JS ''Tsushima'' (MSO-302) was the second ship of the s of the

Japanese 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) ...

. She was commissioned on 23 March 1993.

Development and design

The Maritime Self-Defense Force's transport and landing craft unit set up a fleet in 1955 with six general-purpose landing craft (LCUs) and 29 mobile landing craft (LCMs) provided by the U.S. Navy under the MSA Agreement. And. Subsequently, in 1961, based on the MSA agreement, three LST-542 class tank landing ships (LST-1 class final type) retired by the U.S. Navy were donated and started operation as Osumi type transport ships. The three ships of the same type formed the first transport corps under the control of the Yokosuka District Force, but on May 1, 1962, they were reassigned under the direct control of the Self-Defense Fleet and engaged in maritime transport and maritime operation transport. It was an extremely practical landing ship except for the lack of speed, but all of them were built from 1944 to 1945, and since they will reach the end of their useful life in the 40's of the Showa era, an alternative ship is needed. Was there. For this reason, the design of the 1,500-ton type (45LST), which had been built for the district corps a little earlier, was expanded, and it was built as a 2,000-ton type transport ship for agile operation under the SDF fleet.

Construction and career

She was the second minesweeper of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. The 1989 plan minesweeper No. 302 based on the medium-term defense capability development plan was laid down at the

JFE Holdings is a corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It was formed in 2002 by the merger of and and owns JFE Steel, JFE Engineering and Japan Marine United. JFE is from Japan, Fe (the chemical element symbol of iron) and Engineering. In 2020, it ...

on July 20, 1990, launched on September 20, 1991, and launched on March 23, 1993. It was put into service, and was incorporated into the 2nd Mine Warfare Force as a ship under direct control and deployed in Yokosuka. On March 23, the same year, the 51st Mine Warfare Force was newly formed under the 2nd Mine Warfare Force, and was incorporated with the second ship commissioned on the same day. On March 13, 2000, the Mine Warfare Force was reorganized due to the reorganization of the Mine Warfare Force, and the 51st Mine Warfare Force was transferred to the Mine Warfare Force. Departed

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 ...

with on September 8, 2011, and arrived at

Da Nang Port Đà Nẵng Port ( vi, Cảng Đà Nẵng) is a major port system located in Central Vietnam at the mouth of the Han River on the East Viet Nam Sea, in the city of Đà Nẵng. It is the third largest port system in Vietnam (after Saigon Port in ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and

Port Blair Port Blair () is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South An ...

in the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

of 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 ...

for the first time as a JMSDF ship, and at Bahrain Minasalman Port on October 14. After arriving, Japan participated in the "multilateral sweeping training co-sponsored by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 ...

" for the first time in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

off

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

from the 15th to the 30th of the same month. Returned to Japan on December 1. Removed from the register on July 1, 2016. The total cruising distance was 275,396.6NM (about 13 laps of the earth), and the total voyage time was 36,849.7 hours (1536 days).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsushima (MSO-302) Yaeyama-class minesweepers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Ships built in Japan 1991 ships