Futami was the second of two vessels in the Atami-class river gunboats built under the 1927 Fleet Building Program of the Imperial Japanese Navy for operations on the inland waterways of China.

She was propelled by two reciprocating engines with two Kampon boilers driving two shafts, producing 1,300 horsepower (970 kW) and had a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).

On 14 June 1933, she ran aground on uncharted rocks in the Yangtze River and could not be refloated and repaired until August.

[2] With the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Futami was based in Hankou, together with the minelayer Yaeyama, and gunboats Katata and Hozu and a detachment of 292 marines of the Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF) to protect Japanese residents in the interior of China.

She remained based out of Hankou throughout World War II and was removed from the navy list on 30 September 1945.