JS ''Kurobe'' (ATS-4202) is a training support ship of

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force The , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...

Development and design

It is a ship for anti-aircraft shooting training support, and its main purpose is to launch and guide unmanned target aircraft. It was built as a complement to the air threat, higher performance of air defense weapons, and the obsolescence of the predecessor training ship . It is a flat deck type ship type, equipped with one single gun on the front deck. The target aircraft will be equipped with four BMQ-34AJ Firebee and four BQM-74E Chaka III, for a total of eight. These target aircraft are launched from the rear helipad, and up to three aircraft can be simultaneously guided and controlled by a four-sided phased array radar on the top of the ship's structure. A radar for evaluating shooting results is also installed separately.

Construction and career

''Kurobe'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 31 October 1987 at

JFE Holdings is a corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It was formed in 2002 by the merger of and and owns JFE Steel, JFE Engineering and Japan Marine United. JFE is from Japan, Fe (the chemical element symbol of iron) and Engineering. In 2020, i ...

Kure is a city in the Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 208,024 in 106,616 households and a population density of 590 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . With a strong industrial and naval heritage, ...

and launched on 23 May 1988. The ship was commissioned on 23 March 1989. In September 1990, a female Self-Defense Forces officer (correspondent, Naoko Matsuo, 3rd Lieutenant) became the first ship of the Maritime Self-Defense Force to be on board. On 24 June 1994 ''Kurobe'' was reorganized into the escort fleet as a ship under direct control. On 26 March 2008 the 1st Maritime Training Support Corps was newly formed under the escort fleet and was incorporated together with . In response to the

Great East Japan Earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake, the vessel departed for the disaster area, Onagawa Town,

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

, to aid in disaster relief.

Gallery

File:ATS-4202 02l.jpg, JS ''Kurobe'' underway, date unknown. File:ATS-4202-KUROBE.png, JS ''Kurobe'' at

Hakata is a ward of the city of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Many of Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City's principal government, commercial, retail and entertainment establishments are located in the district. Hakata-ku is also the location o ...

on 27 May 2012. File:訓練支援艦くろべ２２００トン - panoramio.jpg, JS ''Kurobe'' on 24 May 2014. File:JS Kurobe (ATS-4202) at Port of Kure 20140915.JPG, JS ''Kurobe'' at

Kure Naval Base was the second of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the Inland Sea of Japan and the Pacific coasts of southern Honshū from Wakayama to Yamaguchi prefectures, eastern and northern Ky� ...

on 15 September 2014. File:Chihaya (ASR-403) en Kurobe (ATS-4202) afgemeerd aan de Shinkō-Pier in Yokohama in de Vloot week, -10 oktober 2015 a.jpg, JS ''Kurobe'' alongside at

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...

on 10 October 2015. File:JS Tenryū (ATS - 4203) and JS Kurobe (ATS - 4202). At Kure Port. November 2016.jpg, JS ''Kurobe'' and at Kure Naval Base on 23 November 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurobe (ATS-4202) 1988 ships Ships built in Japan Training ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force