is the

lead vessel The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of the s 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). JS ''Murasame'' was authorized under the Medium-term Defense Buildup Plan of 1991, and was built by IHI Marine United shipyards in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. She was laid down on 18 August 1993, launched on 23 August 1994. She was commissioned into service on 12 March 1996.GlobalSecurity.org
DD-110 Takanami Class
/ref> and was assigned to the JMSDF Escort Flotilla 1 based at Yokosuka.

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 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 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 ''an ...

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. ...

like in the ''Asagiri'' class, but a pair of engines were updated to Spey SM1C. The remaining 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.

Service

''Murasame'' was a participant in the 1998, 2000 and 2003

RIMPAC RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii, with the exception of 2020 where it was held i ...

naval exercises A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

. On 13 October 2002 she also served as the lead ship in the international

naval review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. ''Murasame'' was dispatched on 16 February 2004, along with the transport ''Osumi'', as part of the supporting force for the

Japanese Iraq Reconstruction and Support Group The Japanese Iraq Reconstruction and Support Group
Retrieved on December 5, 2008. or al ...

. In 2005, ''Murasame'' participated in the international

celebrating the 200th anniversary of the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

. On 24 January 2008, together with the

fleet oiler A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. The ...

''Oume'', ''Murasame'' was sent to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

to provide refueling and logistics support for Allied forces in

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

. She arrived on station on 21 February, and returned to Yokosuka on 4 June. On 10 May 2010, ''Murasame'', along with the destroyer , was dispatched to the coast of

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

to participate in anti-piracy escort operations. From 5 June to 16 September she undertook 34 sorties, and returned to Japan on 15 October 2010. On 21 January 2012 ''Murasame'' was dispatched to

Aden, Yemen Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

together with her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

, to resume anti-piracy escort operations off the coast of Somalia. The context for this extended deployment off the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

was the "Law on the Penalization of Acts of Piracy and Measures Against Acts of Piracy (Anti-Piracy Measures Law)". "Anti-Piracy Operations off the Coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden,"
''Japan Defense Focus'' (

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 ...

or MOD), No. 19. November 2010. She completed 188 sorties, including a number of joint operations with the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

and returned to Yokosuka on 5 July 2012. She remains currently assigned to JMSDF Escort Flotilla 1.

Notes

References

* * * Saunders, Stephen. ''IHS Jane's Fighting Ships 2013-2014''. Jane's Information Group (2003).

External links

GlobalSecurity.org; JMSDF DD Murasame Class
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murasame (DD-101) 1994 ships Murasame-class destroyers (1994) Ships built by IHI Corporation