Hibiki (響, "Echo")[1] was the twenty-second of twenty-four Fubuki-class destroyers, or the second of the Akatsuki class (if that sub-class is regarded independently), built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the inter-war period.

Construction of the advanced Fubuki-class destroyers was authorized as part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's expansion program from fiscal 1923, intended to give Japan a qualitative edge with the world's most modern ships.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hibiki was assigned to Destroyer Division 6 of Desron 1 of the IJN 1st Fleet, and had deployed from Mako Guard District to provide cover for Admiral Nobutake Kondō’s Southern Force, escorting Japanese troopships for landing operations in the Malaya and the invasion of the Philippines, and continued to support operations throughout the Philippines to the end of March 1942.

After repairs at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in April, Hibiki deployed from Ōminato Guard District in support of the invasion of Kiska in the Aleutians campaign of May–June 1942.

On 12 June, she was damaged at Kiska in an attack by United States Navy PBY Catalina flying boats, and was forced to return to Ōminato at the end of the month.

From the end of December to April 1944, Hibiki served as an escort for the aircraft carriers Hiyō, Ryūhō, and Chiyoda in various missions in the western Pacific and Netherlands East Indies.

[9] During the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Hibiki was assigned to the First Supply Force, and suffered minor damage and two crewmen killed in strafing attacks by U.S. aircraft.