@Revised - Allyn Nevitt with Anthony Tully - June 2018

Name Translation: "Fast-running Tide"

30 June 1938:
Laid down at Uraga Dock Co., Uraga, Japan.

19 April 1939:
Launched and named HAYASHIO ("Swift Tide").

1 December 1939:
Cdr (Captain posthumously) Yamazumi Wakito (48) (former CO of HATSUYUKI) is appointed Chief Equipping Officer.

1 May 1940:
Lt (Cdr posthumously) Hamazumi Yoshihisa (61) (former Navigator, I-53), Lt (later Cdr) Chigusa Sadao (58) (former Navigator, SUZUKAZE), and LtCdr (Eng.) (later Cdr) Tanimoto Seiichi (Eng. 33) (former Chief Engineer, ISONAMI) are appointed Equipping Officers.

1 June 1940:
Lt (Cdr posthumously) Kondo Kenichi (60) (former Navigator, I-60) is appointed an Equipping Officer.

31 August 1940:
Completed, placed in commission, and assigned to Captain Ueda Hironosuke (42) (former CO of NOJIMA)’s newly-activated DesDiv 15.
Initial Command Structure:
Commanding Officer: Cdr Yamazumi Wakito (48)
Torpedo Officer: Lt Hamazumi Yoshihisa (61)
Gunnery Officer: Lt Chigusa Sadao (58)
Navigator: Lt Kondo Kenichi (60)
Chief Engineer: LtCdr (Eng.) Tanimoto Seiichi (Eng. 33)

15 October 1940:
LtCdr (Eng.) (later Cdr) Takaoka Kenkichi (Eng. 37) is appointed Chief Engineer. LtCdr (Eng.) Tanimoto is appointed to the Staff of Hikari Navy Yard’s General Affairs Department.

15 November 1940:
DesDiv 15 (NATSUSHIO, OYASHIO, HAYASHIO, KUROSHIO) assigned to RAdm (VAdm posthumously) Goto Aritomo (38) (former CO of YAMASHIRO)’s DesRon 2, Second Fleet.
LtCdr (later Cdr) Koya Masuo (57) (former Gunnery Officer, HATAKAZE) is appointed Gunnery Officer. Lt Chigusa is reassigned.

10 June 1941:
Lt (Cdr posthumously) Gouke Yoshio (61) (former Gunnery Officer, OKINOSHIMA) is appointed Gunnery Officer. LtCdr Koya is appointed Secondary Gunnery Officer of KONGO.

18 June 1941:
Captain (RAdm posthumously) Sato Torajiro (43) (former ComDesDiv 4) is appointed ComDesDiv 15. Captain Ueda is reassigned.

1 September 1941:
Cdr (Captain posthumously) Kaneda Kiyoshi (50) (former CO of SHIGURE) is appointed CO. Cdr Yamazumi is appointed CO of 11th Minesweeper Division.

5 September 1941:
Lt (Eng.) (later Cdr) Shibata Kazunosuke (Eng. 38) (former Chief Engineer, SHIRATSUYU) is appointed Chief Engineer. LtCdr (Eng.) Takaoka is reassigned.

10 September 1941:
Navigator Lt Kondo is reassigned and leaves the ship. A successor is not immediately appointed.

15 October 1941:
Lt (j.g.) (Lt posthumously) Ito Masato (67) (former Crew, HAYASHIO) is appointed Navigator.
Chief Engineer Lt (Eng.) Shibata is promoted LtCdr (Eng.).

Initial Command Structure:
Ship's captain: Commander Kaneda Kiyoshi [50] (prev. C.O. SHIGURE). Assigned to Desdiv 15 (NATSUSHIO, OYASHIO, HAYASHIO, KUROSHIO), Desron 2, Second Fleet.

26 November-1 December 1941:
Desdiv 15's steamed with Desron 2 from Terashima Strait to Palau.

6-8 December:
Desdiv 15 departed Palau with Southern Philippine attack forces, initially escorting RYUJO in attack on Davao.

