Japanese destroyer Hatsuzuki

 was an destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Her name means "New Moon (in Autumn)" or "(another name of) August".
Design and description.
The "Akizuki"-class ships were originally designed as anti-aircraft escorts for carrier battle groups, but were modified with torpedo tubes and depth charges to meet the need for more general-purpose destroyer. Her crew numbered 300 officers and enlisted men. The ships measured overall, with a beam of and a draft of . They displaced at standard load and at deep load.
The ship had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of for a designed speed of . The ship carried up to of fuel oil which gave them a range of at a speed of .
The main armament of the "Akizuki" class consisted of eight Type 98 dual purpose guns in four twin-gun turrets, two superfiring pairs fore and aft of the superstructure. They carried four Type 96 anti-aircraft guns in two twin-gun mounts. The ships were also armed with four torpedo tubes in a single quadruple traversing mount; one reload was carried for each tube. Their anti-submarine weapons consisted of six depth charge throwers for which 72 depth charges were carried.
Career and fate.
In October 1944 "Hatsuzuki" was part of the Northern Force commanded by Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa, in the Japanese attack on the Allied forces supporting the invasion of Leyte. 
At 1940 on the 25 October, during the Battle off Cape Engaño, Hatsuzuki encountered a detachment of Halsey's Task Force 34 (TF.34) consisting of the four cruisers USS New Orleans, USS Wichita, USS Santa Fe and USS Mobile and at least 9 destroyers. Hatsuzuki single-handedly faced off against this overwhelming force for the next two hours while covering the escape of survivors of the aircraft carriers , and by the Destroyers , "Kuwa and the Light cruiser Isuzu", eventually exploding and sinking at 2059. ENE of Cape Engaño ().
The only survivors of her crew were 8 men in a lifeboat with 17 Zuikaku crewmen who made their way to Luzon by the 14th November, having been providentially cast off when Hatsuzuki got underway to engage the enemy.