Japanese destroyer Asashimo

On 29 February 1944, while escorting a large convoy en route to Truk, Asashimo detected the submarine {{USS|Rock|SS-274|6}} making a night surface approach on the convoy. Rock fired a spread of four torpedoes from her stern tubes at the closing Asashimo without scoring a hit. Illuminated by the destroyer's searchlight, and under fire from the ship's 5-inch (130 mm) guns, Rock dived. For four hours Asashimo continued depth charge attacks, without success. That night Rock surfaced and found that her periscopes were excessively damaged and that her bridge had been riddled with shrapnel. The damage necessitated a return to Pearl Harbor for repairs. Later that night, the busy Asashimo sank the submarine {{USS|Trout|SS-202|6}}. Japanese records indicate that one of their convoys, Matsu No. 1, was attacked by a submarine on 29 February 1944 in the patrol area assigned to Trout. Carrying the 29th Infantry Division of the Kwantung Army from Manchuria to Guam, Matsu No. 1 consisted of four large transports escorted by three Yūgumo-class destroyers of Destroyer Division 31: Asashimo, {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Kishinami||2}}, and {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Okinami||2}}. The submarine badly damaged one large passenger-cargo ship and sank the 7,126-ton transport Sakito Maru. About 2,200 of the 3,500 men aboard the Sakito Maru died, which included a large portion of the 18th Infantry Regiment.{{Cite book |last= Gailey |first= Harry |title= The Liberation of Guam 21 July – 10 August |year = 1988 |place= Novato, CA |publisher= Presidio Press |isbn= 0-89141-651-X |page=37}} Asashimo detected the submarine and dropped 19 depth charges. Oil and debris came to the surface and the destroyer dropped a final depth charge on that spot. The submarine was using Mk. XVIII electric torpedoes, and it was also possible that one of those had made a circular run and sunk the boat, as happened with {{USS|Tang|SS-306|6}}. All 81 hands on board USS Trout were lost at the position {{coord|22|40|N|131|45|E|display=inline}}.{{Cite book |last=Hoyt |first=Edwin P. |title=To the Marianas: War in the Central Pacific: 1944 |publisher=Van Nostrand Reinhold Company |year=1980 |place=New York |page=240}}

Asashimo participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. During the Battle of Leyte Gulf, she rescued survivors of the cruiser {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Atago||2}} on 23 October. At the Battle of Ormoc Bay, she was the only destroyer to survive the Convoy TA no. 4 Battle. On 26 December 1944, she assisted in scuttling the destroyer {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Kiyoshimo||2}} and rescued 167 crewmen, plus her C.O. and Comdesdiv2.

On 6 April 1945, Asashimo escorted the battleship {{ship|Japanese battleship|Yamato||2}} from the Inland Sea on Operation Ten-Go towards Okinawa. She was sunk on 7 April by aircraft of Task Force 58, from the aircraft carrier {{USS|San Jacinto|CVL-30|6}} after falling astern of the Yamato task force due to engine trouble,{{cite book|last1=Spurr|first1=Russell|title=A Glorious Way To Die - The Kamikaze Mission of the Battleship Yamato|url=https://archive.org/details/gloriouswaytodie00spur|url-access=registration|date=1981|publisher=Newmarket Press|location=New York|isbn=9781557049131|pages=[https://archive.org/details/gloriouswaytodie00spur/page/251 251]}} {{convert|150|mi|km}} southwest of Nagasaki. All of her 326 crew members - as well as Commander Destroyer Division 21 (Captain Hisao Kotaki) - lost their lives. The others, including the destroyer {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Hamakaze|1940|2}}, were sunk during the same attack, also by aircraft of San Jacinto, but several destroyers, such as {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Suzutsuki|1942|2}} survived with heavy damage. Asashimo was sunk at {{coord|31|N|128|E|display=inline,title}}.

Several photos were taken of Asashimo during her final battle, easily distinguishable due to her X turret.

File:Asashimo.tengo.jpg

File:Asashimo 1945-04-07.JPG

File:Asashino color mini mini.jpg

• Operation Kita
• Operation Ten-Go
• List of ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger |publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7|chapter=Japan|first=Ian |last=Sturton|pages=167–217}}
• {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia |year=2000| publisher=Cassell & Co.|location=London|isbn=1-85409-521-8|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}

• [http://www.combinedfleet.com/yugumo_c.htm CombinedFleet.com: Yūgumo-class destroyers]
• [http://www.combinedfleet.com/asashm_t.htm CombinedFleet.com: Asashimo history]

{{Yūgumo class destroyer}}

{{April 1945 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asashimo}}

Category:Yūgumo-class destroyers

Category:World War II destroyers of Japan

Category:Destroyers sunk by aircraft

Category:1943 ships

Category:World War II shipwrecks in the East China Sea

Category:Warships lost with all hands

Category:Maritime incidents in April 1945

Category:Ships sunk by US aircraft

Category:Ships built by Fujinagata Shipyards