Her high speed ensured that Kirishima would play an active role in the first year of the Pacific War. She accompanied the Japanese aircraft carriers during their 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbour and was active during the offensive in the East Indies in early 1942. In March and April, she was part of the powerful force that raided the British in the Indian Ocean. During the Solomon's Campaign later in 1942, Kirishima was present during the carrier battles of the Eastern Solomon's in August and the Santa Cruz Islands in October. She received minor damage in the night surface action off Guadalcanal on 13 November. Two nights later, serving as flagship of another Japanese surface force, she was engaged by the U.S. battleship Washington (BB-56). Disabled in this encounter, Kirishima was scuttled a few miles west of Savo Island. Her wreck was discovered and examined in August 1992, resting upside down with its forward end blown off some 4000 feet below the surface.