JS ''Ashigara'' (DDG-178) is an Atago-class

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers who have a prim ...

in 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). ''Ashigara'' was named for

Mount Ashigara Mount Ashigara (足柄山), also known as Mount Kintoki (金時山), is the northernmost peak of the Hakone caldera, on the border of Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures, in the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park in Japan. Ashigara is not a remnant o ...

, and is the first Japanese ship to bear the prefix ''JS'' (Japanese Ship) instead of ''JDS'' (Japanese Defense Ship). She was laid down 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 Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

on April 6, 2005, launched on August 30, 2006; and was commissioned on 13 March 2008.

Service

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

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six mi ...

. In late April 2017, the ''Ashigara'' along with the JS ''Samidare'' joined the US Navy's

Carrier Strike Group 1 Carrier Strike Group One (CSG-1 or CARSTRKGRU 1) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. is the strike group's current flagship, and other units currently assigned are the ship's Carrier Air Wing 2 and embarked Destroyer Squadron 1, deployed with ' ...

as the Strike Group moved into position off the Korean peninsula in response to escalating tensions between

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

and 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 territori ...

over the DPRK's nuclear weapons program. ''Ashigara'' and the participated in the

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 ...

exercises in the waters around Hawaii on August 17-30, 2020.

Gallery

File:DDG-178MakingAshigara.jpg, JS ''Ashigara'' on 3 June 2007 File:DD-119 Asahi and DD-178 Ashigara.jpg, JS ''Ashigara'' and JS Asahi on 2 January 2017 File:JS Ashigara(DDG-178) left front view at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard November 25, 2017 02.jpg, JS ''Ashigara'' on 25 November 2017 File:JS Ashigara(DDG-178) left front view at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard November 25, 2017 03.jpg File:JS Ashigara (DDG-178) missile exercise.jpg, JS ''Ashigara'' on 18 August 2020

Notes

External links

*http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/japan/7700ton.htm Atago-class destroyers 2006 ships Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries {{Japan-mil-ship-stub