikaze escorted Kumano from Kure to Manila, then to the Shortlands on the 5th. On 7 December, Tanikaze attempted a supply run to Guadalcanal, but this was aborted due to PT boat attacks. However, another effort was made on the 11th, which turned out successfully as Tanikaze delivered her supplies to the Guadalcanal Islands. Then on the 16th and 21st Tanikaze departed on two separate troop transport runs to Munda. On 25 December, troop ship was torpedoed by a submarine and had accidentally collided with the destroyer during evasive maneuvers, which prompted Tanikaze to depart from Rabaul and escort both ships to repairs. Tanikaze rounded out 1942 with a troop transport run to New Georgia the next day. From 5–10 January 1943, Tanikaze escorted a troop convoy to Lae and back, then on the 14th departed on a troop transport run to Guadalcanal. The next day, air attacks engaged Tanikaze, which suffered near miss damage. Tanikaze herself was not significantly damaged, but shrapnel hit and killed Commander Katsumi Motoi.
From 16–26 January, Tanikaze was drydocked for repairs, during which commander Tomura Kiyoshi was given command of the destroyer. Upon repairs. she engaged in a troop transport run to the Russell Islands. With the start of 1943, the Japanese combined fleet admiralty finally decided to cut their losses and retreat from Guadalcanal. Tanikaze took part in both the first and second evacuations on 1 and 4 February respectively, and on 7–8 February redirected those troops to the Russell Islands and Rabaul, and then arrived at Truk on the 11th, where she remained until the end of March. From 29 March to 3 April, she escorted convoys to Palau, then between 6 April to the 20th escorted a large troop convoy from Palau to Hansa Bay and Wewak, then back to Palau. During the journey, the troop transport India Maru was bombed and sunk by allied aircraft. On 26 April, Tanikaze returned to Truk, and upon arrival Tomura Kiyoshi was relieved by commander Maeda Shinichirou. From 28 April to 1 May, Tanikaze escorted the supply ship to Iwa Jima, then took part in several more troop transport runs and escorting duties.
Battle of Kula Gulf
On 5 July, a few elderly destroyer transports led by the destroyer had attempted a troop transport run to Kolombangara, but were intercepted by a US cruiser destroyer group. None of the Japanese ships were damaged, and in turn Niizuki torpedoed and sank the destroyer , but the troop transport mission was aborted. The next day, 6 July 1943, seven other destroyers carrying some 2,600 Japanese ground troop would attempt another troop transport run to Vila. Tanikaze was one of three destroyers to serve in the protection force, the last ship of the flotilla, with Niizuki taking the lead and between the two ships. In the night, the same cruiser destroyer force Niizuki encountered the previous day located Tanikazes group, and the three light cruisers, , , and opened fire and all blasted Niizuki, leaving her limping at 11 knots and ablaze before she was torpedoed by the destroyer USS Nicholas and sank with only a dozen or so survivors.