was the twentieth of twenty-four s that were built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. Ushio was the only destroyer of the 20 ship strong Fubuki-class destroyers to survive World War II and was the only ship out of the 22 combat ships involved in the Pearl Harbor assault force to survive post-war. Ushio's only significant naval victory came by scoring primary credit for finishing off the badly damaged submarine USS Perch on 2-3 March 1942. She was sold for scrap in 1948.
History
Construction of the advanced Fubuki-class destroyers was authorized as part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's expansion program from fiscal 1923, intended to give Japan a qualitative edge with the world's most modern ships. The Fubuki class had performance that was a quantum leap over previous destroyer designs, so much so that they were designated . The large size, powerful engines, high speed, large radius of action and unprecedented armament gave these destroyers the firepower similar to many light cruisers in other navies. Ushio, built at the Uraga Dock Company was the tenth in an improved series, which incorporated a modified gun turret which could elevate her main battery of Type 3 127 mm 50 caliber naval guns to 75° as opposed to the original 40°, thus permitting the guns to be used as dual purpose guns against aircraft. Ushio was laid down on 24 December 1929, launched on 17 November 1930 and commissioned on 15 November 1931. Originally assigned hull designation “Destroyer No. 54”, she was designated Ushio before her launch.
Operational history
In 1932, after the First Shanghai Incident, Ushio was assigned to patrols of the Yangtze River. In 1935, after the Fourth Fleet Incident, in which a large number of ships were damaged by a typhoon, she, along with her sister ships, were modified with stronger hulls and increased displacement. From 1937, Ushio covered landing of Japanese forces in Shanghai and Hangzhou during the Second Sino-Japanese War. From 1940, she was assigned to patrol and cover landings of Japanese forces in south China, and subsequently participated in the Invasion of French Indochina.
World War II history
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Ushio was Captain Konishi Kaname's flagship of destroyer division 7 (Ushio, Sazanami, Akebono) of the IJN 1st Air Fleet, and had deployed from Tateyama Naval Air Station as part of the force which bombarded Midway Atoll in the opening stages of the war.
Ushio subsequently escorted aircraft carrier to Truk, at the Battle of the Coral Sea. On 4–5 June, Ushio participated in the Battle of Midway as was part of the diversionary Aleutian Invasion force and was subsequently based at Ōminato Guard District for patrols of northern waters until mid-July.
On 14 July, Ushio was reassigned to the Combined Fleet, and escorted the battleship and aircraft carrier at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August, returning with Yamato to Truk after the battle.
thumb|Ushio maneuvering alongside the sinking heavy cruiser [[Japanese cruiser Nachi|Nachi, 5 November 1944]]
She was then assigned to numerous "Tokyo Express" transport missions to various locations in the Solomon Islands in September. Through the end of 1943, Ushio served as an escort for , , , and Taiyō in various missions between the Japanese home islands, Truk, the Netherlands East Indies and the Philippines.
In early 1944, Ushio was assigned to escort duty, mostly of troop convoys from Truk. From April through August, she was based at Ōminato Guard District for patrols of northern waters, and escort of ships between Hokkaidō and Yokosuka or Kure.
thumb|Ushio anchored in Yokosuka after the end of WW2 in 1946
During the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Ushio was assigned to Admiral Kiyohide Shima's Diversionary Force at the Battle of Surigao Strait, remaining based in Manila after the battle to escort convoys in the Philippines, during which on 5 November she survived an air raid, rescued survivors from the sunken heavy cruiser Nachi, then towed the crippled Akebono back to Manila. She was damaged on 13 November during an American air raid on Manila that also sank the still crippled Akebono and three other anchored Japanese destroyers (Hatsuharu, Okinami, Akishimo), during which her starboard engine was disabled, and 23 crewmen killed. After temporally repairs were made in Singapore, the still damaged Ushio was reassigned to the IJN 2nd Fleet. In December, she assisted the damaged heavy cruiser and escort her to Japan to receive permanent repairs for both ships. However, while underway on the 13th, they were located by the submarine USS Bergall, which due to the shallow depth of the water surfaced to torpedo the Japanese ships above the waterline "like a PT-Boat". Right as the Japanese located her, one of Bergall's six torpedoes struck Myōkō and blew off her stern. Ushio returned fire and unloaded four salvos, the first scored a near miss, while the second landed a hit to the loading hatch and tore a large hole in the submarine's pressure hull as she just barely avoided destruction and dashed off. Ushio assisted the now crippled Myōkō in reaching Singapore where the cruiser spent the rest of the war.
Returning to Yokosuka Naval Arsenal for repairs, Ushio remained in Japanese waters until the surrender of Japan. On 18 July 1945 she provided antiaircraft fire to defend the battleship during the attack on Yokosuka. On 15 September 1945, Ushio was removed from the navy list. She was broken up for scrap in 1948.