10-11 December:
Detached with NATSUSHIO, escorted YAEYAMA laying mines in Surigao Strait.

12 December:
Desdiv 15 with Legaspi invasion force.

14 December:
Returned to Palau.

17 December:
Departed Palau to support landings at Davao, Mindanao.

20 December:
Desdiv 15 with Davao invasion force.
Lt (later LtCdr) Sugiyama Tadayoshi (61) (former Torpedo Officer, YUGUMO) is appointed Torpedo Officer. Lt Hamazumi is reassigned.

25 December:
Desdiv 15 with Jolo invasion force.

27 December:
Action:
- 0712 HAYASHIO engaged three enemy aircraft; expending fifty-nine shells and 30 machine-gun rounds. No damage received.

28 December:
1300: Arrived at Davao. Commenced patrolling the bay.

31 December:
Proceeded to Malalag Bay nearby; carried out maintenance work while on standby.

1942

9 January:
HAYASHIO departed Magunaga Bay to support landings Menado, northeast Celebes.

11 January 1942:
Desdiv 15 with Menado invasion force.
Action:
- 1540 HAYASHO fired 8 shells at two aircraft. Proceeded to Banka anchorage and carried out anti-submarine patrol.

14 January:
Desdiv 15 assigned Kendari invasion force.

21 January:
1130: HAYASHIO left Banka anchorage with Kendari Invasion Force.

23 January:
1915: Joined NAGARA and stood by with the light cruiser north of Manui Island.(East of Celebes Island). Landings at Kendari began the next day.

24 January:
Action:
- 1034 Detected a surfaced enemy submarine bearing 10 143 degrees, 10 miles from Manui Island. Fired fifteen shells and forced it to submerge; then dropped eleven depth charges. Submarine was believed sunk.

27 January:
HAYASHIO anchored at Kendari.

29 January:
Departed Kendari.
Action:
- 1703 Detected a presumed enemy submarine and dropped six depth charges. Results were unclear.

30 January:
1905: With Desdiv 15 joined Ambon invasion force.

1 February:
Arrived at Ambon.

3 February:
Action:
- 1015 Attacked by a single enemy aircraft. No damage sustained.

4 February:
Left Ambon for Staring Bay. Made uncertain contact and dropped depth-charges while en-route.

6 February:
Departed Kendari zone to support Makassar landings.

9 February:
Desdiv 15 with Makassar invasion force. Landings successfully achieved.

11 February:
1430: HAYASHIO joined NAGARA and they proceeded to Kendari.

12 February:
1740 Arrived at Kendari.

14 February:
HAYASHIO departed Kendari; arrived at Ambon the next day.

17 February:
0500: Timor invasion force part 1 (to take Kupang) departs Ambon; KUROSHIO, HAYASHIO, TOKITSUKAZE, AMATSUKAZE, two minesweepers (No. 7 and 8) escorting MIIKE MARU, RYOYO MARU, ZENYO MARU, and AFRICA MARU. At sea KUNIKAWA MARU joins them from Kendari.

20 February:
0230 Timor invasion force part 1 including HAYASHIO arrived at site, landings commence. The Japanese Army handles the landings to capture Kupang on the western side, and the Japanese Navy is assigned the landings and capture of Dili, on the northeast side of Timor.
Action:
- 0300 HAYASHIO bombards enemy positions, firing 38 shells.
- 0915 One enemy aircraft attacked, driven off by gunfire.
- 1230 Dili falls to the Japanese Navy.

21 February:
Noon: Kupang captured by the Japanese Army.

22 February:
Anchored at newly captured Kupang. Carries out maintenance on standby status.

26 February:
Departed Kupang (Timor) to join Southern Force Main Body in operations south of Java.

1 March:
Action:
- 1025 Sighed enemy plane. HAYASHIO fired 6 main gun shells. Results unknown.

2 March:
- 0850 HAYASHIO captured Dutch vessel carrying Allied military personnel.[This was about 1,000 tons and was either DUYMER VAN TWIST (1,030 tons) which became DAI MARU or the SPEELMAN (1,030 tons) which became HAKKO MARU.

