''Akishio'' (SS-579) is a retired Japanese diesel-electric . She 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 ...

in 1983, launched in 1985, commissioned in 1986, and served until 2004. She served as part of both the 1st and 5th Submarine Squadrons of the 1st Submarine Flotilla. She took part in numerous drills, including the

Pacific Reach 2000 The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

drills. She is now on display outside

Kure Maritime Museum The is the nickname of the in Kure, Hiroshima, Japan. History The museum opened on April 23, 2005. It is nicknamed the Yamato Museum due to the display in the lobby of a 1/10 scale model of the battleship ''Yamato'', the flagship of the ...

Design and construction

''Akishio'' was long, had a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy * Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy ** Laser beam * Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...

wide, had a draught of and

displaced Displaced may refer to: * Forced displacement Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNH ...

while surfaced, and when submerged. She had a

teardrop hull A teardrop hull is a submarine hull design which emphasizes submerged performance over surfaced performance. It was somewhat commonly used in the early stages of submarine development, but was gradually abandoned in the early 20th century in favo ...

, and was powered by two Kawasaki-MAN V8V24/30AMTL

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

s, which produced , a

Fuji Fuji may refer to: Places China * Fuji, Xiangcheng City (付集镇), town in Xiangcheng City, Henan Japan * Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan * Fuji River * Fuji, Saga, town in Saga Prefecture * Fuji, Shizuoka, city in Shizuoka Prefectur ...

electric motor, which produced , and was propelled by one shaft, with a five-bladed

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

. She used her diesel engines while surfaced, and her electric motor when submerged. She had a top speed of while surfaced, and while submerged. She was armed with six

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed abo ...

s, and had a

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of 75: 10 officers and 65 enlisted men. She had a test depth of . She used a Hughes/Oki ZQQ 5 hull mounted

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects on ...

, and a ZQR 1

towed array A towed array sonar is a system of hydrophones towed behind a submarine or a surface ship on a cable. Trailing the hydrophones behind the vessel, on a cable that can be kilometers long, keeps the array's sensors away from the ship's own noise sou ...

sonar.

Service history

''Akishio'' was

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, w ...

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Moto ...

on 15 April 1983, launched on 22 January 1985, and commissioned on 5 March 1986. Upon being commissioned, on 5 March 1986, ''Akishio'' was immediately assigned to the

1st Submarine Squadron First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: * World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

of the

1st Submarine Flotilla The 1st Submarine Flotilla ( sv, Första ubåtsflottiljen, 1. ubflj) is a unit of the Swedish Fleet which has operated in various forms since 1904. Its unit staff is located at Karlskrona naval base, Blekinge in Karlskrona Garrison. History The ...

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) ...

. On 8 June 1990, she was reassigned to the 5th Submarine Squadron, which was also part of the 1st Submarine Flotilla. Her crew was trained by American submariners, from September to October, in 1991. ''Akishio'' took part in the

drills, which took place from 2 to 14 October 2000, off of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. The navies of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, Japan, Singapore, and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

took part. Because of the

Kursk submarine disaster The nuclear-powered Project 949A, Project 949A ''Antey'' (''Oscar II'' class) submarine ''Russian submarine Kursk (K-141), APL Kursk'' (Russian language, Russian: ) sank in an accident on 12 August 2000 in the Barents Sea, during the first maj ...

which had happened earlier that year, the Pacific Reach 2000 drills involved submarine rescue exercises, which ''Akishio'' performed in. This was the first time Japanese ships had taken part in a multilateral submarine rescue drill, although they had taken part in similar exercises bilaterally, with the

US 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 ...

. Japan's constitution places limits on their ability to perform collective-defence drills. Because of this, Japan joined the drills from a humanitarian standpoint, rather than a military one. She was decommissioned on 3 March 2004. After being decommissioned, ''Akishio'' was moved from the water, and placed on display outside the

on 5 April 2007. After being placed there, she became known as "''Tetu-no-Kujira Kan''", or "Iron Whale Museum". The museum has been criticized by many as being too militaristic. One of Japan's national newspapers, ''

Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition an ...

'', said that the museum focused too much upon military ships and weapons.

References

Citations

Books

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Websites

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akishio 1985 ships Museums established in 2007 Yūshio-class submarines Museum ships in Japan Museums in Hiroshima Prefecture Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries