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

(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 * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

were inclined to reduce the

radar cross-section Radar cross-section (RCS), 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 back to the source. ...

. However, there is no angled tripod mainmast like the one 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 h ...

in winter. The aft was designed like a "mini-

Oranda-zaka Oranda-zaka (オランダ坂), also known as the Dutch Slope or Hollander Slope, is a Groups of Traditional Buildings, scenic sloping street in the Higashiyamate area of Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Its name is ...

" as with the to avoid interference between helicopters and mooring 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 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 the phrase " be ...

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. ...

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

on 3 April 1996 at

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 Mo ...

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

as the 1994 plan and launched on 21 August 1997. Commissioned on 18 March 1999, 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 also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

. On 10 May 2020, he departed from Sasebo base for the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

as the second dispatch information gathering activity water squadron. On 9 June, the same year after arriving at the site, he took over the mission from and started information gathering activities. On 6 October, the same year, she took over the mission of of the 3rd party. On 26 October, the same year, the vessel returned to Sasebo base. From 19 to 20 October of the same year, Japan-US-Australia joint training was conducted with and 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 the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

. 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 designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

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

Citations

References

* * * Saunders, Stephen. ''IHS Jane's Fighting Ships 2013-2014''. Jane's Information Group (2003). {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirisame (DD-104) 1997 ships Murasame-class destroyers (1994) Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries