JS ''Suzutsuki'' (DD-117) is the third ship of Akizuki-class destroyers, operated by 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) ...

. She was commissioned on 12 March 2014.

Construction and career

''Suzutsuki'' 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 May 18, 2011 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 Moto ...

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 th ...

Shipyard & Machinery Works as the 2009 plan 5,000-ton type escort ship No. 2246 based on the medium-term defense capability development plan, and launched on October 17, 2012. Commissioned on March 12, 2014, 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 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 July 10, 2016, as the 25th dispatched anti-piracy action surface corps, sailed from

base to the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) 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 Chan ...

off the coast of Somalia with the escort ship

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 ...

and returned to Japan on January 12, 2016. From October 13 to November 25, 2017, she was dispatched to the waters around

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 ...

and participated in the US dispatch training. From August 26 to October 30, 2018, participated in the Indo-Pacific dispatch training with the escort vessels JS Kaga and

, and visited

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. On September 13, she joined the submarine JS Kuroshio 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 ...

and conducted anti-submarine warfare training. On April 21, 2019, she entered Qingdao to participate in the International Fleet Review Ceremony to be held on April 23 near Qingdao,

Shandong Province Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the

PLA Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chines ...

. It had been about seven and a half years since the last JMSDF ship visited China in December 2011. From August 15 to 17, 2020, Japan-US joint training was conducted with the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

destroyer

USS Mustin USS ''Mustin'' may refer to: * , was a during World War II * , is an guided missile destroyer currently in active service {{DEFAULTSORT:Mustin United States Navy ship names ...

in the East China Sea.https://www.mod.go.jp/msdf/release/202008/20200818.pdf

Gallery

File:DD-116 Teruzuki Right.png, JS ''Teruzuki'' underway, date unknown. File:DD-116 Teruzuki Left.png, JS ''Teruzuki'' underway, date unknown. File:Teruzuki (DD-116), Sawayuki (DD-125) en Asuka (ASE-6102) aan de Yoshikura Pier, -2 Jun. 2013 b.jpg, JS ''Teruzuki'', JS Sawayuki, JS Asuka at

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 ...

on 2 June 2013.

References

2012 ships Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Akizuki-class destroyers (2010) {{Japan-mil-ship-stub