The ''Asakaze''-class destroyer is a class of
destroyers of the
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) ...
. Two ships of the were lent by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
and were in commission from 1954 until 1969.
Development
JDS ''Asakaze'' was commissioned as on 28 November 1941 at
Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company was a United States shipyard, active from 1917 to 1948. It was founded during World War I to build ships for the United States Shipping Board. During World War II, it built ships as part of the U.S. Gov ...
, and JDS ''Hatakaze'' was commissioned as on 26 January 1942 at the
Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics. It is the fifth-largest de ...
.
In 1951, General
Matthew Ridgway
General Matthew Bunker Ridgway (March 3, 1895 – July 26, 1993) was a senior officer in the United States Army, who served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1952–1953) and the 19th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1953–1955). Alth ...
,
Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces
was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) to the Japanese government, aiming to suppress its "mili ...
, proposed to lend a
patrol frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
(PF) and a
landing support boat (LSSL) to
Japan under Allied occupation. In response to this, on 26 April 1952, the Coastal Safety Force was established within the
Japan Coast Guard
The is the coast guard of Japan.
The Japan Coast Guard consists of about 13,700 personnel and is responsible for the protection of the coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Th ...
to serve as a receiver for these warships and as the base of a future navy. Then, with the establishment of the National Safety Agency on 1 August, the same year, the Coast Guard was reorganized into a security force by absorbing the route enlightenment department of the Japan Coast Guard, and together with the
National Police Reserve
The , or NPR, was a lightly armed national police force established in August 1950 during the Allied occupation of Japan. In October 1952, it was expanded to 110,000 men and renamed as the . On July 1, 1954, it was reorganized as the Japan Groun ...
(later the National Safety Force), which is a land unit, it became a subordinate and was set up for a full-scale reorganization system.
Of the rented vessels, all 18 of the PFs were delivered during 1953 and commissioned as s, which later became the starting point for the development of the Maritime Self-Defense Force escort vessels. In the budget for 1952, which is the year when the guards were established, the construction of support vessels (water vessels, heavy oil vessels, etc.) to improve the operational base of these guard vessels was prioritized, and the construction of combat ships was not carried out. Although domestic construction of security vessels began in 1953, the construction in the same year was two 1,600-ton instep security vessels (DD; ''Harukaze'' class) and 1,000-ton B-type security vessels ( and ) It was fastened to 3 ships.
Ships in the class
Gallery
File:Japanese destroyer Asakaze (DD-181) underway in 1959.jpg, JDS ''Asakaze'' underway in 1959.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asakaze-class
Destroyer classes
Gleaves-class destroyers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force