Japanese destroyer Suzukaze

Suzukaze on trial run at Uraga Channel, Summer 1937.
History
Empire of Japan
Name:	Suzukaze
Ordered:	1934 FY
Builder:	Uraga Dock Company
Laid down:	9 July 1935
Launched:	11 March 1937
Commissioned:	31 August 1937
Struck:	10 March 1944
Fate:	Sunk 25 January 1944
General characteristics
Class and type:	Shiratsuyu-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,685 long tons (1,712 t)
Length:	103.5 m (340 ft) pp 107.5 m (352 ft 8 in) waterline
Beam:	9.9 m (32 ft 6 in)
Draft:	3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)
Propulsion:	2 shaft Kampon geared turbines 3 boilers, 42,000 hp (31,000 kW)
Speed:	34 knots (39 mph; 63 km/h)
Range:	4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 18 kn (33 km/h)
Complement:	226
Armament:	5 × 12.7 cm/50 Type 3 naval guns (2×2, 1×1) 2 × 13 mm AA guns 8 × 24 in (610 mm) torpedo tubes 16 × Depth charges
Service record
Operations:	Battle of Tarakan (1942) Battle of the Java Sea (1942) Battle of Midway (1942) Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands (1942) First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (1942) Battle of Tassafaronga (1942) Battle of Kolombangara (1943)

Suzukaze (涼風, "cool breeze"^?) was the tenth and final vessel of ten Shiratsuyu-class destroyers, and the fourth to be built for the Imperial Japanese Navy under the Circle Two Program (Maru Ni Keikaku).

The Shiratsuyu-class destroyers were modified versions of the Hatsuharu class, and were designed to accompany the Japanese main striking force and to conduct both day and night torpedo attacks against the United States Navy as it advanced across the Pacific Ocean, according to Japanese naval strategic projections. Despite being one of the most powerful classes of destroyers in the world at the time of their completion, none survived the Pacific War.Suzukaze, built at the Uraga Dock Company was laid down on 9 July 1935, launched on 11 March 1937 and commissioned on 31 August 1937.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Suzukaze was assigned to Destroyer Division 24 of Destroyer Squadron 4 of the IJN 2nd Fleet together with her sister ships Umikaze, Kawakaze, and Yamakaze, and had sortied from Palau as part of the Philippine invasion force, covering landings at Legaspi and Lamon Bay. From January 1942, Suzukaze participated in operations in the Netherlands East Indies, including the invasion of Tarakan Island. She was later assigned to patrols of Staring Bay in the Sulawesi, where she was torpedoed on 4 February 1942 by the submarine USS Sculpin. The resultant explosion killed nine crewmen and caused extensive damage, requiring a return to Sasebo Naval Arsenal at the end of March for repairs.