Natsugumo (夏雲, Summer Cloud) [1] was the seventh of ten Asashio-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the mid-1930s under the Circle Two Supplementary Naval Expansion Program (Maru Ni Keikaku).

She then assisted in the landings of Japanese forces at Tarakan, Balikpapan, Makassar and Java in the Netherlands East Indies.

Afterwards, she was reassigned to the Ominato Naval District and assigned to patrols of the Kurile Islands and north Pacific to mid-July.

Attacked by United States Navy dive bombers, near misses ruptured Natsugumos hull, and she sank after only 39 minutes at position 08°40′S 159°20′E / 8.667°S 159.333°E / -8.667; 159.333 approximately 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi) west-northwest of Savo Island.

The attack killed 16 crewmen, including her captain (LtCdr Moritaro Tsukamoto); the destroyer Asagumo took off her 176 survivors [6] She was removed from the navy list on 15 November 1942.