JS ''Kongō'' (DDG-173) is a

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

in 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). ''Kongō'' is the third Japanese naval vessel named after

Mount Kongō is a mountain in the Kongō Range in the Kawachi region of Osaka Prefecture, Kansai, Japan. It is near Mount Yamato Katsuragi. The mountain has lent its name to a series of naval ships and ship classes: the Imperial Japanese Navy's 1877 ...

. She was laid down 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 ...

on 8 May 1990. The launching ceremony took place on 26 September 1991 and she was commissioned on 25 March 1993. She was the first ship outside of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to feature the Aegis combat system and its ballistic missile defense capability.

Operational history

''Kongō'' was laid down on 8 May 1990 at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard's Yaijima Plant as a 7200-ton destroyer planned in 1988 based on the medium-term defense improvement plan. She was launched on 26 September 1991 and commissioned on 25 March 1993. Overall, The construction cost was 122.3 billion

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

. As the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...

, she was the only one in her class not to have the ORQ-1 helicopter data link installed at the time of commissioning, which was installed later along with the antenna of

Link 16 Link 16 is a military tactical data link network used by NATO members and other nations, as allowed by the MIDS International Program Office (IPO). Its specification is part of the family of Tactical Data Links. Link 16 enables military aircra ...

. From 26 November 1993 to 21 February 1994 she was dispatched to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

for the Aegis System Equipment Qualification Test (SQT). Later that year, she participated in

RIMPAC The Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii, with the exception of 2020 where it was held ...

between 23 June and 6 July, also around Hawaii. She also participated in RIMPAC 2000, accompanied by a large JMSDF fleet consisting of the destroyers ''Kurama'', ''Shimakaze'', ''Murasame'', ''Harusame'', '' Yūdachi'', '' Kirisame'', ''Asagiri'', as well as the supply ship ''Hamana'' and submarine ''Natusushio''. During the exercise ''Kongō'' successfully intercepted 3 simulated missiles and an

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...

with her SM-2

Surface-to-air missiles A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-a ...

. She was deployed to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

between 17 May and 19 September 2004 in response to the passing of the "Act on Special Measures Against Terrorism", alongside the ''Ariake'' and ''Hamana''. In November 2006 she was dry-docked at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard for inspection and modified to carry the SM-3 block IA, which was completed by March 2007 and inspections finished by August. On 15 October of the same year, she was stationed near Hawaii for the purpose of MD system testing, and succeeded in tracking two targets during an interception test with the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Ticonderoga-class cruiser The ''Ticonderoga'' class of guided-missile cruisers is a class of warships of the United States Navy, first ordered and authorized in the 1978 fiscal year. It was originally planned as a class of destroyers. However, the increased combat cap ...

USS ''Lake Erie'' on 6 November. On 15 November, she succeeded in tracking a separated target during ballistic missile target tracking training. In December 2007, Japan conducted a successful test of the SM-3 block IA against a ballistic missile aboard ''Kongō''. This was the first time a Japanese ship was selected to launch the interceptor missile during a test of the

Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System The Aegis ballistic missile defense system (Aegis BMD or ABMD), also known as ''Sea-Based Midcourse'', is a Missile Defense Agency program under the United States Department of Defense developed to provide missile defense against short and inte ...

. In previous tests they provided tracking and communications. In 2012, ''Kongō'', ''Chōkai'' and ''Myōkō'' were deployed in cooperation with the US Navy in preparation for the Democratic Republic of Korea to test the

Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 () was the first satellite successfully launched from North Korea, an Earth observation spacecraft that was launched on 12 December 2012, 00:49 UTC, in order to replace the original Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3, which failed t ...

. However, the ships were withdrawn after the satellite did not violate Japanese airspace. In April 2013 she was again sortied in response to a North Korean missile launch, returning to Sasebo on 30 June.

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

ミサイル警戒のイージス艦が帰港
. Accessed 30 April 2020. As of April 2020, ''Kongō'' is based in

Sasebo, Nagasaki is a Core cities of Japan, 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 populat ...

Gallery

File:JDS Kongo (DDG-173) San Diego.jpg, JS ''Kongō'' in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

on 1 July 1994 File:DDG173 JDS Kongo.jpg, JS ''Kongō'' at

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 15 October 2007 File:US Navy 071015-N-4965F-004 Operations Specialist Seaman Jerry Carpenter, assigned to USS Lake Erie (CG 70), performs line handlers for Japanese destroyer, JDS Kongo (DDG 173), as she moors at Naval Station Pearl Harbor.jpg File:US Navy 100723-N-3283P-153 JS Kongo (DDG 173) and JS Suzunami (DDG 114) are illuminated by friendship lights during a port visit to Sendai, Japan.jpg, JS ''Kongō'' and JS Suzunami at

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

on 23 July 2010 File:JS Kongō at Garden Pier, Nagoya, -22 Aug. 2010 a.jpg, JS ''Kongō'' at

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

on 22 August 2010

References

External links

GlobalSecurity.org; JMSDF DDG ''Kongo'' Class
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kongo (DDG-173) Kongō-class destroyers 1991 ships Kongō