5 March:
- 0400 HAYASHO ordered to proceed with captured ship to Makassar.

8 March:
0830 Arrived with captured ship at Makassar, Celebes. Departed for Staring Bay the next day.

10 March:
1200: Arrived at Staring Bay.

15 March:
HAYASHIO with KUROSHIO and OYASHIO departed Staring Bay escorting KAGA to Sasebo. The carrier had banged her bow and bilge against a reef on 9 February, and repairs were overdue.

22 March:
Off Kyushu KAGA detached for Sasebo; while Desdiv 15 proceeded on into Bungo Suido to Kure.

23 March:
The three destroyers arrived at Kure. Conducted maintenance operations.

1 April 1942:
Lt (later LtCdr) Kuwahara Tetsuo (62) (former Navigator, KUROSHIO) is appointed Torpedo Officer. Lt Sugiyama is reassigned.

7 April:
HAYASHIO entered drydock at Kure for repairs.

13 April
Left drydock.

17 April
Evening KUROSHIO, HAYASHIO, OYASHIO departed Kure for the Philippine Islands area.

18 April:
Action
- 0830 Passed through Bungo Suido into the Pacific.
- 1617-1628 The three destroyers are overflown by and engaged an enemy aircraft.(Possibly one of the B-25's of Doolittle's famous raid just launched from USS HORNET.)[1]

19 April:
HAYASHIO detached to take into custody a Russian freighter, CLARA ZETTOKIN, believed to be holding station to rescue Doolittle Raid aviators. Desdiv 15 less HAYASHIO joins Nagumo's Kido Butai, and steams eastward with it at high speed in pursuit of the retiring U.S. carriers.

23 April:
HAYASHIO with CLARA ZETTOKIN (3,974 tons) in custody arrived at Kushimoto, southern Honshu. HAYASHIO is released to head for Formosa and her original assignment. (The Russian was released on 27 April after inspectors were satisfied.)

25 April:
Desdiv 15 arrived at Takao and refueled, then departed for the Philippines. HAYASHIO detached and proceeded to Subic Bay to join the blockade of Manila. (OYASHIO and KUROSHIO went to Iloilo.)

28 April
1200: Arrived at Subic Bay, Luzon.

30 April:
1408: Departed the area; arrived later that day outside Manila Bay to join blockading operation. Then returned to Subic Bay the next day.

9 May:
HAYASHIO departed Subic Bay; arrived at Manila Bay the same day.

10 May 1942
0630 Desdiv 15 KUROSHIO, OYASHIO and HAYASHIO of Desron 2 departed Manila to go meet at sea carrier SHOKAKU damaged at the Battle of Coral Sea and shepherd her home.

14 May 1942
KUROSHIO, OYASHIO and HAYASHIO rendezvoused with SHOKAKU and YUGURE. Once they join, SHOKAKU's CO decides to change the planned route home. At this time they are managing about 16 knots.

17 May:
1500: Desdiv 15 and YUGURE arrived at Kure with damaged SHOKAKU.

21 - 25 May:
1735 KUROSHIO, OYASHIO, HAYASHIO escorting CHITOSE and KAMIKAWA MARU of AirRon 11 with Desron 2 steamed from Kure to Saipan.

28 May:
1730 KUROSHIO, OYASHIO, HAYASHIO departed Saipan with CHITOSE and KAMIKAWA MARU to participate in Operation MI.

3-6 June: Battle of Midway
Escorted Midway troop convoy.

