Shikinami saw various escorting duties during the early parts of the war, then served in the battle of the Sunda Strait, where she launched a torpedo that finished off the already crippled heavy cruiser USS Houston.

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, Shikinami was assigned to Destroyer Division 19 of DesRon 3 of the IJN 1st Fleet, and had deployed from Kure Naval District to the port of Samah on Hainan Island, escorting Japanese troopships for landing operations in the Battle of Malaya at the end of 1941.

Eventually, she made it to the clash while all three allied ships were still afloat, and attempted to charge the enemy but was fired on by Perth, and was damaged by a near miss which bent her propeller.

The American sailors strafed Shikinami with machine gunfire, the cruiser's only remaining offensive capability, but she charged on and fired a single torpedo at the wounded prey.

Three days later, Shikinami was tasked with another bombardment of Henderson Field alongside the light cruiser Sendai and the destroyers Fubuki and Suzukaze, but underway ran into the American patrol boat YP-346.

Three more days later, Sendai, Fubuki, Shikinami, and Suzukaze departed on another shore bombardment mission, shelling the beaches of Guadalcanal to support the battle of Edson's Ridge.

[7][13][14] During the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 14–15 November 1942 [15] Shikinami was attached to a scouting force under the command of Rear Admiral Shintarō Hashimoto in the light cruiser Sendai.

[16] After returning to Kure briefly in March, Shikinami continued to serve in an escort and transport role in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea area through the end of October 1943.

During a troop transport mission to Biak as flagship for Admiral Naomasa Sakonju, Shikinami came under a strafing air attack, which set fire to her depth charges, which were jettisoned just before they exploded, killing two crewmen and wounding four others.

On 12 September, after departing Singapore with a convoy bound for Japan, Shikinami was torpedoed by the submarine USS Growler 240 nmi (440 km; 280 mi) south of Hong Kong at position 18°16′N 114°40′E / 18.267°N 114.667°E / 18.267; 114.667.