Japanese destroyer Kisaragi

Kisaragi was a Japanese destroyer during World War II in the Pacific, which had the distinction of being the second major Japanese warship sunk in the Pacific on December 11, 1941 during the Japanese attempted invasion of Wake Island.

The Kisaragi was one of 12 Mutsuki-class destroyers built between 1924 and 1927 for the Imperial Japanese Navy. They were in fact modified versions of a earlier Minekaze-class destroyer built bewtween 1918 and 1922. The Mutsuki class destroyers had a displacement of 1,314 tons, and were armed with two 4.7 inch guns and 10 25mm AA guns along with six 24 inch torpedo tubes with a crew of about 150 officers and men.

The Kisaragi, damaged earlier during the invasion fleet's battle with the U.S. Marine coastal defense guns on shore, sailed away with the battered invasion fleet from the battle where the damaged ships came under air attack by four Wildcat fighter planes from Wake armed with 100-pound bombs. One attack by a Wildcat, which dropped it's payload of bombs on the Kisaragi's stern which was packed with depth charges, caused the ship to blow up and sink with all hands about 30 miles southwest of Wake Island which was a finishing blow to the Japanese invasion fleet for it's attemted invasion of Wake Island.