During the Pacific War, she participated in the Battle of Guam in December 1941 and the occupations of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in early 1942.

[5] Yūzuki, built at the Fujinagata Shipyards in Osaka, was laid down on 27 November 1926,[2] launched on 4 March 1927[4] and completed on 25 July 1927.

[6] In the late 1930s, she participated in combat during the Second Sino-Japanese War, covering the landings of Japanese troops in central and southern China, and the Invasion of French Indochina.

During the invasion of Tulagi on 3–4 May 1942, Yūzuki was strafed in an air attack, which killed 10 crewmen, including her captain, Lieutenant Commander Hirota Tachibana, and injured 20 more.

On 31 August, Yūzuki helped screen the Nauru and Ocean Island invasion force during Operation RY, and patrolled in the central Pacific to the end of the year.

[5] After maintenance at Sasebo in January 1943, Yūzuki returned to Truk in February and resumed her patrols in the central Pacific to November 1943, on numerous occasions rescuing crews of torpedoed transports.

From the end of February to May, Yūzuki was based at Palau and assisted in rescuing the survivors of the torpedoed light cruiser Yūbari on 27 April.

On 12 December, while escorting a troop convoy from Manila to Ormoc, Yūzuki was sunk by USMC aircraft, 65 miles (105 km) north-northeast of Cebu at coordinates 11°20′N 124°10′E / 11.333°N 124.167°E / 11.333; 124.167, with 20 crewmen killed and 217 survivors.