Japanese destroyer Yukikaze - Definition

The Yukikaze was a Kagero class destroyer in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. She was the only member of her class to survive the war. The atrittion rate of Japanese destroyers was extremely high due to the Japanese command's reluctance to assign any larger ships to their tasks. Early in the war she took part in the invasions of the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. She participated in the Battles of Midway, Santa Cruz, Leyte Gulf, and the Philippine Sea, as well as a lengthy stint on Guadalcanal troop runs and the naval battles around the island. Between these major engagements, the Yukikaze participated in escort duty for ships in transit. She spent the last months of the war on security duty in Japanese harbors. After the war she was used as a transport to bring home Japanese military forces still abroad. Yukikaze was transferred to China (renamed Tang Yan) as war reparation and finally scrapped in 1970.