Nobutake Kondō
"Suzukaze" was reassigned to the IJN 1st Fleet on 10 April, and back to the IJN 2nd Fleet on 14 June. In mid-August, she returned to active duty, escorting the aircraft carrier to Truk and continuing on to join the rest of the fleet at Guadalcanal. After the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 28 August, she escorted the damaged cruiser back to Truk. In the remainder of August through early November, "Suzukaze" participated in twelve "Tokyo Express" high speed transport runs or surface attack missions to Guadalcanal, as well as participating briefly in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on 26 October under Admiral Nobutake Kondō. During the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on the night of 12–13 November 1942, "Suzukaze" rescued 1100 survivors from the torpedoed transport "Naka Maru". For the rest of the month, "Suzukaze" patrolled between Shortland Island, Buna and Rabaul. During the Battle of Tassafaronga on 30 November, "Suzukaze" barely avoided being struck by a salvo of torpedoes fired from the American destroyer .