JS ''Ashigara'' (DDG-178) is an
Atago-class guided missile destroyer in the
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). ''Ashigara'' was named for
Mount Ashigara
Mount Ashigara (足柄山), also known as Mount Kintoki (金時山), is the northernmost peak of the Hakone caldera, on the border of Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures, in the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park in Japan. Ashigara is not a remnant of ...
, and is the first Japanese ship to bear the prefix ''JS'' (Japanese Ship) instead of ''JDS'' (Japanese Defense Ship).
She was laid down by
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in
Nagasaki,
Nagasaki on April 6, 2005, launched on August 30, 2006; and was commissioned on 13 March 2008.
Service
This ship was one of several in the JMSDF fleet participating in disaster relief after the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...
.
In late April 2017, the ''Ashigara'' along with the JS ''Samidare'' joined the US Navy's
Carrier Strike Group 1
Carrier Strike Group One (CSG-1 or CARSTRKGRU 1) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. is the strike group's current flagship, and other units currently assigned are the ship's Carrier Air Wing 2 and embarked Destroyer Squadron 1, deployed with ' ...
as the Strike Group moved into position off the Korean peninsula in response to escalating tensions between
North Korea and the
United States over the DPRK's nuclear weapons program.
''Ashigara'' and the participated in the
RIMPAC exercises in the waters around Hawaii on August 17-30, 2020.
Gallery
File:DDG-178MakingAshigara.jpg, JS ''Ashigara'' on 3 June 2007
File:DD-119 Asahi and DD-178 Ashigara.jpg, JS ''Ashigara'' and JS Asahi on 2 January 2017
File:JS Ashigara(DDG-178) left front view at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard November 25, 2017 02.jpg, JS ''Ashigara'' on 25 November 2017
File:JS Ashigara(DDG-178) left front view at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard November 25, 2017 03.jpg
File:JS Ashigara (DDG-178) missile exercise.jpg, JS ''Ashigara'' on 18 August 2020
Notes
External links
*http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/japan/7700ton.htm
Atago-class destroyers
2006 ships
Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
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