She was converted into a patrol boat in 1940 and spent the Pacific War on escort duties, mostly in Japanese waters.

The Momi class was designed with higher speed and better seakeeping than the preceding Enoki-class second-class destroyers.

[3] The turbines were designed to produce 21,500 shaft horsepower (16,000 kW) to give the ships a speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).

The ships carried a maximum of 275 long tons (279 t) of fuel oil which gave them a range of 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).

[5][6] Kiku, built at the Kawasaki Dockyard Co. shipyard in Kobe, was launched on 13 October 1920 and completed on 10 December 1920.