During the Battle of Bismarck Sea on 3 March 1943, Tokitsukaze was damaged by an Allied air attack, which killed 19 crewmen and left her dead in the water. Her skipper, Commander Mayasyoshi Motokura, gave the order to abandon ship, and the survivors were taken aboard Yukikaze. The abandoned vessel was discovered southeast of Finschhafen and sunk by Allied aircraft the following morning at coordinates