View source for Japanese destroyer Fujinami

{{Short description|Yūgumo-class destroyer}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=October 2024}}
{{for multi|the Japanese motorcycle rider|Takahisa Fujinami|the Japanese professional wrestler|Tatsumi Fujinami}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= Capt. Matsuzaki and Fujinami.JPG
|Ship caption= ''Fujinami'' with a portrait of Captain Tatsuji Matsuzaki
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= [[Empire of Japan]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|naval}}
|Ship name=''Fujinami''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Fujinagata Shipyards]], [[Osaka]]  
|Ship laid down=25 August 1942
|Ship launched=20 April 1943   
|Ship completed= 31 July 1943
|Ship acquired=  
|Ship commissioned=  
|Ship decommissioned= 
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck= 10 December 1944
|Ship homeport=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate= Sunk in action, 27 October 1944

|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption= 
|Ship class= {{sclass|Yūgumo|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement= {{convert|2520|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length= {{convert|119.15|m|ftin|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|10.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|3.75|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed= {{convert|35|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}} 
|Ship range= 
|Ship complement=228
|Ship armament=*6 × [[12.7 cm/50 Type 3 naval gun|{{convert|127|mm|abbr=on}}/50]] [[Caliber#Caliber as measurement of length|caliber]] [[dual purpose gun|DP]] guns
*up to 28 × [[Type 96 25&nbsp;mm AT/AA Gun|Type 96 {{convert|25|mm|in|abbr=on}}]] AA guns
*up to 4 × [[Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun|{{convert|13.2|mm|in|abbr=on}}]] AA guns
*8 × {{convert|610|mm|in|abbr=on}} [[torpedo tube]]s for [[Type 93 torpedo]]es
*36 [[depth charge]]s
|Ship armour=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
{{nihongo|'''''Fujinami'''''|藤波||}} was a {{sclass|Yūgumo|destroyer}} of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]. Her name means "Purple Wave" or "Waves of [[Wisteria]]s".<ref>[http://www.friesian.com/destroy.htm Destroyers].  The word ''nami'' means "wave" (e.g. [[Tsunami]]); the word ''fuji'' means "[[wisteria]]", and can allude to the color purple, the color of wisteria flowers.</ref>

==Service==
She was damaged by a dud aerial torpedo during an air raid at Rabaul on 5 November 1943, with one dead and nine wounded. The ship participated in the [[Battle of Philippine Sea]].

In the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]], ''Fujinami'' escorted the 1st Diversion Attack Force, commanded by Admiral [[Kurita Takeo]]. She sustained minor damage from the air attacks on 24–25 October due to near-misses and strafing.

In the [[Battle off Samar]] on 25 October ''Fujinami'' was detached to assist {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Chōkai||2}}, then she removed survivors and scuttled the cruiser with a [[torpedo]]. Some US survivors of the escort carrier {{USS|Gambier Bay|CVE-73|2}} have stated that the commanding officer Cmdr. Tatsuji Matsuzaki  restrained his men from firing on them as they floated by ''Fujinami'' and was allegedly seen to salute the American sailors.{{citation needed|date=August 2015|reason= No citation provided for this story}}

On 27 October, while steaming to assist the destroyer {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Hayashimo||2}}, ''Fujinami'' was sunk by aircraft from the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Essex|CV-9|6}}, {{convert|80|mi|km}} north of [[Iloilo]] ({{coord|12|0|N|122|30|E|display=inline, title}}). She was lost with all hands, including the ''Chōkai'' survivors. The [[commanding officer]] was Cmdr. Tatsuji Matsuzaki from 31 July 1943 – 27 October 1944 (KIA).

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger |publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7|chapter=Japan|first=Ian |last=Sturton|pages=167–217}}
*{{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia |year=2000| publisher=Cassell & Co.|location=London|isbn=1-85409-521-8|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}

==External links==
*[http://www.combinedfleet.com/yugumo_c.htm  CombinedFleet.com: ''Yūgumo''-class destroyers]
*[http://www.combinedfleet.com/fujina_t.htm  CombinedFleet.com: ''Fujinami'' history]
* [http://www.ouroldnavy.com/fujinami.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430023904/http://www.ouroldnavy.com/fujinami.htm |date=30 April 2009 }}

{{Yūgumo class destroyer}}
{{October 1944 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fujinami}}
[[Category:Yūgumo-class destroyers]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of Japan]]
[[Category:Destroyers sunk by aircraft]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Sulu Sea]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:Warships lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in October 1944]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by US aircraft]]
[[Category:Ships built by Fujinagata Shipyards]]