JS ''Harusame'' (DD-102) is the second ship of s. She was commissioned on 24 March 1997.

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

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 ...

was 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 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 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 same as ''Asagiri'' class, but a pair of engines are updated to Spey SM1C. And the remaining one pair are 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 ...

, same as ''Kongō'' class.

Construction and career

''Harusame'' 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 11 August 1994 at

Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding () is a Japanese heavy industries company. Despite its name, it no longer builds ships and now focuses mainly on production of high-value ship equipment such as engines and automated gantry cranes. Mitsui E&S is the largest supplier of gantry ...

Tamano Tamano City Hall Aerial view of Tamano city center Shibukawa beach in Tamano is a city located in southern Okayama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 55,889 in 27087 households, and a population density of 540 person ...

as the 1992 plan and launched on 16 October 1995. Commissioned on 24 March 1997, the vessel was incorporated into the 8th Escort Corps of the 4th 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 ...

. From 17 to 29 September and 15 October to 23 October 2019, Japan-Australia joint training (Japan-Australia Trident) was held in the sea and airspace from the south of

Kanto Japanese Kanto is a simplified spelling of , a Japanese word, only omitting the diacritics. In Japan Kantō may refer to: *Kantō Plain *Kantō region *Kantō-kai, organized crime group *Kanto (Pokémon), a geographical region in the ''Pokémon ...

to the west of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

via the area around

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

. In addition to ''Harusame'' the escort vessels , , , the supply ship and P-1 patrol aircraft or P-3C patrol aircraft and submarines, and ships from the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

participated. On 24 November, the same year, she departed from Sasebo for the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

off the coast of Somalia as the 35th Expeditionary Piracy Action Water Corps. Due to the fact that some members of the ship completed their mission in late May 2020 and developed symptoms of suspected acute cholecystitis or

acute cholangitis Ascending cholangitis, also known as acute cholangitis or simply cholangitis, is inflammation of the bile duct, usually caused by bacteria ascending from its junction with the duodenum (first part of the small intestine). It tends to occur if th ...

on their way back to Japan, they planned to return to Japan on 20 June, one day earlier. The vessel returned to port on 19 June. On 22 May 2022, ''Harusame'' departed Sasebo for the Gulf of Aden as the 42nd Deployment Surface for Counter Piracy Enforcement. The vessel relieved .

References

Bibliography

* * Saunders, Stephen. ''IHS Jane's Fighting Ships 2013-2014''. Jane's Information Group (2003). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harusame (DD-102) 1995 ships Murasame-class destroyers (1994) Ships built by Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding