| Builders |
|
|---|---|
| Class before | Murasame-class destroyer (1958) |
| Class after | |
| In service range | 1960–1993 |
| Total ships completed | 2 |
| Total ships retired | 2 |
| Displacement |
|
|---|---|
| Length | 118 m (387 ft 2 in) |
| Beam | 12 m (39 ft 4 in) |
| Draft | 4 m (13 ft 1 in) |
| Propulsion | 2 Mitsubishi-Escher-Weiss (on Akizuki) or Westinghouse (on Teruzuki) steam turbines, 4 Mitsubishi CE-type boilers 45,000 hp (34,000 kW) / 2 shafts, 2 propellers[1] |
| Speed | 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) max. |
| Complement | 330 |
| Sensors |
|
| Ew | |
| Armament |
|
The Akizuki-class destroyer was a destroyer class built for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in the late 1950s. This class was planned to be a flotilla leader with the enhanced command and control capability, so sometimes this class was classified as the "DDC" (commanding destroyer) unofficially.[citation needed]
Design
Initially, the American Military Assistance Advisory Group-Japan (MAAG-J) recommended a modified version of the American Fletcher-class destroyer, but Japan had already constructed surface combatants of their own at that time. As a result, the project of this class was financed by the Off Shore Procurement (OSP) of the United States, but design and construction were completely indigenous.[2]
Like its predecessors, the Murasame-class destroyer (1958) and Ayanami-class destroyeres, this class adopted a "long forecastle" design with inclined afterdeck called "Holland Slope", named after the scenic sloping street in Nagasaki City.[3] With the enlargement of the hull, the steam turbine propulsion system was uprated with higher-pressure boilers (570 psi).[4]
This class was equipped with both the gunnery weapons of the Murasame class[5] and the torpedo/mine weapons of the Ayanami class. Alongside these anti-submarine weapons, and similar to those of the Ayanami class, the Akizuki class were the first vessels equipped with a Mk.108 Weapon Alpha. While the JMSDF desired this American ASW rocket launcher originally, it became clear that its performance wasn't as good as was believed. It was later replaced by a Type 71 375 mm (15 in) quadruple ASW rocket launcher (the Japanese version of the Swedish M/50) in 1976.[6]
| Pennant no. | Name | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DD-161 ASU-7010 | JDS Akizuki | 31 July 1958 | 26 June 1959 | 13 February 1960 | 7 December 1993 |
| DD-162 ASU-7012 TV-3504 | JDS Teruzuki | 15 August 1958 | 24 June 1959 | 29 February 1960 | 27 September 1993 |
See also
Equivalent destroyers of the same era
- T 47-class destroyer
- Daring-class destroyer
- Friesland-class destroyer
- Halland-class destroyer
- Impetuoso-class destroyer
- Forrest Sherman-class destroyer
- Kotlin-class destroyer
- Hamburg-class destroyer
References
- ^ Blackman, Raymond V.B. (1962). Jane's Fighting Ships 2004–2005. Jane's Fighting Ships Publishing Co. Ltd.
- ^ "History of Japanese destroyers since 1952" (in Japanese). Ships of the World. ' (742): 91–97. Kaijin-sha. June 2011.
- ^ "1. Hull (Hardware of JMSDF destroyers)" (in Japanese). Ships of the World. ' (742): 100–105. Kaijin-sha. June 2011.
- ^ Yasuo Abe (June 2011). "2. Propulsion system (Hardware of JMSDF destroyers)" (in Japanese). Ships of the World. ' (742): 106–111. Kaijin-sha.
- ^ "2. Guns (Shipboard weapons of JMSDF 1952-2010)" (in Japanese). Ships of the World. ' (721): 88–93. Kaijin-sha. March 2010.
- ^ "3. Underwater weapons (Shipboard weapons of JMSDF 1952-2010)" (in Japanese). Ships of the World. ' (721): 94–99. Kaijin-sha. March 2010.