1930 to 1932, Destroyer Division 2 was assigned to the 1st Air Fleet as part of the escort of the aircraft carrier , to assist in search and rescue operations for downed aircraft. At the time of the First Shanghai Incident of 1932, Minekaze was engaged in river patrol duties along the Yangzi River in China. In 1937–38, Minekaze was assigned to patrols of the northern and central China coastlines in support of Japanese efforts in the Second Sino-Japanese War. Pacific War At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Minekaze was based at the Chinkai Guard District in Korea, and was assigned to patrols of the Tsushima Straits and Chishima Islands coastlines. From April 1942, Minekaze was reassigned to the Sasebo Naval District for patrol and convoy escort duties. On 9 May, she assisted in the rescue of passengers from the Taiyō Maru, which had been sunk by an American submarine en route to southeast Asia with many civilian engineers and technicians. At the end of September, the destroyer escorted convoys to Saipan, Truk and Rabaul, and from the end of November 1942 to February 1944, was assigned to patrol and escort duties in the East China Sea. On 1 February 1944, Minekaze was reassigned to the 1st Surface Escort Division of the General Escort Command. Four days later, the ship departed Moji escorting a convoy bound for Takao. The convoy was spotted by the submarine off the east coast of Taiwan and Minekaze was torpedoed and sunk on 10 February 1944 approximately southeast of Wu-shih Pi, Taiwan at coordinates (). On 31 March 1944, Minekaze was removed from the Navy List. Notes References External links Minekaze-class destroyers on Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy Minekaze-class destroyers Ships built by Maizuru Naval Arsenal 1919 ships Second Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan World War II destroyers of Japan Ships sunk by American submarines World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Shipwrecks in the Philippine Sea Maritime incidents in February 1944