JS ''Yūdachi'' (DD-103) is the third ship of Murasame-class destroyers. She was commissioned on 4 March 1999.

Design

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

. There is however 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 ''anc ...

devices. Destroyers built under the First Defense Build-up Plan, including the former , adopted a unique long forecastle 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 are updated to Spey SM1C. And the remaining one pair are 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 ''Kongō'' class.

Construction and career

''Yūdachi'' 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 18 March 1996 at

Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI) is an integrated manufacturer of industrial machinery, automatic weaponry, ships, bridges and steel structure, equipment for environmental protection, including recycling, power transmission equipment, plastic molding machines, laser proces ...

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 ...

as the 1994 plan and launched on 19 August 1997. Commissioned on 4 March 1999, was incorporated into the 6th Escort Corps of the 4th Escort Corps and deployed to Ōminato. On 6 March 2016, as the 24th dispatched anti-piracy action surface corps, she departed from Ominato base for the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

off the coast of Somalia with the escort ship and returned to Ominato on 8 September. In addition, on 1 September, on the way back to Japan, a goodwill training was conducted with the Philippine Navy's .

Gallery

File:JMSDF March 2016 (7).jpg, JS ''Yūdachi'' alongside in March 2016. File:DD-103 with DD-118 and DDH-181.jpg, JS ''Yūdachi'' alongside and at

on 25 September 2017.

Citations

References

* * Saunders, Stephen. ''IHS Jane's Fighting Ships 2013-2014''. Jane's Information Group (2003). * 1997 ships Murasame-class destroyers (1994) Ships built by Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding {{Japan-mil-ship-stub