10 June:
Desdiv 15 joined JINTSU and Desdiv 16.

13 June:
Arrived at Guam, southern Mariana islands.

14 June:

26 June:
KUROSHIO and HAYASHIO departed Kure with CHITOSE for Chichi-jima in the Bonins.

28 June:
Arrived at Futami Harbor, Chichi-jima Island. CHITOSE unloads while the destroyers remain on standby.

29 June:
HAYASHIO and CHITOSE departed for the homeland; KUROSHIO remained behind.

16-30 July:
Escorted KUMANO and SUZUYA from Kure via Singapore to Mergui (Burma) for Indian Ocean raiding operations, aborted due to Guadalcanal.

8-21 August:
Escorted KUMANO and SUZUYA from Mergui via Balikpapan to join fleet north of the Solomons.

24 August: Battle of the Eastern Solomons
Escorted Admiral Kondo's Advance Force.

September:
Escorted fleet patrolling out of Truk north of the Solomons; served as temporary flagship of Comdesron 2 (Rear Admiral Tanaka Raizo [41]).(Comdesron 2 Tanaka's flagship cruiser JINTSU had been damaged by bombing on 25 August, and since then Tanaka had been switching around among destroyers of his force. He settled on HAYASHIO, and seemed to favor her when not using a light cruiser, using her as his flagship through November.)

26 September:
Flag of Comdesron 2 transferred at Truk from HAYASHIO to just arrived ISUZU.

29 September-1 October:
Departed Truk with OYASHIO and KUROSHIO, then met at sea escorted NISSHIN out of Kavieng to Shortlands.

3 October:
Action:
- 0835: Departed for troop transport run to Guadalcanal by Desdiv 15: OYASHIO, KUROSHIO, and HAYASHIO.
- 2150 Arrived at Cape Kamimbo, Guadalcanal.
- 2215 Unloading commenced; however, at-
- 2355 Attacked by PT boats. Enemy driven off, HAYASHIO undamaged. After landing 190 soldiers and fifteen tons of supplies, Desdiv 15 left.

4 October 1942:
Desdiv 15 returns to Shortlands, mission accomplished without even being detected and attacked from the air.

6 October:
Action: - 0345 Desdiv 15 OYASHIO, KUROSHIO, and HAYASHIO departs for another transport run to Guadalcanal.
- 2005 Arrived at Kamimbo, commence offloads.
- 2200 Completed landings, departed.

7 October 1942:
- 1230 Returned to Shortlands. Started loading troops for next run.

9 October:
0750: Desdiv 15's three destroyers departed Shortlands on troop transport run to Guadalcanal with larger group under Comdesdiv 15 Captain Sato Torajiro comprised additionally of: TATSUTA, NOWAKI, and MAIKAZE. Embarked are more than 700 men including aboard TATSUTA the HQ of 17th Army of Lt.Gen. Hyakutake Harukishi.
- 2025 Arrived at Tassafaronga. Commenced unloading twenty minutes later.
- Midnight: Unloaded finished, force departed for home.

10 October:
Special Duty Lt (Eng.) Uchida Hisatomo is appointed Chief Engineer. LtCdr (Eng.) Shibata is reassigned.
1215 Arrived back at Shortlands. Departed later that day with OYASHIO and KUROSHIO and rendezvoused with Batdiv 3 (KONGO, HARUNA) outside Truk to join the rest of their screen [Desron 2 ISUZU, Desdiv 24 UMIKAZE, KAWAKAZE, SUZUKAZE; Desdiv 31 TAKANAMI, MAKINAMI, NAGANAMI] as they head in for a bombardment of Guadalcanal Island.
2325 Bombardment of Henderson Field commenced.

14 October:
0100 Bombardment completed. Retired. HAYASHIO had expended fourteen main gun rounds and sixty machine-gun rounds in the bombardment. After the bombardment HAYASHIO and KUROSHIO are detached to join RADM Kakuta Kakuji's (39) Cardiv 2 [JUNYO, HIYO] which had from a holding position 200 miles north of Guadalcanal launched planes throughout the day to furnish CAP and anti-submarine patrol cover for Batdiv 3 returning from the successful bombardment of Henderson field.

