[citation needed] The Tenryū-class vessels, termed "small-model" (or "3,500-Ton") cruisers, were designed as fast flotilla leaders for the Imperial Navy's new first- and second-class destroyers.

The following year, Tatsuta was assigned to the IJN 2nd Fleet, and patrolled the east coast of Russia, providing support to Japanese troops in the Siberian Intervention against the Bolshevik Red Army.

[4] In 1923, in the aftermath of the Great Kantō earthquake, Tatsuta made use of its high speed to transport emergency relief supplies from Kure to Tokyo.

From 15 November 1934, Tatsuta, under the command of Captain Chūichi Hara, was made flagship of the 5th Destroyer Squadron within the IJN 3rd Fleet and was assigned to patrols of the China coast.

As a component of the IJN 5th Fleet, on 10 May 1938 she covered the landing of Japanese forces at Amoy and on 1 July 1938 supported operations in Guangzhou.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, CruDiv 18 had deployed from Kwajalein as part of the Wake Island invasion force.

Tatsuta was strafed with machine-gun fire by a USMC Grumman Wildcat on 11 December, but otherwise suffered no damage during the first Battle of Wake Island.

[4] During a refit at Truk on 23 February, two additional Type 96 twin-mount 25 mm AA guns were installed aft, as part of the heightened awareness of the threat posed by American aircraft.

[4] Tatsuta and Tenryū were both assigned to the aborted "Operation Mo" (the occupation of Port Moresby, and covered the establishment of a seaplane base at Rekata Bay at Santa Isabel Island from 3–5 May.

The operation was cancelled following the Battle of the Coral Sea, and Tatsuta was recalled to Maizuru Naval Arsenal in Japan for repairs on 24 May, remaining for a month.

Tatsuta and Tenryū escorted a convoy to Guadalcanal on 6 July, which contained an engineering battalion assigned to build an airstrip.

On 8 June, while Tatsuta was moored near Hashirajima, the battleship Mutsu exploded and sank due to an accidental magazine explosion.

[1] In view of the worsening military situation for Japan on the islands of the Pacific, on 20 October 1943 "Tatsuta" was sent to Truk and made several troop transport runs to Ponape over the next couple of weeks.

On 13 March 1944 the convoy was attacked by the submarine USS Sand Lance, on her first war patrol, 40 miles (64 km) NNE of Hachijōjima (32°52′N 139°12′E / 32.867°N 139.200°E / 32.867; 139.200).