Asakaze-class destroyer

The Asakaze-class destroyer is a class of destroyers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. Two ships of the Gleaves class were lent by the United States Navy and were in commission from 1954 until 1969.[1]

JDS Hatakaze in 1960s
Class overview
NameAsakaze-class destroyer
Builders
Operators
Preceded byN/A
Succeeded byAriake class
SubclassesGleaves class
Built1940
In commission1954–1969
Completed2
Retired2
General characteristics
TypeDestroyer
Displacement
  • 1,630 tons standard,
  • 2,395 tons full load
Length348 ft 3 in (106.15 m)
Beam  36 ft 1 in (11.00 m)
Draft  13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)
Installed power
Propulsion2 shafts
Speed37.4 knots (69.3 km/h; 43.0 mph)
Range6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement16 officers, 260 enlisted
Armament

Development

JDS Asakaze was commissioned as USS Ellyson on 28 November 1941 at Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, and JDS Hatakaze was commissioned as USS Macomb on 26 January 1942 at the Bath Iron Works.

In 1951, General Matthew Ridgway, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, proposed to lend a patrol frigate (PF) and a landing support boat (LSSL) to Japan under Allied occupation. In response to this, on 26 April 1952, the Coastal Safety Force was established within the Japan Coast Guard to serve as a receiver for these warships and as the base of a future navy. Then, with the establishment of the National Safety Agency on 1 August, the same year, the Coast Guard was reorganized into a security force by absorbing the route enlightenment department of the Japan Coast Guard, and together with the National Police Reserve (later the National Safety Force), which is a land unit, it became a subordinate and was set up for a full-scale reorganization system.[2]

Of the rented vessels, all 18 of the PFs were delivered during 1953 and commissioned as Kusu-class frigates, which later became the starting point for the development of the Maritime Self-Defense Force escort vessels. In the budget for 1952, which is the year when the guards were established, the construction of support vessels (water vessels, heavy oil vessels, etc.) to improve the operational base of these guard vessels was prioritized, and the construction of combat ships was not carried out. Although domestic construction of security vessels began in 1953, the construction in the same year was two 1,600-ton instep security vessels (DD; Harukaze class) and 1,000-ton B-type security vessels (Akebono and Ikazuchi class) It was fastened to 3 ships.

Ships in the class
Asakaze class
Hull no. Name Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned
DD-181 Asakaze Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, New Jersey 20 December 1940 26 July 1941 19 October 1954 15 October 1969
DD-182 Hatakaze Bath Iron Works, Maine 3 September 1940 23 September 1941
  • JDS Asakaze underway in 1959.
    JDS Asakaze underway in 1959.

References
  1. Abe, Yasuo (July 2000). History of Maritime Self-Defense Force Escort Ships 1953-2000, Ships of the World. Vol. 571. Gaijinsha.
  2. Koda, Yaji (December 2015). History of Domestic Escort Ship Construction, Ships of the World. Vol. 827. Gaijinsha.
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