 Nyorai kupfuurira kweiyi ndima - Panguva yeKurwiswa kwePearl Harbor muna December 1941, Shirataka yakanga yakamira paTakao paTaiwan, uye yakanga yagoverwa kuOperation M, kupindirwa kuchamhembe kwePhilippines. MunaJanuary 1942, Shirataka yakatumirwa kuNetherlands East Indies theatre of operations, ichitsigira kupindirwa kweJapan kweTarakan neBalikpapan muBorneo uye kutora chikamu muHondo yeSunda Strait musi wa27 Kukadzi. Kubva musi wa 10 Kurume, akaendeswa kuAdmiral Nobutake Kondōs No.21 Special Base Force, Southern Expeditionary Fleet uye akaiswa kuSurabaya. Musi wa 1 Nyamavhuvhu, akabatana neAdmiral Gunichi Mikawas IJN 8th Fleet uye munaNovember, akaendesa makondirakiti kuShortland Island neBougainville. Pakupera kwegore racho, akanga ava kugara kuWewak. Musi wa 20 February 1943, Shirataka akapukunyuka pakurwiswa naBrigade pasina kukuvadzwa paakanga ari mubasa rokufambisa muBismarck Archipelago. Shirataka yakaramba iine basa rekufambisa motokari pakati pePalau neNew Guinea neSolomon Islands kusvika munaFebruary 1944, ichibatanidzwa neIJN 9th Fleet kubva munaNovember 15, 1943. 