22 October 1942:
As a result of a fire in the starboard generator room the afternoon prior, the carrier HIYO can only make 16 knots and it is decided cannot proceed. She has to detach and return to Truk. INAZUMA and ISONAMI go with her, while HAYASHIO and KUROSHIO remain with JUNYO and participate in the Battle of Santa Cruz.

26 October: Battle of Santa Cruz
Action:
- 0907 HAYASHIO and KURIOSHIO joined JUNYO's direct screen.
- 2325 One enemy aircraft observed in near distance.

30 October:
HAYASHIO and KUROSHIO arrived back at Truk with JUNYO.

3-5 November:
Escorted SUZUYA and MAYA from Truk to Shortlands.

6 November:
2300 Departed Shortlands on troop transport run to Guadalcanal. This is a very large run again led by Comdesdiv 15 Captain Sato Torajiro comprised of: Desdiv 15 (OYASHIO, HAYASHIO, KAGERO), Desdiv 24 (UMIKAZE, KAWAKAZE, SUZUKAZE), Desdiv 31 (MAKINAMI, TAKANAMI, NAGANAMI) and Desdiv 10 (YUGUMO, KAZAGUMO) to Tassafaronga. Each destroyer carried about 30 men and 150 bales of rice.

7 November:
Action:
- Air-attacks on the way in damage NAGANAMI and TAKANAMI slightly, leaving seventeen dead. But the Japanese press on.
- 2039 Arrived at Tassafaronga and succeed in landing most of their contingent there or at Cape Esperance. They also pick up 497 passengers of ill soldiers and sailors for good measure before returning to Shortlands.
- 2330 Departed Guadalcanal.

8 November:
Action:
On way back to Shortlands force attacked by about 30 enemy planes, but suffers no damage.
- 1500 Arrived back at Shortland Islands. Anchored on standby status.

13-15 November: Naval Battles for Guadalcanal
Led escort of Guadalcanal troop convoy as flagship of Comdesron 2 (Admiral Tanaka Raizo). Composition: HAYASHIO, AMAGIRI, MOCHIZUKI under Tanaka's direct command; Desdiv 15 OYASHIO (f), KAGERO; Desdiv 24 UMIKAZE (f), KAWAKAZE, SUZUKAZE; and Desdiv 31 TAKANAMI (f), NAGANAMI, MAKINAMI escorting transports NAGARA MARU, HIROKAWA MARU, SADO MARU, CANBERRA MARU, NAKO MARU, YAMAZUKI MARU, YAMAURA MARU, KINUGAWA MARU, SHINANO MARU, BRISBANE MARU, and ARIZONA MARU. Embarked aboard are the HQ and 1st Battalion of the 229th Infantry Regiment, the 2nd Battalion of the 230th Infantry Regiment, various units of 38th Division, eighty-three landing craft, more than 30,000 artillery shells, and supplies for 30,000 men for twenty days.


14 November:
Action:
While heading toward Guadalcanal the morning after the great naval battle and failed bombardment mission of Batdiv 3, the transport force is attacked by wave after wave of American aircraft. It is a disaster: all but five transports are sunk. One, SADO MARU, turns back, and the remaining four were held back by Tanaka as he awaited the results of the coming second naval night battle of Guadalcanal as KIRISHIMA and Kondo's force attempted to complete the bombardment mission.

