The name means wind that carries the ship. Hokaze was a Minekaze-class destroyer built at Maizuru Naval Arsenal. She was laid down on 30 November 1920, launched on 12 July 1921 and commissioned in December 1921. She served in Destroyer Division 4 with Hakaze, Akikaze and Tachikaze in the First Torpedo Squadron, and patrolled the China coast in 1938 and 1939.
At Pearl Harbor her division reported to Carrier Division 4. From late November to mid-December 1941 she escorted the carrier Taiyo from Sasebo to Takao and Palau and back. In early 1942 she escorted the carrier Shoho to Truk. In April she was assigned to the Fifth Fleet as escort for the cruiser Nachi, and from the end of May she worked out of Ominato, escorting the Kiska invasion transports.
In March 1943 she was repaired and fitted with sonar, and from April she escorted convoys out of Balikpapan. On 1 July 1943 USS Thresher torpedoed her in Makassar Strait while she was the only escort of a three-ship convoy, and she took moderate damage. She was repaired and escorted a convoy to Yokosuka. In March 1944 she escorted a convoy to Qingdao and joined the Ninth Fleet, and in April she went to western New Guinea.
On 2 July 1944 she left Ambon as a high-speed armed transport carrying emergency supplies to New Guinea. On 6 July USS Paddle torpedoed and sank her in the Celebes Sea off Sangir Island, 105 miles north-northeast of Menado. Some of the crew survived. Her captain, Lieutenant Commander Eiichi Someya, died with the ship. She was removed from the Navy List on 10 September 1944.
Sources: Wikipedia, Japanese destroyer Hokaze, rewritten here.