Ships
- IJN Michishio Captain from 2 May 1944
Lieutenant Commander Masaaki Hirata of the Imperial Japanese Navy became captain of the destroyer Michishio on 2 May 1944. He succeeded Noboru Haraguchi, who had commanded the ship since 15 October 1943.
Michishio was the third ship of the Asashio class. Built at the Fujinagata yard in Osaka, she was commissioned on 31 October 1937. Heavy damage earlier in the war had kept her under long repair, and she returned to fleet duty only late in 1943. In the opening months of 1944 she spent much of her time escorting major units between Japan and the central Pacific. By spring she was serving in Destroyer Division 4, and that was the ship Hirata took over.
His appointment lasted until 10 May 1944. On 1 June, Tomoo Tanaka became commanding officer. Under Tanaka, Michishio screened carriers during the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June and afterward stayed with the surface fleet as it gathered in the Singapore and Lingga area.
In the second half of October she left Brunei with Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura's Southern Force, headed for Leyte Gulf through Surigao Strait. Before dawn on 25 October 1944, American destroyers attacked the column with torpedoes. Michishio was hit, lost way, and sank in the strait near 10°25′N, 125°23′E. Tanaka was among the few survivors picked up and taken prisoner. The Navy removed Michishio from the list of active ships on 10 January 1945.