Tsubaki (椿, "Camellia") was one of 18 Matsu-class escort destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II.

Completed in late 1944, the ship began convoy escort duties in the Shanghai, China, area early the following year.

Tsubaki was damaged when American aircraft attacked targets in Japan in July and was not repaired before the end of the war several months later.

Designed for ease of production, the Matsu class was smaller, slower and more lightly armed than previous destroyers as the IJN intended them for second-line duties like escorting convoys, releasing the larger ships for missions with the fleet.

During this time, Tsubaki was moderately damaged when she struck a naval mine in the Yangtze River on 10 April that had been laid by American Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers.

She was turned over to Allied forces there at the time of the surrender of Japan on 2 September and was stricken from the navy list on 30 November.