Usugumo (薄雲, "Thin Clouds") was one of six Murakumo-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 1890s and the only one not completed until 1900.

Authorized under the 1897 naval program,[2] Usugumo was laid down on 1 September 1898 by John I. Thornycroft & Company at Chiswick, England, as Torpedo Boat Destroyer No.

[5] As the Japanese moved to cut them off from Port Arthur, Reshitel‘nyi and Steregushchiy turned to starboard and made for the shelter of Russian minefields off Dalniy.

[6] As Reshitel‘nyi again altered course toward Port Arthur, where she arrived safely, the coastal artillery opened fire on the Japanese and discouraged them from continuing the chase.

The Japanese destroyers were larger and more heavily armed than Steregushchiy, and they opened an overwhelming fire on her in broad daylight.

One by one, Steregushchiy′s guns fell silent, and by 07:10 she was a motionless wreck with her hull mangled and almost her entire crew dead or dying.

At around the same time, however, the Russian armored cruiser Bayan and protected cruiser Novik approached under the personal command of the commander of the Russian First Pacific Squadron, Vice Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov, and the Japanese abandoned their towing attempt, rescued Steregushchiy′s four surviving crew members, and withdrew to avoid combat.

[10] The ugly mood of the Russian prisoners aboard Oryol prevented her Japanese commander from ordering Usugumo to go for help, as he believed he might need Usugumo′s crew to maintain order aboard Oryol, but around dawn on 29 May the Russians became more cooperative, and the Japanese commander sent Usugumo to request the assistance of a tug.

[13] Later that year, she took part[citation needed] in the Japanese seizure of the German Empire′s colonial possessions in the Caroline, Mariana, and Marshall Islands.

[2] On 1 August 1923, she stricken from the navy list, reclassified as a "general utility vessel" for use as a cargo ship, and simultaneously renamed No.