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Teruzuki Wreck Discovered: Japanese WWII Destroyer Found 83 Years After Sinking

The night was dark, and that’s how the Imperial Japanese Navy liked it. Known as the Tokyo Express by the Allies, the Japanese made supply runs down “the slot” to the Solomon Islands to resupply their forces. With Henderson Airfield still in action on Guadalcanal, the only weapon that the Japanese could bring to bear without losing entire convoys to air attack was the cover of darkness. 


On the night of December 11th, one such convoy was formed up with five destroyers carrying water-tight drums filled with supplies. The mission was to get close to Guadalcanal and dump the drums overboard, hoping the current would float the supplies ashore. Escorting these five ships were another five destroyers, including Teruzuki, an Akizuki-class destroyer that’s now the flagship of Destroyer Squadron 2.


Diagram of Japanese Terutsuki Class destroyer with side and top views. Includes specifications on length, armament, and propulsion.
Outline and profile drawing of a Japanese Akizuki-class destroyer, as edited by the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) in March 1943. Notably, the illustration mistakenly depicts a triple torpedo launcher—American analysts at the time were unaware that the Akizuki-class actually carried a quadruple mount.

As the convoy cut through the waters of the South Pacific, 14 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers, the deadly American planes featured at the Battle of Midway just months earlier, made their attack run. Fortunately for the Japanese convoy, they escaped without damage. The mission continued without further air assaults, enabling the convoy to slip their drums overboard in the inky darkness. 


Turning for home, the Teruzuki takes up position to cover the withdrawal of the convoy, cruising at 12 knots off the shores of Savo Island. From the darkness came speeding PT-37 and PT-40 of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3. Firing Mark 8 torpedoes, two of the weapons slammed into Teruzuki’s stern, disabling her rudder and one propeller, effectively taking her out of action. Breaking open its oil tank, the ship caught fire. For three hours, the ship burned, and the crew failed to control it. At 04:40, the fire detonated the aft depth charge magazine, sending her plummeting to the graveyard of Iron Bottom Sound. 


Map of Iron Bottom Sound near Guadalcanal, showing shipwreck locations in red text. Features Savo and Florida Islands. Tan land, blue sea.
Map showing the locations of World War II shipwrecks in Ironbottom Sound, Solomon Islands. Note that the exact positions of some wrecks remain uncertain.

Her captain,  Rear Admiral Raizō Tanaka, survived the engagement. But as with most IJN commanders who do not succeed or die at their post, he fell into disfavor and was transferred to Singapore at the end of December. He was then sent to Burma for shore duty in 1943, where he remained for the war, eventually being promoted to vice admiral on 15 October 1944. Of his crew, nine men were killed while another 193 were fished out of the water by two other IJN destroyers, Naganami and Arashi, that were part of the convoy. Another 156 swam ashore to Guadalcanal 


The morning of 12 December 1942 was the last time anyone saw Teruzuki. That was until Dr. Robert Ballard and a team of experts aboard Ocean Exploration Trust’s research vessel, Nautilus, sent two remotely-operated vehicles into those very same waters. Not knowing what vessel they had found at first, they were able to finally identify the wreck as Teruzuki, which rested 2,600 feet beneath the surface. She was found with her stern detached, though it was still intact, with her guns still aiming upward to defend against air attacks. 


Check out the footage here: 



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