JS ''Kirisame'' (DD-104) is the fourth ship of s of the

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 ( ...

(JMSDF). She was commissioned on 18 March 1999.

Design

The hull design was completely renovated from first-generation destroyers. In addition to increasing the size, in order to reduce the underwater radiation noise, both the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

and

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

were inclined to reduce the

radar cross-section Radar cross-section (RCS), denoted σ, also called radar signature, is a measure of how detectable an object is by radar. A larger RCS indicates that an object is more easily detected. An object reflects a limited amount of radar energy b ...

. However, there is no angled tripod

mainmast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the median line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, giving necessary height to a navigation light ...

like that of the American because of the heavy weather of the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

in winter. The aft was designed like a "mini- Oranda-zaka", as with the , to avoid interference between helicopters and

mooring A mooring is any permanent structure to which a seaborne vessel (such as a boat, ship, or amphibious aircraft) may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to ...

devices. Destroyers built under the First Defense Build-up Plan, including the former , adopted a unique long-

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...

style called "Oranda-zaka". The engine arrangement is

COGAG Combined gas turbine and gas turbine (COGAG) is a type of propulsion system for ships using two gas turbines connected to a single propeller shaft. A gearbox and clutches allow either of the turbines to drive the shaft or both of them combined. Ma ...

, as in the ''Asagiri''-class, but a pair of engines were updated to Spey SM1C. The remaining pair were replaced by

LM2500 The General Electric LM2500 is an industrial and marine gas turbine produced by GE Aviation. The LM2500 is a derivative of the General Electric CF6 aircraft engine. As of 2004, the U.S. Navy and at least 29 other navies had used a total of more ...

, as in the ''Kongō''-class.

Construction and career

''Kirisame'' 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 3 April 1996 at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nagasaki, as the 1994 plan, and launched on 21 August 1997. Commissioned on 18 March 1999, she was incorporated into the 6th Escort Corps of the 2nd Escort Corps and deployed to

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the second-largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. , the city had an estimated population of 230,873 in 102,670 households, and a population density of 540 per ...

. On 10 May 2020, he departed from Sasebo base for the Middle East as the Second Dispatch Information-gathering Activity Water Squadron. On 9 June 2020, after arriving at the site, she took over the mission from and started information gathering activities. On 6 October 2020, she took over the mission of of the 3rd party. On 26 October 2020, she returned to Sasebo base. From 19-20 2020, Japan-US-Australia joint training was conducted with and in the South China Sea. On 31 May 2022, the JMSDF issued a press release on the Indo-Pacific Deployment (IPD) and ship deployments, stating that ''Kirisame'', the and the were deployed to RIMPAC 2022.

Gallery

File:Dd104 kirisame.jpg, ''Kirisame'' underway, date unknown File:JS Kirisame(DD-104) at Port of Osaka May 15, 2016.jpg, ''Kirisame'' at

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

on 15 May 2016 File:JMSDF December2016 (6).jpg, ''Kirisame'' maneuvering in December 2016 File:DD104 KIRISAME.jpg, ''Kirisame'' on 10 May 2020

References

* * * Saunders, Stephen. ''IHS Jane's Fighting Ships 2013-2014''. Jane's Information Group (2003).

External Links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirisame (DD-104) 1997 ships Murasame-class destroyers (1994) Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries