Tarakan Island
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, "Yamakaze" was assigned to Destroyer Division 24 of Destroyer Squadron 4 of the IJN 2nd Fleet together with her sister ships , , and , and had sortied from Palau as part of the Philippine invasion force, covering landings at Legaspi and Lamon Bay. From January 1942, "Yamakaze" participated in operations in the Netherlands East Indies, including the invasion of Tarakan Island, where she assisted in sinking the Royal Dutch Navy minelayer . She later covered landings at Balikpapan and Makassar, sinking the submarine in the Makassar Strait with her guns on 11 February. After participating in the invasion of eastern Java, "Yamakaze" engaged a group of Allied destroyers during the Battle of the Java Sea, and was credited with assisting in the sinking of the American destroyer , the British cruiser and destroyer .