Shirakumo (白雲, "White Cloud") was the lead ship of two Shirakumo-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the early 1900s.

[4] The war began that evening with the Battle of Port Arthur, a Japanese surprise attack on Imperial Russian Navy warships anchored in the outer roadstead of the Russian naval base at Port Arthur, China.

[4][6] Responding to a signal from the unprotected cruiser Chihaya on the afternoon of 27 May, the 4th Destroyer Division (Asagiri, Asashio, Murasame, and Shirakumo) mounted a torpedo attack against the damaged Russian battleship Knyaz Suvorov.

[7] Although Asagiri, Asashio, and Murasame launched their torpedoes at ranges of from 800 metres (870 yd) down to 300 metres (330 yd) and Murasame scored an apparent hit that caused Knyaz Suvorov to heel 10 degrees, Shirakumo did not fire, finding that Knyaz Suvorov had lost all steaming power and come to a stop before she could achieve a firing position.

[1] On 1 April 1923, she was stricken from the naval register and reclassified as a utility vessel for use as an accommodation ship.