Shigure also had this same charm/curse: In August 1943 she had survived the Battle of Vella Gulf, when all three of her comrades of Desdiv 4 were blown out of the water by American destroyer torpedoes.
Again at the Battle of Surigao Strait in the Leyte Operation of October 1944, Shigure alone survived the terrible night engagement that wiped out the entirety of the rest of Vice Admiral Nishimura's battleship force.
And following the old Japanese proverb: "A thing repeated will occur a third time.", Shigure sailed alongside the aircraft carrier Unryuu and the Matsu-class destroyers Hinoki and Momi (52th DesDiv) to the Phillipines in order to provide a shipment of 30 "Ohka" rocket-kamikazes, which were expected to be used against MacArthur's inevitable invasion of the archipelago.
The Unryuu was sunk by the submarine USS Redfish in December 19th 1944, Hinoki depth charged the submarine after it fired a single Mark 23 torpedo at a distance of 1,100 yards from the Unryuu (badly damaged by the first torpedo salvo) for two hours, without success, while Momi and Shigure rescued the survivors of the Unryuu: 1 officer, 87 petty officers and men, and 57 "passengers".
After that, Momi and Hinoki sailed towards China, while Shigure remained behind in order to trap the Redfish, but she found nothing. The Redfish finally made its escape at morning on surface at full speed, and to add insult to the injury Shigure's steering motor valves failed, forcing her to return to Sasebo instead of following the planned China-Phillipines route.
Hinoki and Momi arrived at Manila on January 4th 1945, however MacArthur's forces arrived off Manila the very next day and the 52th DesDiv was ordered to make a break to Formosa, but they were discovered by the american forces.
Despite fierce kamikaze attacks to help the destroyers, the odds caught up to them: Hinoki took a bomb hit at 17:17, killing 21 and wounding 45 officers and men. The Momi was torn apart by an aerial torpedo at 19:10 and sank with all hands: 210 officers and men. Hinoki managed to stagger back to Manila on Januart 6th, before making a desperate dash for St. James on January 7th at 15:30.
Hinoki was intercepted by American destroyers and after a fierce gunfire duel that lasted less than an hour, she sank at 22:57 with all hands in the last surface battle of the US Navy with the Imperial Japanese Navy. Completing the morbid cycle of Shigure's charm/curse.
Being the sole survivor for the third time, Shigure's remaining lives were finally expended when she departed for her next assigment: escorting the aircraft carrier Ryuuhou to Formosa, finally being claimed by the sea on January 24th 1945.
