JS ''Tenryū'' (ATS-4203) is a training support ship of

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force , 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 (IJN) ...

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 BQM-74E Chaka III. 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

''Tenryū'' 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 19 June 1998 at

Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI) is an integrated manufacturer of industrial machinery, automatic weaponry, ships, bridges and steel structure, equipment for environmental protection, including recycling, power transmission equipment, plastic molding machines, laser proce ...

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, 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 ...

and launched on 14 April 1999. The vessel commissioned on 17 March 2000. Currently, she belongs to the 1st Maritime Training Support Corps of the Escort Fleet, and the fixed port is

Kure is a port and major shipbuilding city situated on the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. With a strong industrial and naval heritage, Kure hosts the second-oldest naval dockyard in Japan and remains an important base for the Japan ...

. On March 26, 2008, the 1st Maritime Training Support Corps was newly formed under the escort fleet and was incorporated together with . The ship was dispatched to aid in recovery following 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 (born ...

caused by the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake on March 11, 2011. In February 2020, Master Sergeant Kazumi Sakoda was appointed as the first female SDF officer's senior corporal.

Gallery

File:ATS-4203 01l.jpg, JS ''Tenryū'' underway, date unknown. File:ATS-4203 02l.jpg, JS ''Tenryū'' underway, date unknown. File:JS Tenryū (ATS-4203).jpg, JS ''Tenryū'' at

on 18 March 2006. File:JS Tenryū at SDF Fleet Review 2006, -29 Oct. 2006 a.jpg, JS ''Tenryū'' on 29 October 2006. File:JS Tenryū at Hanshin Base, -20 Jul. 2008 a.jpg, JS ''Tenryū'' at Hanshin on 20 July 2008. File:ATS-4202,ATS-4203(2).jpg, JS ''Tenryū'' and at Kure on 15 April 2016. File:ATS-4202,ATS-4203.jpg, JS ''Tenryū'' and JS ''Kurobe'' at Kure on 15 April 2016. File:ATS-4203 Tenryū.jpg, JS ''Tenryū'' at

on 15 April 2016. File:JS Tenryū (ATS - 4203) and JS Kurobe (ATS - 4202). At Kure Port. November 2016.jpg, JS ''Tenryū'' and 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 23 November 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenryū (ATS-4203) 1999 ships Ships built by Sumitomo Heavy Industries Training ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force