Construction of the advanced Hatsuharu-class destroyers was intended to give the Imperial Japanese Navy smaller and more economical destroyers than the previous Fubuki and Akatsuki-class destroyers, but with essentially the same weaponry.[3] These conflicting goals proved beyond contemporary destroyer design, and the initial ships of this class were top-heavy design, with severe stability problems and with inherent structural weaknesses. After the "Tomozuru Incident" of 1934 and "IJN 4th Fleet Incident" in 1935, Yūgure underwent extensive design changes and modifications prior to launch to remedy these issues.
In May, Yūgure was assigned escort the cruisers Myōkō and Haguro back to Kure. During the Battle of Midway, she was part of the escort for the Aleutian diversionary force under Admiral Shirō Takasu. Reassigned to the IJN 2nd Fleet on 14 July, she was then detached for temporary duty with the IJN 4th Fleet in a sortie from Truk to Jaluit on 20 August. After bombarding Ocean Island on 23 August, a landing party from Yūgure occupied that island on 26 August as part of "Operation RY" until relieved by a garrison force on 30 August. Yūgure was then assigned to the Solomon Islands, participating in numerous Tokyo Express high speed transport runs throughout the Solomon Islands through January 1943. Although she did not participate in the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, she assisted in rescue operations afterwards, taking on crew from the stricken battleship Hiei
After returning to Sasebo for repairs through the middle of January 1943, Yūgure escorted a convoy to Qingdao, and from there to Palau and Wewak by the end of February. She escorted another convoy from Truk to Wewak and back to Yokosuka in March and again in May. She returned to Truk at the end of the month as escort for the carrier Unyō, returning with the battleship Musashi at the end of May. In early June, she escorted the aircraft carrier Hiyō to Truk, and returned with the same damaged ship a few days later. In late June, she escorted the carrier Ryūhō from Yokosuka to Truk. In early June, she was assigned to cover troop transport runs to Kolombangara.
However, a few days later on the night of 19 July 1943, while on a troop transport run to Kolombangara, Yūgure was bombed and sunk by U.S. MarineGrumman TBF Avengers from Guadalcanal, north-northwest of Kolombangara (07°25′S156°45′E / 7.417°S 156.750°E / -7.417; 156.750). The rescue destroyer Kiyonami picked up about twenty survivors but was sunk in turn soon thereafter, leaving no survivors from Yūgure's crew of 228 men, and only one survivor from Kiyonami herself.[5][6]
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1961). Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944, vol. 7 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ASIN B0007FBB8I.
Watts, Anthony J (1967). Japanese Warships of World War II. Doubleday. ISBN978-0-3850-9189-3.
Whitley, M J (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN1-85409-521-8.
Nishidah, Hiroshi (2002). "Hatsuharu class destroyers". Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2009-09-27.