the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in August 1942, and escorted the damaged aircraft carrier back to Truk. From September, she was assigned to patrols from Truk towards Shortland, and in October was assigned to "Tokyo Express" high speed transport operations in the Solomon Islands. On one of these missions on 5 October, she suffered moderate damage in an air attack, with serious flooding off Guadalcanal. She limped back to Yokosuka for repairs by the end of November. Repairs completed by 22 February 1943, Minegumo returned with a convoy to Truk. She continued on to Rabaul by 2 March. During another transport run from Rabaul to Kolombangara on 5 March Minegumo and are believed to have sunk the submarine . However, that same night, Murasame and Minegumo were detected by the American Task Force 68 off Vila, after delivering supplies to the Japanese base there. Both ships were sunk in the subsequent action (later known as the Battle of Blackett Strait) at . On Minegumo, 46 crewmen (including her captain, Lieutenant Commander Yoshitake Uesugi) perished, but 122 survivors later reached Japanese lines, and two were captured by the Americans. Minegumo was removed from the navy list on 1 April 1943. See also The Battle of Blackett Strait Notes References External links CombinedFleet.com: Asashio-class destroyers CombinedFleet.com: Minegumo history GlobalSecurity.org: Asashio class destroyers Naval Historical Center entry on the Minegumo Asashio-class destroyers World War II destroyers of Japan Shipwrecks in the Solomon Sea 1937 ships Maritime incidents in June 1941 Maritime incidents in March 1943 Ships built by Fujinagata Shipyards