She displaced 1680 tons.
She took part in operations during the war with China that began in mid-1937 and was active through the first two and a half years of the Pacific War. On December 8, 1941 she was one of the Japanese warships that attacked Hong Kong, sinking two British gunboats. During the first months of 1942, Ikazuchi participated in the East Indies campaign, including the invasion of Java and the Battle of the Java Sea on March 1, 1942 in which the British cruiser HMS Exeter, destroyer HMS Encounter and U.S. destroyer USS Pope were sunk.
In early June 1942 Ikazuchi took part in operations in the north Pacific that resulted in the capture of Attu and Kiska islands. Later in the year, she went south to join the protracted campaign to retake Guadalcanal and on October 25 she and two other destroyers conducted a daylight raid into the waters off Guadalcanal. In the resulting action, the U.S. Navy fast minesweeper USS Zane was damaged and fleet tug Seminole and patrol craft YP-284 were sunk before the Japanese ships were driven off by U.S. Marine coastal artillery. Ikazuchi also particpated in the first night action of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, on November 13, 1942. Stationed on the right flank of the battleships Hiei and Kirishima with two other destroyers, she engaged several U.S. warships, among them the cruiser USS Atlanta, and received damage to her forward gun mount.
Ikazuchi returned to the north Pacific in 1943, and again engaged U.S. Navy ships in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands on March 26. Later, she operated in the central Pacific. On April 13, 1944, while patrolling between Guam and the Caroline Islands, Ikazuchi was torpedoed and sunk by the U.S. submarine Harder.