Japanese destroyer Fujinami

	Fujinami with a portrait of Captain Tatsuji Matsuzaki
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Fujinami
Builder	Fujinagata Shipyards, Osaka
Laid down	25 August 1942
Launched	20 April 1943
Completed	31 July 1943
Stricken	10 December 1944
Fate	Sunk in action, 27 October 1944
General characteristics
Class and type	Yūgumo-class destroyer
Displacement	2,520 long tons (2,560 t)
Length	119.15 m (390 ft 11 in)
Beam	10.8 m (35 ft 5 in)
Draught	3.75 m (12 ft 4 in)
Speed	35 knots (40 mph; 65 km/h)
Complement	228
Armament	6 × 127 mm (5.0 in)/50 caliber DP guns; up to 28 × Type 96 25 mm (0.98 in) AA guns; up to 4 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) AA guns; 8 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes for Type 93 torpedoes; 36 depth charges;

Fujinami (藤波) was a Yūgumo-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Her name means "Purple Wave" or "Waves of Wisterias".^[1]

Service

She was damaged by a dud aerial torpedo during an air raid at Rabaul on 5 November 1943, with one dead and nine wounded. The ship participated in the Battle of Philippine Sea.

In the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Fujinami escorted the 1st Diversion Attack Force, commanded by Admiral Kurita Takeo. She sustained minor damage from the air attacks on 24–25 October due to near-misses and strafing.

In the Battle off Samar on 25 October Fujinami was detached to assist Chōkai, then she removed survivors and scuttled the cruiser with a torpedo. Some US survivors of the escort carrier Gambier Bay have stated that the commanding officer Cmdr. Tatsuji Matsuzaki restrained his men from firing on them as they floated by Fujinami and was allegedly seen to salute the American sailors.^{[citation needed]}

On 27 October, while steaming to assist the destroyer Hayashimo, Fujinami was sunk by aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Essex, 80 miles (130 km) north of Iloilo (12°0′N 122°30′E / 12.000°N 122.500°E / 12.000; 122.500). She was lost with all hands, including the Chōkai survivors. The commanding officer was Cmdr. Tatsuji Matsuzaki from 31 July 1943 – 27 October 1944 (KIA).

References

^ Destroyers. The word nami means "wave" (e.g. Tsunami); the word fuji means "wisteria", and can allude to the color purple, the color of wisteria flowers.

Bibliography

Sturton, Ian (1980). "Japan". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 167–217. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
Whitley, M. J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.