[3] Maikaze saw various escorting duties throughout the Philippines and Dutch East Indies in the early parts of 1942 and served as a carrier escort during the Battle of Midway, where she survived American air attacks undamaged, then helped to evacuate and scuttle the Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi and Kaga.

Maikaze embarked on troop and supply transport missions throughout the Guadalcanal campaign, and on August 24 Maikaze escorted aircraft carriers during the battle of the Eastern Solomons, and on October 26 escorted carriers during the battle of Santa Cruz, and from December 13-18, she towed her crippled sistership Nowaki to Truk.

Three days later while escorting the remaining convoys, Maikaze located the submarine USS Argonaut attempting to intercept and sink the Japanese troop ships.

Alongside her sistership Isokaze, Maikaze furiously depth charged the area, forcing Argonaut to surface.

Maikaze responded with a full spread of torpedoes, which almost hit New Jersey, but in turn was blasted by the 8-inch (203 mm) guns of New Orleans and Minneapolis and New Jersey's 5-inch (127 mm) secondary batteries, reduced to a flaming hulk and sinking with all hands, including Commander Destroyer Division 4 (Captain Kenma Isohisa).