Tarakan Island
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, "Suzukaze" 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, "Suzukaze" participated in operations in the Netherlands East Indies, including the invasion of Tarakan Island. She was later assigned to patrols of Staring Bay in the Sulawesi, where she was torpedoed on 4 February 1942 by the submarine . The resultant explosion killed nine crewmen and caused extensive damage, requiring a return to Sasebo Naval Arsenal at the end of March for repairs.