The ''Chikugo''-class destroyer escort (or
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 ...
) was a
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
of
destroyer escorts built by the
Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force as the successor of the , with the same
ASW mission. This class was followed by . This is the first Japanese destroyer escort class to carry
ASROC anti-submarine missiles.
The class entered service with ''Chikugo'' in 1971. Eleven ships were constructed and saw service until the mid-1990s and early 2000s. All vessels in the class were retired with ''Noshiro'' being the last to decommission in 2003.
Design
This class was designed as the modified variant of the , the preceding destroyer escort class. The main anti-submarine weapon was changed from the M/50 ASW rocket launcher to the
ASROC Anti-submarine missile. The octuple launcher for ASROC was stationed at the mid-deck, and the entire ship design was prescribed by this stationing. To exploit the range of ASROC, this class was equipped with the long-range low-frequency (5 kHz) bow sonar, OQS-3A (Japanese version of the AN/SQS-23),
and in addition, the latter batch had SQS-35(J) Variable Depth Sonar system. These anti-submarine sensors and weapons could be compare with those of destroyers in the main fleet of this age, such as and .
In contrast to their
anti-submarine
An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...
capability, the
anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
fire power was weakened compared to the preceding class. The foredeck gun was a
Type 68 3"/50 caliber twin cannon controlled by a FCS-1B Gun Fire Control System, which was standard anti-air weapon system in the JMSDF of this age. But the afterdeck gun was the old-fashioned
Bofors 40 mm Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors:
*Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s
...
L/60 twin cannon, lacking the anti-ship missile defense (ASMD) capability. The final batch of this class was planned to equipped with the new
Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon, but this plan was frustrated because of the budgetary consideration.
Ships in the class
References
{{Combatant ship classes of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
Frigate classes
Frigates of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force