Japanese destroyer Kashi (1944)

Authorized in the late 1942 Modified 5th Naval Armaments Supplement Program,^[7] Kashi was laid down on 5 May 1944 by Fujinagata Shipyards at their Osaka facility and launched on 13 August.^[8] Upon her completion on 30 September, the ship was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 11 of the Combined Fleet for training. Kashi escorted a convoy to Singapore during 14 November–4 December. She was assigned to Destroyer Division 52, Destroyer Squadron 11 of the Combined Fleet a day after the escort mission began. The division was transferred to Escort Squadron 31 of the 5th Fleet on the 20th. Kashi steamed from Manila, the Philippines, to Cam Ranh Bay in occupied French Indochina on 15–16 December^[9] to participate in Operation Rei, an attack on the American forces at San Jose on the island of Mindoro. Five destroyers, including Kashi, escorted two cruisers that departed on 24 December. They were attacked by American aircraft late the next day;^[10] the ship was not a target during the attack and the Japanese ships returned to Cam Ranh Bay.^[9]

Kashi arrived in Takao, Taiwan, on 7 January 1945 and was moderately damaged by American aircraft on 21 January. The ship was able to reach Hong Kong two days later and then escorted a convoy from Shanghai to Moji on 2–7 February. She continued onwards to Sasebo, Japan, where she was docked for permanent repairs. On 5 February Escort Squadron 31 was transferred to the Combined Fleet. The ship arrived at Kure on 14 March and remained in the Seto Inland Sea for the rest of the war. The squadron was reassigned to the Second Fleet from 15 March to 20 April and then rejoined the Combined Fleet. Kashi was lightly damaged during the attacks on Kure and the Inland Sea in July. She was turned over to Allied forces at Kure at the time of the surrender of Japan on 2 September and was stricken from the navy list on 5 October.^[9] The destroyer was disarmed and used to repatriate Japanese personnel, operated by Japanese personnel under Allied control. After the conclusion of the repatriation mission in 1947, the ship was turned over to the United States on 7 August and scrapped by Kasado KB in Kobe, Japan,^[5] on 20 March 1948.^[11]

• Dodson, Aidan & Cant, Serena (2020). Spoils of War: The Fate of Enemy Fleets after Two World Wars. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4198-1.
• Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Nevitt, Allyn D. (1998). "IJN Kashi: Tabular Record of Movement". www.combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Stille, Mark (2013). Imperial Japanese Navy Destroyers 1919–45 (2): Asahio to Tachibana Classes. Botley, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-987-6.
• Sturton, Ian (1980). "Japan". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.