JS ''Inazuma'' (DD-105) is the fifth ship of s. She was commissioned on 15 March 2000.

Design

The hull design was completely renovated from first-generation destroyers. In addition to increasing the size in order to reduce the underwater radiation noise, both the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

and

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

were inclined to reduce the

radar cross-section Radar cross-section (RCS), also called radar signature, is a measure of how detectable an object is by radar. A larger RCS indicates that an object is more easily detected. An object reflects a limited amount of radar energy back to the source. ...

. However, there is no angled tripod

mainmast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation ligh ...

like the one of the American because of the heavy weather of the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

in winter. The aft was designed like a "mini-

Oranda-zaka Oranda-zaka (オランダ坂), also known as the Dutch Slope or Hollander Slope, is a Groups of Traditional Buildings, scenic sloping street in the Higashiyamate area of Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Its name is ...

" as with the to avoid interference between helicopters and

mooring A mooring is any permanent structure to which a vessel may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to forestall free movement of the ship on the water. An ''anc ...

devices. Destroyers built under the First Defense Build-up Plan, including the former , adopted a unique long

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

style called "Oranda-zaka". The engine arrangement is

COGAG Combined gas turbine and gas turbine (COGAG) is a type of propulsion system for ships using two gas turbines connected to a single propeller shaft. A gearbox and clutches allow either of the turbines to drive the shaft or both of them combined. ...

as same as ''Asagiri'' class, but a pair of engines were updated to Spey SM1C. The remaining one pair were replaced by

LM2500 The General Electric LM2500 is an industrial and marine gas turbine produced by GE Aviation. The LM2500 is a derivative of the General Electric CF6 aircraft engine. As of 2004, the U.S. Navy and at least 29 other navies had used a total of more ...

, same as in the ''Kongō'' class.

Construction and career

''Inazuma'' 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 o ...

on 8 May 1997 by

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 Mo ...

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 the ...

as part of the 1995 plan and launched on 9 September 1998. Commissioned on 15 March 2000, the destroyer was incorporated into the 4th Escort Corps and deployed to

Kure is a port and major shipbuilding city situated on the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. With a strong industrial and naval heritage, Kure hosts the second-oldest naval dockyard in Japan and remains an important base for the Japan M ...

. From 26 August to 30 October 2018, ''Inazuma'' participated in the Indo-Pacific dispatch training with the escort vessels 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 so ...

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 the

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 13 September, she joined the submarine 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 26 September, a joint training between Japan and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

was conducted with heading for the South China Sea with ''Kaga'' in the sea and airspace west of

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. On 21 May 2019, she departed for the "Reiwa first year pelagic practice voyage" with the training ship JS ''Kashima''. The vessels visited 13 ports in 11 countries in 157 days with about 580 people, including about 190 people who completed the 69th General Executive Candidate Course (including 1 ensign of the

Royal Thai Navy The Royal Thai Navy ( Abrv: RTN, ทร.; th, กองทัพเรือไทย, ) is the naval warfare force of Thailand. Established in 1906, it was modernised by the Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartiwongse (1880–1923) who is known as ...

), in Yokosuka on 24 October. ''Inazuma'' left

Innoshima is an island and former city in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The island is located within the Geiyo Islands of the Seto Inland Sea. The city was founded on May 1, 1953. , the city had an estimated population of 27,465 and a population density ...

Onomichi is a city located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, facing the Inland Sea. The city was founded on April 1, 1898. As of April 30, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 141,811 and a population density of 497.8 persons per km2. The total a ...

in the morning of 10 January 2023 for sea acceptance trial after undergoing routine maintenance at

Japan Marine United (informally JMU) is a Japanese ship building marine engineering and service company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. It's Japan’s second largest shipbuilder after Imabari Shipbuilding, with shipyard facilities in Kure, Hiroshima, Yokohama, ...

shipyard in Innoshima. While underway at approximately in

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...

, approximately one mile south of commercial shipping lane, the ship hit an underwater rock off

Suō-Ōshima is a town and an island located in Ōshima District, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Suō-Ōshima was formed on October 1, 2004 from the merger of the former towns of Ōshima, Kuka, Tachibana and Tōwa, all from towns of Ōshima District. As ...

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). Y ...

. The incident caused an oil spill and disabled ''Inazuma''s propulsion and steering. The destroyer then dropped anchor at its current position. The sailors aboard ''Inazuma'' threw absorbent pads from the stern to sop up the leaked oil, which stretched up to behind the ship and covered an area of approximately 10,000 square feet at the day of incident. On 15 January at 08:00, ''Inazuma'' was towed by two tugboats from its anchorage and arrived off the coast of Innoshima at 17:00. The ship was scheduled to enter Innoshima shipyard on the next day.

Gallery

File:US Navy 070529-N-4965F-006 Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) ship JDS Inazuma (DD 105) passes the USS Arizona Memorial as she prepares to moor pierside at Naval Station (NAVSTA) Pearl Harbor.jpg, ''Inazumi'' passes by USS ''Arizona'' Memorial in

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

on 29 May 2007. File:HMAS Success (OR 304) in Harumi passenger terminal.JPG, ''Inazuma'' moored behind at

Harumi Japanese given name. Although the name can be given to both sexes, it is more commonly used by females. Possible writings Harumi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *晴美, "sunny, beauty" *晴海, "sunny, sea" *晴� ...

on 13 September 2009. File:JMSDF - JS Inazuma (DD-105) - Starboard Bow View.jpg, ''Inazuma'' departing Yokouska on 21 October 2009. File:JS Inazuma and JS Ise berthed at Ōita, -22 Jul. 2012 b.jpg, ''Inazuma'' and at Ōita on 22 July 2012. File:Royal Navy PASSEX with JMSDF MOD 45166012.jpg, ''Inazuma'' and on 26 September 2018. File:CIC on board JS Inazuma.jpg, ''Inazuma'' on 29 September 2018. File:DD-105 Inazuma.jpg, ''Inazuma'' underway on 26 July 2019. File:DD-105 Inazuma at Stern.jpg, ''Inazuma'' underway on 27 September 2019. File:Bridge of JS Inazuma, -22 Jul. 2012 a.jpg, ''Inazuma''s bridge on 22 July 2020.

Citations

References

* * * Saunders, Stephen. ''IHS Jane's Fighting Ships 2013-2014''. Jane's Information Group (2003). {{DEFAULTSORT:Inazuma (DD-105) 1998 ships Murasame-class destroyers (1994) Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries