with the other 21 survivors aboard to serve as POWs until the end of the war. Subsequently, she was assigned to escort the tanker Nippon Maru in the Marshall Islands area. In December, she returned to Japan with and , returning to Truk in the company of the battleship at the end of the year. On 1 January 1944 she suffered light damage when strafed during a Tokyo Express troop transport mission to Kavieng. She was escort for the tanker Kokuyo Maru in January, and made three additional troop transport runs in the Solomon Islands area in February. On 23 February, she returned to Yokosuka together with the transport Asaka Maru. While at Yokosuka, she was overhauled, and one of her main gun turrets was replaced by two triple Type 96 AA guns. In early April, she escorted the aircraft carrier to Guam, and back to Kure. In May, she escorted the carriers , and to Tawitawi, and the battleships Yamato and to Biak. During the Battle of the Philippine Sea of 10–20 June 1944, she was part of Admiral Takatsugu Jōjima’s “Force B”, but did not see combat. During the Battle of Leyte Gulf of 22–25 October 1944 she was part of Admiral Shōji Nishimura’s “Southern Force”. In the Battle of Surigao Strait, she was hit by torpedoes fired by the destroyer , and exploded, sinking at position . There were only two survivors. She was removed from the navy list on 10 January 1945. Rediscovery Yamagumo's wreck was discovered along with sister Michishio on 27 November 2017 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's research ship RV Petrel. Both wrecks are 1 mile (1.6 km) apart in 380 ft (117 m) of water. Both wrecks were heavily encrusted with marine growth, which combined with their close proximity, made it impossible to distinguish the two ships. Notes References External links CombinedFleet.com: Asashio-class destroyers Yamagumo history GlobalSecurity.org: Asashio class destroyers Asashio-class destroyers World War II destroyers of Japan 1937 ships Maritime incidents in October 1944 Shipwrecks in the Sulu Sea World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Shipwreck discoveries by Paul Allen Ships built by Fujinagata Shipyards 2017 archaeological discoveries