[2] The Imperial Japanese Navy was not entirely satisfied with the performance of the Shiratsuyu-class destroyer, particularly in terms of operational range and speed.

Later in the war, the number of depth charges was increased to 36, and to compensate for the weight, one set of four torpedo reloads was removed.

After 1944, surviving vessels were fitted with between eight and twelve additional single-mounts, and Kasumi received also two Type 93 13mm machine guns.

Two ships of the class, Arare and Kasumi escorted the Kido Butai as they attacked Pearl Harbor, December 7th 1941.

It was in the latter campaign that the class saw something of a highlight, starting on 19 February 1942 at the battle of the Badung Strait, where Asashio, Ōshio, Michishio, and Arashio chased off a larger allied cruiser task force from attacking a troop convoy.

During the action, Asashio torpedoed and sank the Dutch destroyer Piet Hein, making her the first ship to sink an enemy vessel with the type 93 torpedo, before winning a gunfight with the light cruiser Tromp, hitting her with eleven 5-inch (127 mm) shells, setting her on fire and forcing her to retire from the battle with heavy damage.

Asashio and Ōshio then combined fire to damage the destroyer USS Stewart so badly she could not be repaired before the fall of the Dutch East Indies, leading to her being scuttled in Surabaya.

[8] However, the class's glory days seemed to come to an end at the battle of Midway, June 4th, when both Asashio and Arashio were damaged by bomb hits, then a month later the class suffered its first loss as the submarine USS Growler launched a torpedo spread that sank Arare and crippled Kasumi.

[12] The remaining four ships of the class saw a large break afterwards for the next year, made up of uneventful transport missions and patrol duty without seeing combat.

The only exception came on November 19 1943, when Yamagumo sank the submarine USS Sculpin with mixed depth charge and surface gunfire attacks.

In an amazing feat of success, the destroyer USS McDermut managed to launch a torpedo salvo that hit every ship of the class besides Kasumi.

[12][14] Kasumi survived for several more months, but met her end on April 7, 1945, escorting battleship Yamato during Operation Ten-Go.