on 20 november 1941, "kinu" was flagship of rear admiral setsuzo yoshitomi's subron 4, based at iwakuni, yamaguchi, with subdiv 18's , , and the , and subdiv 19's "i-56", , and . she was based at hainan and was engaged in covering landings of japanese forces in the invasion of british malaya at the time of the attack on pearl harbor.