JS ''Inazuma'' (DD-105) is the fifth ship of s. She was commissioned on 15 March 2000.

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 same as ''Asagiri'' class, but a pair of engines were updated to Spey SM1C. The remaining one pair were replaced by LM2500, same as in the ''Kongō'' class.

Construction and career

''Inazuma'' 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 8 May 1997 by

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese Multinational corporation, 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 prede ...

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

as part of the 1995 plan and launched on 9 September 1998. Commissioned on 15 March 2000, the destroyer was incorporated into the 4th Escort Corps and deployed to

Kure is a city in the Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 208,024 in 106,616 households and a population density of 590 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . With a strong industrial and naval heritage, ...

. From 26 August to 30 October 2018, ''Inazuma'' participated in the Indo-Pacific dispatch training with the escort vessels and , and visited

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. On 13 September, she joined the submarine in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

and conducted anti-submarine warfare training. On 26 September, a joint training between Japan and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

was conducted with heading for the South China Sea with ''Kaga'' in the sea and airspace west of

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

. On 21 May 2019, she departed for the "Reiwa first year pelagic practice voyage" with the training ship JS ''Kashima''. The vessels visited 13 ports in 11 countries in 157 days with about 580 people, including about 190 people who completed the 69th General Executive Candidate Course (including 1 ensign of the

Royal Thai Navy The Royal Thai Navy (Abbreviation, Abrv: RTN, ทร.; , ) is the Navy, naval warfare force of Thailand. Established in 1906, it was modernised by the Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartiwongse (1880–1923) who is known as the father of the Royal N ...

), in Yokosuka on 24 October. ''Inazuma'' left Innoshima,

Onomichi is a Cities of Japan, city located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 129,314 in 64055 households and a population density of 450 people per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Onomichi is loca ...

in the morning of 10 January 2023 for sea acceptance trial after undergoing routine maintenance at

Japan Marine United (informally JMU) is a Japanese ship building marine engineering and service company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. It's Japan's second largest shipbuilder after Imabari Shipbuilding, with shipyard facilities in Kure, Hiroshima, Yokohama, Na ...

shipyard in Innoshima. While underway at approximately in

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Ba ...

, approximately one mile south of commercial shipping lane, the ship hit an underwater rock off

Suō-Ōshima is a town and an island located in Ōshima District, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Suō-Ōshima was formed on October 1, 2004 from the merger of the former towns of Ōshima, Kuka, Tachibana and Tōwa, all from towns of Ōshima District. As ...

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...

. The incident caused an oil spill and disabled ''Inazuma''s propulsion and steering. The destroyer then dropped anchor at its current position. The sailors aboard ''Inazuma'' threw absorbent pads from the stern to sop up the leaked oil, which stretched up to behind the ship and covered an area of approximately 10,000 square feet at the day of incident. On 15 January at 08:00, ''Inazuma'' was towed by two tugboats from its anchorage and arrived off the coast of Innoshima at 17:00. The ship was scheduled to enter Innoshima shipyard on the next day.

Gallery

File:US Navy 070529-N-4965F-006 Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) ship JDS Inazuma (DD 105) passes the USS Arizona Memorial as she prepares to moor pierside at Naval Station (NAVSTA) Pearl Harbor.jpg, ''Inazumi'' passes by USS ''Arizona'' Memorial in

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

on 29 May 2007. File:HMAS Success (OR 304) in Harumi passenger terminal.JPG, ''Inazuma'' moored behind at Harumi on 13 September 2009. File:JMSDF - JS Inazuma (DD-105) - Starboard Bow View.jpg, ''Inazuma'' departing Yokouska on 21 October 2009. File:JS Inazuma and JS Ise berthed at Ōita, -22 Jul. 2012 b.jpg, ''Inazuma'' and at Ōita on 22 July 2012. File:Royal Navy PASSEX with JMSDF MOD 45166012.jpg, ''Inazuma'' and on 26 September 2018. File:CIC on board JS Inazuma.jpg, ''Inazuma'' on 29 September 2018. File:DD-105 Inazuma.jpg, ''Inazuma'' underway on 26 July 2019. File:DD-105 Inazuma at Stern.jpg, ''Inazuma'' underway on 27 September 2019. File:Bridge of JS Inazuma, -22 Jul. 2012 a.jpg, ''Inazuma''s bridge on 22 July 2020.

Citations

References

* * * Saunders, Stephen. ''IHS Jane's Fighting Ships 2013-2014''. Jane's Information Group (2003). {{DEFAULTSORT:Inazuma (DD-105) 1998 ships Murasame-class destroyers (1994) Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries