JS ''Kurama'' (DDH-144) was the second ship of the in service with 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).

Construction and career

Kurama was laid down on 17 February 1978 and launched on 20 September 1979 by IHI Corporation Tokyo Shipyard. She was commissioned on 27 March 1981, into the 2nd Escort Corps (

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 ...

) together with JDS Haruna. She was the first Maritime Self-Defense Force ship to be equipped with

Phalanx CIWS The Phalanx CIWS (often spoken as "sea-wiz") is a gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the Ge ...

. She was also equipped for the first time with a

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects on ...

that can detect submarines over long distances, and in cooperation with the onboard helicopter, it was possible to detect and destroy enemy submarines before they approach. Based on the track record of this ship, CIWS and tactical towed sonar were adopted as general-purpose escort vessels of the Maritime Self-Defense Force built after that, in which became standard equipment. On October 13, 1982, a boiler explosion accident occurred at Sasebo. On March 30, 1983, the 52nd Escort Corps was abolished and became a ship under the direct control of the 2nd Escort Corps. From June 28 to August 16 of the same year, she participated in the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

dispatch training with the escort vessels

JDS Hatsuyuki JS ''Hatsuyuki'' (DD-122) was the lead ship of the ''Hatsuyuki''-class destroyers. Development and design Adopting Japan's first all-gas turbine engine (COGOG), equipped with well-balanced weapons such as helicopters, C4I systems, and va ...

and JDS Tachikaze. On March 30, 1984, she became the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the f ...

of the 2nd Escort Group. She later participated in the Exercise RIMPAC 1984. She participated in Exercise RIMPAC 1986. From July 1 to 31, 1990, she participated in the maritime training (open sea practice voyage) toward

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic ce ...

with the escort vessels JDS Asagiri, JDS Yamagiri and JDS Tachikaze. From June 27 to August 28, 1991, she participated in the US dispatch training with the escort vessels JDS Asakaze and JDS Setogiri. She participated in Exercise RIMPAC 1992. She again participated in Exercise RIMPAC 1994. From July 26 to 30, 1996, she visited

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, for the first time as a self-defense ship to participate in the 300th anniversary ceremony of the Russian Navy. From July 24 to 29, 1998, she visited Vladivostok again with the escort ship JDS Yamagiri and JDS Hamana, and participated in the

Russian Pacific Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Pacific Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Russian Pacific Fleet Great emblem , dates = 1731–present , country ...

Fleet Review Ceremony held on July 26. In addition, the first Japan-Russia joint training was held in 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 ...

east of Vladivostok on July 29 and 30, and participated in it. From February 25 to March 31, 2000, she participated in the open sea practice voyage with JDS Yamagiri and JDS Asakaze. Later that year, she participated in Exercise RIMPAC 2000. On November 9, 2001, she was dispatched to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

along with the escort ship JDS Kirisame and JDS Hamana for an information gathering mission based on the Act on Special Measures Against Terrorism. They returned to Japan on the 16th. From May 16 to August 3, 2003, she participated in the US dispatch training with the escort vessels JDS Shimakaze and JDS Setogiri. After returning to Japan, remodeling work was carried out at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, and the shooting command device for short SAM control changed from WM-25 to the domestically produced Type 81 shooting command device type 2-12 (FCS-2-12). It was replaced with the domestic GMLS-3, and the onboard missile was the RIM-7M. All of these are reprinted from those equipped on the escort ship JDS Takatsuki, which was removed from the register in August 2002. The construction was completed in April 2004. From November 10 to 12, 2004, she dealt with the Han-class submarine in Japan's territorial sea with the escort ship JDS Yudachi. On January 14, 2005, an integrated unit of land, sea, and air self-defense forces was formed based on the Japan Disaster Relief Team Dispatch Law to rescue the Sumatra Island Earthquake, and departed from Sasebo. Relief activities such as transportation of relief supplies were carried out together with the transport ship JDS Kunisaki and JDS Tokiwa. From May 16 to August 1, 2007, she participated in the US dispatch training with the escort vessels JS Chokai and

JS Inazuma Four Japanese destroyers have been named : * , an of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War * , an of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II * , an of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in 1956–1977 * , a of the ...

