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October 2022 1 2 Report
IJN Ayanami Destroyer no. 45, a Fubuki-class Special Type II (Ayanami) Destroyers.

Laid down at 20 January 1928 and Launched on 5 October 1929, Ayanami being the first 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. And so Ayanami become the first ever destroyer to have a duel purpose guns in the world.

Ayanami would then partake on numerous engagement, but her most famous and last engagement was the second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.

Ayanami's final mission, on November 14–15, 1942, was that of the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. There, she was attached to a scouting force under the command of Rear Admiral Shintarō Hashimoto in the light cruiser Sendai. When American Admiral Willis A. Lee's Task Force 64 was spotted near Savo Island, Hashimoto took his ships clockwise around the island, but sent Ayanami alone in the opposite direction sweeping for enemy vessels. When Lee's ships were located, the order to attack was given, and as such, Ayanami became one of three prongs in the initial attack (Along with Hashimoto's group, and another group led by Rear Admiral Susumu Kimura in the light cruiser Nagara).

Ayanami was first sighted by the American destroyer USS Walke, but the light cruiser Nagara was located soon after and the four destroyers' attentions shifted to it. Torpedo and shellfire from Ayanami, Nagara, and Uranami sank two of the four destroyers (USS Preston and USS Walke), mortally wounded USS Benham (which was scuttled after the battle), and severely damaged USS Gwin, causing heavy American losses in the first phase of the battle.

Lee's USS Washington then sighted Ayanami and shelled her. The Japanese destroyer sustained critical damage and 27 of her crew were killed; she fired one shell, which missed Washington. Thirty surviving crew members including Commander Sakuma escaped in a boat to Guadalcanal; the remainder were taken off by Uranami. At the same time Washington crippled and sank the battleship Kirishima. Later in the night Uranami scuttled the abandoned Ayanami with a single torpedo, and she sank soon after 02:00. Her wreck remains at the bottom of Ironbottom Sound.​

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