Kagerō completed her delivery voyage from England to Japan on 14 March 1899 with her arrival at Sasebo.[3] During 1900, she took part in the Japanese intervention in the Boxer Rebellion in China.[3]
When the Russo-Japanese War broke out in February 1904, Kagerō was part of the 5th Destroyer Division of the 2nd Fleet.[4] During the war, she took part in the Battle of Port Arthur in February 1904, the Battle of the Yellow Sea in August 1904, and the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905.[3][4] During the Battle of Tsushima, Kagerō took part in a torpedo attack against the Imperial Russian Navysquadron on the evening of 27 May 1905, then put into port along with the destroyer Sazanami at Ulsan, Korea, for reprovisioning and repairs.[5] The two destroyers got back underway on the morning of 28 May 1905 to head for a fleet rendezvous, and sighted smoke from the Russian destroyers Bedovyi and Groznyi in the Sea of Japan about 40 nautical miles (74 km; 46 mi) southwest of Ulleungdo (then often called "Matsushima") at 14:15.[5] At 16:00, they identified the smoke as coming from two Russian destroyers and gave chase at 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph), and as the Japanese closed the range, Groznyi received orders at 16:30 to proceed on her own and try to escape.[5] With the range down to 4,000 yards (3,700 m) at 16:45, the Japanese opened gunfire, and Groznyi returned fire and made off at high speed with Kagerō in hot pursuit.[5] Meanwhile, Bedovyi refrained from firing and promptly stopped and surrendered to Sazanami, whose boarding party found the wounded Russian fleet commander, Vice AdmiralZinovy Rozhestvensky, aboard and took him prisoner in addition to capturing the ship.[6]Kagerō also took part in the Japanese invasion of Sakhalin in July 1905.[3][4]
On 28 August 1912, the Imperial Japanese Navy revised its ship classification standards. It established three categories of destroyers, with those of 1,000 displacement tons or more defined as first-class destroyers, those of 600 to 999 displacement tons as second-class destroyers, and those of 599 or fewer displacement tons as third-class destroyers.[7] Under this classification scheme, Kagerō became a third-class destroyer.[8]
On 1 April 1922 Kagerō was reclassified as a "utility vessel" for use as a tug and transport. On 8 October 1924, she was decommissioned, stricken from the navy list, and hulked.[3]
^「大正1年 達 完:8月」 アジア歴史資料センター Ref.C12070064400 画像33『達第十一號 艦艇類別等級別表ノ通改正セラル 大正元年八月二十八日 海軍大臣 男爵斎藤實 (別表)|驅逐艦|一等|千暾以上|二等|千暾未満六百暾以上|三等|六百暾未満|』 ("1912: August Asia Historical Records Center Ref.C12070064400 Image 33 ′Tatsu No. 11 Ship Classification Classification Table Revised Serral August 28, 1912 Minister of Navy Baron Minoru Saito (Appendix ): Destroyer, First class, 1,000 tons or more; Second class; Less than 1,000 tons, 600 tons or more; Third class′") (in Japanese)
^("1912 August Image 34 ′Tatsu 12th Revision of Ship Classification Classification Table No. August 28, 1912, Minister of Navy Baron Minoru Saito (separate table): Destroyer, Third class: Shinonome, Murakumo, Yugiri, Shiranui, Kagero, Usugumo, …′") (in Japanese)
^日本海軍史』第9巻・第10巻の「将官履歴」及び『官報』に基づく ("Based on History of General Officers and Official Gazette in Volumes 9 and 10 of History of the Japanese Navy) (in Japanese)
Cocker, Maurice (1983). Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981. Ian Allan. ISBN0-7110-1075-7.
Corbett, Julian S. (1994). Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905, Volume II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-55750-129-7.
Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN0-87021-192-7.