However, things changed when from November 18-22, Hamakaze departed Saeki with the rest of destroyer division 17 for Hitokappu Bay to escort the Kido Butai aircraft carrier force on a secret mission, a mission which eventually became the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, which occurred on December 7.

[1][2] After a series of transits between ports, Hamakaze took part on her first troop transport run to Guadalcanal from August 8-14, a duty which overfilled her career for the following months.

The only break from these uneventful tasks was her role as a carrier escort during the battle of Santa Cruz on October 26, during which her task force came under heavy air attacks, damaging several Japanese ships (but failing to sink any), prompting Hamakaze to fire away against the attacking aircraft.

[1][2] At the start of February, Hamakaze took part in the evacuation of Guadalcanal, where she was damaged by a bomb hit from US aircraft that destroyed her forward turret.

From March 6-16, to kill two birds with one stone, the damaged Hamakaze impressively towed the crippled and disabled destroyer Michishio all the way from Truk to mainland Japan without being attacked by enemy forces, and was for her part docked in Kure for repairs afterwards, repairs that lasted until June.

In the resulting battle, the destroyers Niizuki and Nagatsuki were sunk, but in turn Niizuki torpedoed and sank the destroyer USS Strong while Suzukaze and Tanikaze torpedoed and sank the light cruiser USS Helena, while Hamakaze successfully assisted in landing 1,600 ground troops, albeit seeing no direct combat herself.

Hamakaze took about a half hour to reload her torpedoes and swerve back into firing range, her crew watched in amazement as every allied ship took aim at Yukikaze, yet failed to hit her even once.

On August 18, Hamakaze was involved in the battle off Horaniu, helping to defend Japanese troop transports against an American destroyer flotilla, where she was damaged by a single 5-inch (127 mm) shell hit.

[1]On 7 April 1945, Hamakaze escorted the battleship Yamato from the Inland Sea on her Operation Ten-Go attack on the Allied forces on Okinawa.

She was sunk by aircraft of Task Force 58 primarily from USS San Jacinto and sank 150 miles (240 km) southwest of Nagasaki (30°47′N 128°08′E / 30.783°N 128.133°E / 30.783; 128.133).