Amatsukaze probably saw the highlight of her career at the first naval battle of Guadalcanal, November 13, 1942, fighting an allied cruiser force at point blank range.

After the war, Tameichi Hara published a book on his experiences as a destroyer captain, which included a detailed service of his time aboard Amatsukaze and the combat she went through.

Amatsukaze fired her 12.7 cm (5 in) guns at the enemy, forcing them to retreat and killing many of them, and in the process a stray shell hit a British oil tanker, causing it to explode and burn for over three days before being deemed a total wreck.

Amatsukaze attacked twice with depth charges, and a large oil spill could be spotted, leading Captain Hara to conclude the submarine sunk.

[8] After a series of patrol duties and transiting from various naval facilities, on January 9, 1942, Amatsukaze departed Magnaga Bay, and met with the Menado invasion force on the 11th.

However, a spotting plane met the destroyers and informed their crews of an Allied force of five cruisers attempting to sink enemy troop convoys.

In the aftermath of the battle on the 28th, Amatsukaze spotted the hospital ship Op Ten Noort, which was rescuing survivors from various sunken Allied warships.

[10][8] On March 1, Amatsukaze dropped off Op Ten Noort to Bandjermasin, where she was converted into the prison ship Tenno Maru, then refueled to engage in patrol duty in the Java Sea.

[5][9][4] All was quiet on the 2nd, but on the night of the 3rd, Captain Hara from the bridge noticed a dim flickering light which dissipated after a few moments and viewed it though his binoculars.

[5][9][4][11][12][Note 3] On March 31, Amatsukaze took part in shore bombardment duties on Christmas Island, which contained very rich phosphate ore deposits.

On April 1, Amatsukaze witnessed the light cruiser Naka's bow being blown off by a torpedo fired from the submarine USS Seawolf before escorting her to Singapore.

On the 24th, Amatsukaze escorted a decoy aircraft carrier force during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, and evaded the incoming land-based and carrier-based air attacks.

[16][18] Eventually, the way was cleared and Captain Hara ordered Amatsukaze to charge at full speed to engage and sink enemy warships, hoping to put his knowledge in torpedo warfare to use.

The torpedo broke her keel, disabled all electrical power, and left her limping at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph), forcing the cruiser to withdraw from the battle.

[16][18] After helping to sink Juneau, Amatsukaze attempted to regroup with Hiei, whose flames from cruiser and destroyer gunfire made her the only recognizable ship.

It had no signs of activity, and Captain Hara did not recognize the ship's silhouette, initially believing the submarine tender Jingei had somehow stumbled her way into the battle.

However, upon the searchlight's activation, he realized the mysterious ship was none other than the crippled heavy cruiser USS San Francisco, so badly mauled by Hiei and Kirishima's gunfire she did not even resemble a warship, yet remained afloat.

12.7 cm (5 in) shells destroyed San Francisco's remaining port side secondary battery and set fire to her bridge, killing several of her officers and crew.

[16][20] Despite the damage, Amatsukaze's engine was intact, and her crew managed to manually control the rudder near the ship's stern and hid in her smokescreen for emergency repairs.

[5] On January 11, 1944, Amatsukaze departed in the South China Sea to escort high speed oil tankers to Singapore, when en route the task force was located by the submarine USS Redfin.

With a length of just 72.4 meters (237 ft 6 in), Amatsukaze was armed with four 12.7 cm (5 in) guns in two aft twin turrets, and a single quadruple torpedo tube mount.

Her experienced captain, Tomoyuki Morita, was transferred from Kasumi to Amatsukaze, as the Japanese had a plan in mind to get the destroyer back to mainland Japan where she could be fully repaired.

[5][4] After a short period of training duties, Amatsukaze departed Singapore on March 19 to escort a total of seven troop ships to Japan.

Two days after departure Sarawaka Maru hit a mine and sank, but for the next week the rest of the convoy sailed relevantly smoothly.

However, Amatsukaze's part of the plan was partially successful, as she managed to make it to Hong Kong, bringing the destroyer halfway closer to her destination of Japan.

However, the next day the force was spotted by allied aircraft, and an attack by land-based bombers sank both of her accompanying troop ships, prompting Amatsukaze to rescue survivors and return to Hong Kong.

The very next day, Amatsukaze departed Hong Kong for the final time alongside the submarine chasers CD-1 and CD-134 in yet another desperate attempt to arrive at mainland Japan.

However, the half destroyer continued on as damage control quickly put the fires out and attempted to make it look like the ship was already sinking to avoid further air attacks.

However, this attempted disguise failed to fool the enemy as a final wave of aircraft hit Amatsukaze with a bomb in her wardroom and several rockets, resetting the ship on fire and leaving her dead in the water with a loss of all power.

Amatsukaze has received praise in several American and Japanese history books for her notable role in the naval battle of Guadalcanal, survival after being blown in half, and final stand against overwhelming forces.