Name Translation: “Chrysanthemum Moon”

Initial Command Structure:
Ship's captain: Lieutenant Commander Mori Koukichi [57] (prev. C.O. SAWAKAZE). Assigned to Desdiv 23 (KIKUZUKI, YUZUKI, UZUKI), Cardiv 2, First Air Fleet. Flagship of Desdiv 23.

23-27 November 1941:
Desdiv 23 escorted troop convoys from Sakaide to Haha-jima.

4-8 December:
Departed Haha-jima, Desdiv 23 with Guam invasion force; then antisubmarine patrolling in that area.

10-12 January 1942:
Desdiv 23 steamed from Saipan to Truk.

23 January:
Desdiv 23 with Kavieng invasion force; then Rabaul-area patrol/escort duties.

9 February:
Desdiv 23 with Gasmata (New Britain) invasion force.

20-23 February:
Desdiv 23 steamed from Kavieng to Truk.

2 March-10 April:
Desdiv 23 escorted Admiral Goto's cover force out of Truk in support of Lae/Salamua, Northern Solomons, and Admiralty Islands invasions.

10 April:
Desdiv 23 reassigned to Desron 6, Fourth Fleet.

3-4 May:
With Tulagi invasion force. Sunk: in air attack on Tulagi Harbor (09-07 S, 160-12 E). Torpedo hit, dead in the water: 12 dead and 22 injured. Comdesdiv 23 (Commander Shimazui) transferred to YUZUKI; Lieutenant Commander Mori (to C.O. YUZUKI) also among survivors. Subchaser TOSHI MARU No. 3 towed and helped beach on Gavutu Island, but ship slid back into the sea on 5 May and sank. (Salvage crews from USS PROMETHEUS (AR-3) later got the wreck back onto the beach.)[1]

25 May 1942:
Removed from Navy List.

[1] Editorial Note: The wreck of the Kikuzuki actually remains where last placed as of 2003, and probably to this day. However, this position is not where sunk (or even where first beached in Tokio Bay by Prometheus' teams after salvage), and the wreck of Kikuzuki has had a complicated history. - See Shipwrecks of the IJN page.- (Tully).