. On March 26, 2008, she was transferred to the 2nd Escort Group 2 Escort Corps due to the reorganization of the Escort Corps. She was transferred to

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The ...

. She was dispatched to the

Great East Japan Earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

caused by the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake on March 11, 2011. On October 19, the same year, she departed

for training in the United States, stayed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii from October 31 to November 21, and trained with US Navy vessels to improve their practical skills. She returned to Sasebo on December 5. On 27 October 2009, JS ''Kurama'' collided with a

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n container ship under the

Kanmonkyo Bridge The (Asian Highway Network ) is a suspension bridge crossing the Kanmon Straits, a stretch of water separating two of Japan's four main islands. On the Honshū side of the bridge is Shimonoseki (, which contributed ''Kan'' to the name of the ...

in the

Kanmon Straits The or the Straits of Shimonoseki is the stretch of water separating Honshu and Kyushu, two of Japan's four main islands. On the Honshu side of the strait is Shimonoseki (, which contributed "Kan" () to the name of the strait) and on the Kyushu ...

off the coast of Japan. While neither ship sunk, the bow of ''Kurama'' was badly damaged and burned for hours. Three ''Kurama'' crew members were reported injured. On March 22, 2017, she was decommissioned due to the commissioning of the second ''Izumo''-class helicopter destroyer

JS Kaga JS ''Kaga'' (DDH-184) is a helicopter carrier being converted into an aircraft carrier beginning in March, 2022. Officially classified as a multi-purpose operation destroyer, she is the second ship in the of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense F ...

. Her final affiliation is the 2nd Escort Group, 2nd Escort Corps. The home port has been Sasebo consistently for about 36 years since commissioning. In the SDF observing ceremony for 36 years, she served as a observing ship four times, with a total voyage time of 78,772 hours, a total number of landings of 51,300 times, and sailed 942,760.2 nautical miles (1,745,991.9 km), which is equivalent to about 43.6 laps of the earth. After retirement, a press release was released to make the new torpedo for submarines a real ship. On June 12, 2018, the ship departed while being towed from Sasebo, and then was actually disposed of by a new torpedo from a submarine of the Maritime Self-Defense Force off the coast of

Wakasa Bay is a bay located in the Chūbu region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Kyoto Prefecture, and Fukui Prefecture. Geography Wakasa Bay is the area south of the straight line from Cape Kyoga on the west of Tango Peninsula to Cape Echizen on th ...

. Floating debris such as the inner fireboat and the outer shell of the turret have been recovered by the test ship

JS Asuka JS ''Asuka'' (ASE-6102) is an experimental ship of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. The vessel was constructed by Sumitomo Heavy Industries of Tokyo, Japan and was launched on 21 June 1994. ''Asuka'' was commissioned on 22 March 1995 and ...

in the sea area.

Gallery

File:Shirane class destroyer - Kurama (cropped).jpg, JDS ''Kurama'' at

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

on 1 June 1992 File:Shirane class destroyer - Kurama.jpg File:JS Kurama in San Diego Harbor, -1 Jul. 1994 a.jpg, JDS ''Kurama'' in

on 1 July 1994 File:JS Kurama in the Pacific, -10 Jan. 2011 a.jpg, JS ''Kurama'' underway on 10 January 2011 File:JS Kurama in the Pacific Ocean 02.jpg File:JS Kurama and JS Chōkai at Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard, -2 Sep. 2011 a.jpg, JS ''Kurama'' and JS Chōkai at

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 187 ...

Shipyard on 2 September 2011 File:JS Kurama performs maneuvers off the coast of Hawaii, -14 Nov. 2011 a.jpg, JS ''Kurama'' off

on 14 November 2011 File:JS Kurama (DDH-144) op zee tijdens de oefening Koa Kai, -12 november 2011 a.jpg, JS ''Kurama'' underway on 12 November 2011 File:JapanNavyShipDDH144"Kurama"inOcean.jpg, JS ''Kurama'' underway on 21 August 2013 File:JS Kurama（DDH-144） in Kobe 20131027.JPG, JS ''Kurama'' in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, w ...

on 27 October 2013

Citations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurama (DDH-144) 1979 ships Ships built by IHI Corporation Shirane-class destroyers