Akizuki-class Destroyer (1960)

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.

At the beginning, 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. So finally, the project of this class was financed by the Off Shore Procurement (OSP) of United States, but design and construction were completely indigenous.

Like its predecessor Murasame-class DDAs and Ayanami-class DDKs, this class adopted a "long forecastle" design with inclined afterdeck called "Holland Slope", named after the scenic sloping street in Nagasaki City. With the enlargement of the hull, the steam turbine propulsion system was uprated with higher-pressure boilers (570 psi).

This class was equipped with both gunnery weapons of Murasame-class DDAs and torpedo/mine weapons of Ayanami-class DDKs. And alongside these anti-submarine weapons similar to them of the Ayanami-class, this class was the first vessels equipped with a Mk.108 Weapon Alpha. The JMSDF desired this American brand-new ASW rocket launcher earnestly, but then, it became clear that it was not as good as it was supposed to be. So later, it was replaced by a Type 71 375mm quadruple ASW rocket launcher (Japanese version of the Swedish M/50) in 1976.

Specifications

 * Type: Destroyer (Hull designation symbol DD)
 * Service Period: 1960-1993
 * Characteristics:
 * Length: 387 feet 2 inches (118.01 meters)
 * Beam: 39 feet 4 inches (11.99 meters)
 * Draft: 13 feet 1 inch (3.99 meters)
 * Displacement: 2,632 tons (Standard); 3,236.8 tons (Full Load)
 * Crew: 330
 * Propulsion: 4 Mitsubishi/CE type boilers, 2 Westinghouse geared turbines, 2 shafts, 45,000 shp (33,556 kW)
 * Speed: 32 knots (59.26 km/h)
 * Sensor Suite:
 * OPS-1 air-search radar
 * OPS-15 surface-search radar
 * SQS-29 sonar
 * Armament:
 * 3 x 5"/54-caliber Mk.42 lightweight naval guns in Mk.39 single mountings
 * 4 x 3"/50-caliber Mk.22 naval guns in Mk.33 twin mountings
 * 1 x Type 65 21" torpedo tube quad mounting (8 torpedos)
 * 1 x Mk.108 ASW rocket launcher (fires RUR-4 Weapon Alpha ASW rockets)
 * 2 x Hedgehog anti-submarine projector
 * Depth charges

Unit Run

 * JDS Akizuki (DD-161)
 * JDS Teruzuki (DD-162)