"Shiratsuyu" was laid down at Mitsubishi's shipyard in Nagasaki on 25 February 1905 and launched on 12 February 1906. Completed on 6 June, the ship saw service in World War I and participated in the Siberian Expedition. She was decommissioned on 1 April 1928, but was reclassified as a tugboat and dispatch boat on 1 August. The ship remained in use until 12 February 1930 and was subsequently broken up.