"Summer Tide")[1] was the sixth vessel to be commissioned in the 19-vessel Kagerō-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late-1930s under the Circle Three Supplementary Naval Expansion Program (Maru San Keikaku).

[2] Despite being one of the most powerful classes of destroyers in the world at the time of their completion, only one survived the Pacific War.

[3] Natsushio, built at the Fujinagata Shipyards, was laid down on 9 December 1937, launched on 23 February 1939 and commissioned on 31 August 1940.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Natsushio, was assigned to Destroyer Division 15 (Desdiv 15), and a member of Destroyer Squadron 2 (Desron 2) of the IJN 2nd Fleet, and had deployed from Palau, as part of the escort for the aircraft carrier Ryūjō in the invasion of the southern Philippines and minelayer Yaeyama.

Ten crewmen were killed in the attack, and the survivors were rescued by her sister ship Kuroshio.