JS ''Hiuchi'' is a ''Hiuchi'' class Auxiliary Multi-purpose Support (AMS) ship of 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). The ship was built by

Mitsui is one of the largest '' keiretsu'' in Japan and one of the largest corporate groups in the world. The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Industri ...

Tamano is a city located in southern Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The city was officially founded on August 3, 1940. As of October 1, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 60,101 and a population density of 580 persons per km². The total area i ...

and commissioned into service on 27 March 2002.Global Security
AMS Hiuchi Class, ship list
/ref> The primary mission of the ''Hiuchi'' is to support training exercises of other ships, including shooting practice and torpedo launching practice.

Service

This ship was one of several in the JMSDF fleet participating in disaster relief after the

2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''El ...

. ''Hiuchi'' was the first of two JMSDF ships which towed barges of fresh water from

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 city ...

to the

Fukushima I nuclear accidents The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 and ...

. The water was used to replace the seawater being used in cooling efforts at the plant.Schmitt, Joe
"U.S. Navy to Provide 500,000 Gallons of Fresh Water to Fukushima Power Plant,"
''Navy Compass'' (US). March 25, 2011; retrieved 30 March 2011

Notes

References

* Werth, Eric. (2007). ''Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems.'' Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ;

External links

* JMSDF
AMS-4301 ひうち Hiuchi
*

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

Press Conference by the Defense Minister (11:11-11:26 A.M. March 25, 2011)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiuchi (AMS-4301) Hiuchi-class support ships 2001 ships Ships built by Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding