On 19 February, Tanikaze escorted Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū and Hiryū during an air strike on Port Darwin which sank eight troopships and the destroyer USS Peary.

On 27 March, Tanikaze departed alongside the Kido Butai to escort them during the Indian Ocean raid, which lasted throughout early April and sank several major British warships.

On 5 June, the day after the main Battle of Midway, Tanikaze was sent by Admiral Nagumo to ensure the last IJN aircraft carrier Hiryū had actually sunk, to scuttle her if necessary, and collect any survivors.

After they were unable to locate the aircraft carrier (she had sunk about an hour earlier), the dive bombers turned back to simultaneously attack the hapless Japanese destroyer, since their bombs needed to be jettisoned before landing anyway.

Through aggressive maneuvering (zig zagging) by the ship's Captain Katsumi Motoi (勝見 基), not one of the 61 dive bombers managed a direct hit, although shell fragments and shrapnel from a near-miss slashed across the No.3 aft 12.7 cm gun turret and triggering an explosion inside the turret that killed all of its six crew.

Anti-aircraft fire from the Tanikaze managed to down one of the attacking dive bombers, piloted by Lt. Adams of USS Enterprise's VS-5, plunged into the wake of the maneuvering destroyer.

A short time later, five Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress level bombers operating out of Midway attacked Tanikaze from an elevation of 11,000 feet (3,400 m).

Tanikaze arrived too late to inspect the Hiryū's hulk, which had already sunk, and instead returned to rendezvous with the combined fleet.

On 11 October, Tanikaze departed as an escort to Japanese aircraft carriers during an attempt to lure out and sink American shipping off Guadalcanal, mostly operating alongside Admiral Abe's vanguard force.

On the 15th, Zuikaku sank the destroyer USS Meredith, and on the 26th American aircraft carriers intercepted the Japanese ships in what became known as the battle of Santa Cruz.

After the battle, Tanikaze escorted the heavy cruiser Chikuma, which was damaged by dive bombers from Hornet, arriving at Truk on the 29th.

After escorting the light carrier Zuihō and the heavy cruiser Kumano to Japan, Tanikaze was drydocked in Kure from 2–7 November for maintenance.

On 7 December, Tanikaze attempted a supply run to Guadalcanal, but this was aborted due to PT boat attacks.

With the start of 1943, the Japanese combined fleet admiralty finally decided to cut their losses and retreat from Guadalcanal.

On 26 April, Tanikaze returned to Truk, and upon arrival Tomura Kiyoshi was relieved by commander Maeda Shinichirou.

None of the Japanese ships were damaged, and in turn Niizuki torpedoed and sank the destroyer USS Strong, but the troop transport mission was aborted.

[8] However, Tanikaze and Suzukaze were undamaged, and when Helena ran out of flashless powder, the ensuing gun flashes attracted their attention.

Two minutes later, two more torpedoes hit amidships, destroying her engine room and boilers and breaking her keel, alongside disabling all electrical power.

On 31 October, Tanikaze escorted several large warships to Kure, arriving on 6 November, where she was drydocked for repairs for the rest of the month.

The "damage" caused by the 6-inch (152 mm) dud hit back during the battle of Kula Gulf was finally repaired.

It also happened that the submarine USS Harder was also on patrol duties and was looking for Japanese shipping to sink, having just sank the destroyers Minazuki and Hayanami three and two days earlier.