in the sinking of the Australian cruiser and the American cruiser . Shirayuki took a shell hit direct to her bridge during the battle, killing one crewman and injuring 11 others. In early March, Shirayuki escorted a troop convoy from Singapore to Burma, and participated in "Operation D", the invasion of the Andaman Islands on 23 March. During the Indian Ocean raids, Shirayuki was assigned to patrols out of Port Blair. From 13–22 April, Shirayuki returned via Singapore and Camranh Bay to Kure Naval Arsenal, for maintenance. On 4–5 June, Shirayuki participated in the Battle of Midway as part of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's main fleet. In July 1942, Shirayuki sailed from Amami-Oshima to Mako Guard District, Singapore, Sabang and Mergui for a projected second Indian Ocean raid. The operation was cancelled due to the Guadalcanal campaign, and she was ordered to Truk and Rabaul instead. From August through November, Shirayuki was used for numerous "Tokyo Express" high speed transport missions in the Solomon Islands. On 12 October, she rescued the survivors of her sister ship , which had been torpedoed. On 14–15 November, Shirayuki was involved in the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. She was initially attached to Admiral Kurita’s support force, and then joined Admiral Kondo’s emergency bombardment force. Together with the light cruiser , Shirayuki assisted in sinking two of the four American destroyers involved ( and ) mortally wounding (which was scuttled after the battle), and severely damaged , causing heavy American losses in the first phase of the battle. Shirayuki returned briefly to Kure at the end of the year, as escort for the aircraft carrier . In January 1943, Shirayuki returned to the Solomon Islands as part of a major reinforcement convoy from Shanghai, arriving with Rear Admiral Shintarō Hashimoto at Shortland Island at the end of January, and serving as the admiral’s flagship during the evacuation of Guadalcanal in February. Shirayuki was reassigned to the IJN 8th Fleet on 25 February . During the Battle of the Bismarck Sea on 1–4 March, Shirayuki was flagship for Rear Admiral Masatomi Kimura, leading a troop convoy from Rabaul to Lae. In an Allied air attack on 3 March, a skip-bomb exploded in her aft magazine, severing her stern, and killing 32 crewmen. Shirayuki sank southeast of Finschhafen at position . The survivors, who included Admiral Kimura and her captain Commander Sugawara were rescued by . On