April 23, 1944 saw the end of a very active ship. The Japanese destroyer Amagiri found a mine in the Makassar Strait just off Borneo. The damage was not great but it was bad enough to cause the ship to founder two hours later. Because of the time it took to sink most if not all of the crew was removed by the Aoba.

During her career Amagiri was involved in the rescue of personnel from no less than five ships which had been sunk by the US. (Asagiri, Canberra Maru, Nagara Maru, Terukawa Maru and Nigitsu Maru.) Amagiri also towed the damaged warships Yugiri and Shirakumo to port following actions with US warships.

The Amagiri was also damaged in battle once at Kula Gulf and again off Rabaul. However she is most famous not for any of these actions but for one incident. On Aug. 2, 1943 in the Blackett Strait the Amagiri ran down and sank the PT-109. This was the only warship she ever sunk to my knowledge.

Like most Japanese destroyers though she ended up on the bottom of the ocean as a war loss.

© 2006 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com

The latest Amagiri.