World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseMurasame, a 1685-ton Shiratsuyu class destroyer built at Osaka, Japan, was completed in January 1937. During the Second World War she was employed in several campaigns, beginning with the invasion of the Philippines, during which she escorted transports that landed Japanese troops at Vigan, northwestern Luzon, on 11 December 1941. In January 1942 she participated in landings at Tarakan, Borneo, and was part of the force that defeated Allied warships in the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February. Murasame also participated in the June 1942 Battle of the Midway as part of Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo's Covering Group.

ww2dbaseDuring the Guadalcanal Campaign Murasame played a supporting role in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in late August 1942, was damaged by air attack during a supply run on 5 October 1942, escorted transports to Guadalcanal on 14-15 October, rescued crewmen when the light cruiser Yura was sunk on 25 October and took part in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands a few days later. She directly engaged U.S. warships during the brutal night battle off Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942, receiving damage that put her forward boiler room out of action.

ww2dbaseOn 5-6 March 1943, less than a month after the Japanese had given up the fight for Guadalcanal, Murasame and the destroyer Minegumo took supplies to the Japanese base at Vila, on Kolombangara Island. While withdrawing after landing their cargo, the two ships encountered a greatly superior U.S. Navy cruiser-destroyer task force. In a brief battle, both Japanese ships were sunk. None of Murasame's crewmen survived her loss.

Destroyer Murasame Interactive Map

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