15 November:
In the early hours of the morning Kondo's force is intercepted by an American battleship squadron [WASHINGTON and SOUTH DAKOTA] and the KIRISHIMA is sunk in the surface battle. However, the Americans suffer heavy destroyer losses and retire and the battleship's sacrifice does end up clearing the path on the surface for Tanaka's waiting transports.
- Predawn: HAYASHIO stood guard with the other destroyers as the surviving four transports - KINUGAWA MARU, YAMAURA MARU, HIROKAWA MARU, YAMAZUKI MARU - stubbornly proceeded to Guadalcanal and are run ashore to successfully make emergency offloading of 2,000 troops, ammunition, and food. Air attacks later that morning then destroyed the grounded Marus.
- 2040: Returned to the Shortlands. HAYASHIO suffered no damage and the one bright spot for the Japanese was the comparatively small loss of life - 450 troops killed in the air attacks with some 5,000 returned safely to the Shortlands.
Reserve Lt (j.g.) (later Lt) Asano Ginichi (former CO of DAIKOKUTEN MARU) is appointed Navigator. Lt (j.g.) Ito is appointed Gunnery Officer, relieving Lt Gouke, who is appointed Secondary Gunnery Officer of KIRISHIMA (a position he never assumes, as KIRISHIMA is sunk that same date).

17 November:
0532 Departed; escorted SUZUYA, MAYA and TENRYU from Shortlands to Kavieng.

18 November 1942:
1242: Arrived at Kavieng. Assigned to patrol duties.

19 November:
HAYASHIO relieved by minelayer SHIRATAKA at Kavieng so that the destroyer can join the East New Guinea Reinforcement Force operations to make up for losses.

22 November:
HAYASHIO departed Kavieng for Rabaul.

23 November:
Arrived at Rabaul. Immediately prepares for sortie for transport run.
Action:
- 2100 Transport run under Comdesdiv 2 Captain Tachibana Masao (45) (former ComDesDiv 19) departs Rabaul to re-supply and reinforce Lae/Salamua: (F) HARUSAME, SHIRATSUYU, INAZUMA, HAYASHIO, and ISONAMI. As they enter the area of likely attack speed is increased to 30 knots.

24 November 1942:
Action:
- 1853 Attacked by B-17 bombing out of the moonlight. Near-missed forward and amidships by three bombs to port and one to starboard. The port engine goes offline but HAYASHIO is able to withdraw at 28 knots using her starboard engine.
- 2100 A single B-17 flying at low level again bombs the destroyer at a point 67 degrees 35 miles from Salamua. This time in addition to near-misses around the bow HAYASHIO received a direct hit on the port side of the forward turret incapacitating the mount. More troublesome are fires are started in both boats flanking the bridge. The blaze proves to be stubborn and spreads, endangering the bombardment munitions in the forecastle she is carrying. There were many killed and wounded by the bomb detonations and fires. The main and secondary batterys were rendered useless. The fire threatens to set off the destroyer's torpedoes. The destroyer halts and anchors in Guna Bay, Huon Gulf to attempt to fight the fires. This fails, and the forward magazines explode inside the hour, reducing HAYASHIO to a wreck. But she remains afloat.

Sunk:
- 2225 Commander Kaneda orders Abandon Ship, and all transfer to the SHIRATSUYU now standing by. At 2235 HAYASHIO suffers another major induced explosion as some of her torpedoes exploded, and it is decided she should be sunk. SHIRATSUYU opens 5" inch gunfire, and at 2305 HAYASHIO's hulk sinks. Three officers and forty-seven petty officers and men are lost, but the others including Commander Kaneda (to C.O. NIIZUKI) Torpedo Officer Lt Kuwahara, Navigator Lt (j.g.) Asano, Chief Engineer Lt Uchida and six badly wounded, are rescued. (It is not stated how many of the lost were soldiers).[1]
- Though the squadron is close to its destination by now, Captain Tachibana judges the danger too great, and calls off the mission. The ships return to Rabaul.
- [ Cdr Kaneda is later appointed Chief Equipping Officer of NIIZUKI. Lt Kuwahara is later appointed CO of CHIDORI. Lt (j.g.) Asano is later appointed CO of TAMAKUNI MARU NO. 3.]

25 November 1942:
- 0200 INAZUMA sends word she has HAYASHIO's survivors now aboard and is returning. [2]
- 1750 The other destroyers arrived back at Rabaul.

24 December 1942:
Removed from Navy List.