[2] Tamanami was commissioned at Osaka on April 30 1943 in the middle of WW2 for Japan, and was thus immediately relegated to destroyer division 11 for training duties, transiting between Kure and Hashirajima operating alongside the first fleet.

[5][6] On June 23, Tamanami departed Hashirajima to rescue survivors from the sunken transport ship Sagara Maru, then on the 28th practiced towing the battleship Nagato, managing a speed of 12 knots.

From September 18-25, Tamanami escorted the combined fleet on a mission to counterattack US carrier raids, but this did not yield combat.

From October 14-19, she escorted the aircraft carrier Junyō to Truk, then spent November operating with heavy cruiser groups.

From May 10-16, Tamanami escorted Musashi and several light carriers to Tawitawi, and from June 19-20 escorted Admiral Kurita's vanguard force at the battle of the Philippine Sea, where the force came under light air attacks from US aircraft carriers, but Tamanami was not damaged.

Within an instant, anything that could explode did and Tamanami rapidly sank, and within a few moments, there was not a single trace of the destroyer left.