Shiranui (不知火, alternatively Shiranuhi, Phosphorescent Light)[1] was the second 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).

The only break from this came at the biggening of March, where Shiranui involved herself in a small surface action when she helped to sink the Dutch freighter Modjokerto.

Shortly after escorting troop convoys during the battle of Midway, Shiranui's entire forward 3rd was blown off by a torpedo from the submarine USS Growler.

The planes sank or damaged 20 ships, including several battleships, but it was carried out solely by air attacks, with Shiranui seeing no direct role.

In February, she escorted the Japanese carriers in the Bombing of Darwin, and was then based at Staring-baai in Sulawesi, Netherlands East Indies for patrols south of Java.

[3][4] Shiranui departed Staring-bay on 27 March to escort the carrier force in the Indian Ocean raid throughout the early days of April.

After the Japanese air strikes on Colombo and Trincomalee in Ceylon, which sank a light carrier, two heavy cruisers, two destroyers, a corvette, and three merchant ships, she was part of the force which attempted to track down the American aircraft carriers responsible for the Doolittle Raid, but was forced to retreat to the Kure Naval Arsenal for repairs on 23 April.

On 5 July, Shiranui, Arare, and Kasumi were outside Kiska Harbor, when they were located by the submarine USS Growler, which submerged and quickly closed the range for an attack.

On 1 March, she was reassigned to the IJN 5th Fleet and was assigned to northern waters, making patrols from her base at Ominato Guard District in April, and returning with the cruisers Nachi and Ashigara to Kure at the start of August.

On 27 October she was sunk with all hands by dive-bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise,[5] 80 miles (130 km) north of Iloilo, Panay (12°0′N 122°30′E / 12.000°N 122.500°E / 12.000; 122.500).