Hayanami was a Yugumo-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy, built at Maizuru Naval Arsenal. She was laid down on 15 January 1942, launched on 19 December 1942, and commissioned on 31 July 1943. Captain Itsuro Shimizu took command the day she entered service and was still her captain when she was lost.
The class followed the earlier Kagero design, with modest changes aimed at stronger defense against aircraft. A ship of the class was 119.17 meters long overall, 10.8 meters in beam, and 3.76 meters in draft, about 391 feet by 35 feet 5 inches by 12 feet 4 inches. She displaced 2,110 metric tons at standard load and 2,560 metric tons when deeply laden. Three Kampon water-tube boilers fed two geared turbines on separate shafts, together good for 52,000 shaft horsepower and a designed 35 knots. The crew numbered 228. Six 127-millimeter guns stood in three twin turrets, one ahead of the bridge and two aft, the inner after turret raised so it could fire over its partner. Those mounts could elevate to 75 degrees. Slow fire, slow training, and no director for high-angle shooting left the battery suited to surface targets. Light anti-aircraft guns began as four 25-millimeter pieces in two twin mounts, with further guns of that type added as the war went on. Eight 610-millimeter torpedo tubes, in two quadruple mounts with a reload for every tube, were the main offensive weapon, backed by two depth-charge throwers and 36 charges.
The first month after commissioning went to training. On 20 August 1943 she became flagship of Destroyer Division 32 under Captain Nakahara Giichiro, with Fujinami, Suzunami, and Tamanami the other ships of the division. From 15 to 20 October she led the division on troop-carrying passages from Saeki to Truk, then ran troops from Truk to Ponape on 22–24 October and again on 26–28 October. Between 3 and 5 November she screened Admiral Kurita’s cruiser force on the passage to Rabaul. After a further troop movement she took the damaged cruisers Maya and Noshiro back toward Truk and, on that same passage, assisted the damaged cruiser Agano. In December the division covered fleet units off the Marshall Islands and escorted tanker convoys on to Surabaya and Balikpapan.
Early in 1944 Hayanami stayed on escort duty, including about three months of work between Palau and Saipan. On 15 April 1944 Captain Orita Tsuneo relieved Nakahara Giichiro at the head of Destroyer Division 32. From 12 to 15 May she went with the fleet on its move from Lingga down to Tawi-Tawi. On 7 June she put to sea on patrol. Near Tawi-Tawi, in the Philippines, she was torpedoed and sank within a minute. Two hundred eight men were killed, Captain Orita Tsuneo among them, and the destroyer Urakaze took off forty-five survivors. Shimizu remained her commanding officer through that last day.