Niizuki was an Akizuki-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. On the night of 4–5 July 1943, Niizuki led a troop transport run to Kolombangara. With her radar she detected U.S. ships in Kula Gulf, and she, along with Yūnagi and Nagatsuki, fired a salvo of torpedoes, which sank USS Strong (DD-467). On the night of 5–6 July 1943, Niizuki led another troop transport run to Kolombangara. In the Battle of Kula Gulf, she was sunk by gunfire of a U.S. cruiser-destroyer group, five miles (8 km) east of Kolombangara ().