Japanese minelayer Sarushima

On completion, Sarushima was assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District. After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, she was dispatched to patrol the inland waters of China, and was based at Jiujiang under the China Expeditionary Fleet on July 1, 1938.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Sarushima was assigned to the Yokosuka Guard District, remaining in Japanese home waters for most of the duration of the war, and occasionally escorting convoys to the Bonin Islands.

On April 15, 1944, Sarushima departed Tokyo with a convoy for Saipan, returning safety on May 4. On May 17, she departed with another convoy for Saipan and Guam. During the return leg of the voyage, the convoy was attacked on June 2 by USS Shark (SS-314) (which sank one transport), and on June 4 by USS Flier (SS-250) (which sank another). Sarushima launched depth charges, but failed to sink either submarine.^[2]

On June 28, Sarushima escorted a convoy from Tokyo to Chichijima in the Bonin Islands. On the return voyage, the convoy was attacked by United States Navy carrier-based aircraft, which sank all of the ships in the convoy, including Sarushima at position 12°15′N 121°00′E / 12.250°N 121.000°E / 12.250; 121.000. Sarushima was removed from the Navy List on September 10, 1944.^[3]

• Brown, David (1990). Warship Losses of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-914-X.
• Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
• Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Watts, Anthony J (1967). Japanese Warships of World War II. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-3850-9189-3.

• Nishida, Hiroshi. "Materials of IJN". Imperial Japanese Navy. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
• Nevitt, Allyn D. (1999). "IJN Sarushima: Tabular Record of Movement". Long Lancers. Combinedfleet.com.