Ships
- IJN Yunagi Captain from 23 May 1943
Lieutenant Commander Masanori Kashima took command of the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Yunagi on 23 May 1943. He relieved Seiichi Okada, who had been captain since April 1942. The ship was then in the dockyard at Sasebo. Destroyer Division 29, her long-standing formation, had been disbanded on 1 April, and Yunagi had passed to the direct control of the Eighth Fleet.
Yunagi was a Kamikaze-class destroyer completed in 1925. In the Sasebo refit her after 120 mm gun and her after torpedo mount came off, the 7.7 mm machine guns were landed, and 25 mm antiaircraft guns were added so the old hull could escort ships and carry troops. Masao Yamashita had commanded her from 1940 through the opening months of the Pacific War, including operations in the central Pacific and the landings around Rabaul. Okada had her through the Guadalcanal campaign. Kashima took over a destroyer being fitted out for the transport work of 1943.
The refit finished in June. Yunagi reached Rabaul on 11 June 1943 and, after a short patrol around the base, carried troops to Kolombangara on 27 June. American forces had landed on nearby New Georgia, and Japanese destroyers were supplying the garrison on Kolombangara. On 2 and 3 July Kashima’s ship went out with the light cruiser Yubari, the destroyer Mikazuki, and other destroyers to shell Rendova, where American troops had just come ashore. The bombardment did little. On the way out the force exchanged fire with American motor torpedo boats.
On the night of 4–5 July Yunagi sailed with Niizuki and Satsuki on another run into Kula Gulf. American warships were sighted and the landing was abandoned. The Japanese destroyers fired torpedoes as they withdrew, and the destroyer USS Strong sank. The torpedo that hit Strong is credited to Niizuki. On 9 July Yunagi was off Kolombangara again with Satsuki, Minazuki, and Matsukaze, and the ships put 1,200 soldiers and 85 tons of supplies ashore at Vila, on the south coast. On the night of 12–13 July she sailed with the reinforcement group while a separate Japanese force fought the Battle of Kolombangara.
American aircraft caught Yunagi in the Shortland Islands on 17 July and damaged her hull and part of her armament. She made Rabaul for emergency repair. On 30 July she left with Minazuki and two transports and reached Truk on 2 August. She was back on duty in the Solomons by the beginning of October. On 2 October, with Kashima still in command, she helped cover the evacuation of Japanese troops from Kolombangara. His command of Yunagi ended on 20 October 1943.