The ''Oyashio'' class is a series of
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese
diesel-electric attack submarine
An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called "mul ...
s operated by the
JMSDF
, 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) ...
. The submarines entered service in the late 1990s. The submarines are larger than the earlier , to provide space for a flank
sonar
Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...
array.
Boats
There are a total of 11 boats in the class - the last boat was commissioned in 2008. ''Oyashio'', ''Michishio'', and ''Kuroshio'' share their names with
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s. ''Takashio'' shares a name with a ship from the third set of s, of which none were built.
The first two boats, ''Oyashio'' and ''Michishio'', have since been converted to training platforms.
On February 1, 2018, the Ministry of Defence's Maritime Staff Office revealed that seven of the service's ''Oyashio''-class submarines, which have a surface displacement of 2,800 tonnes – have already completed service-life extension work to date. The seven boats received extensive refits during their second and third maintenance cycles, which have been planned to bring the vessels to "almost the same level of that of the latest model , while extending their service lives.
Gallery
File:US Navy 100706-N-6854D-128 JS Mochisio (SS 600) departs Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to support Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2010 exercises.jpg, JS ''Mochisio'' (SS 600) departs Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam
Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam (JBPHH) is a United States military base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. It is Joint Base, an amalgamation of the United States Air Force's Hickam Air Force Base and the United States Navy's Naval Station Pearl ...
to support Rim of the Pacific (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 ...
) 2010 exercises.
File:JMSDF Oyashio class submarine 20090208-1.JPG, ''Oyashio''-class submarine.
File:JMSDF Oyashio class submarine 20090208-2.JPG, ''Oyashio''-class submarine.
File:SS596 kuroshio.jpg, JS ''Kuroshio'' (SS 596) at the Maizuru Naval Base.
File:JMSDF submarine Narushio.jpg, JS ''Narushio'' (SS 595) pulls into 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 ...
for a scheduled port call before starting Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2008.
File:Oyashio-class submarine Yaeshio (SS 598).jpg, JS ''Yaeshio'' (SS 598) arrives at Naval Station Pearl Harbor for an annual training exercise.
File:US Navy 110207-N-UK333-004 The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Oyashio-class submarine JS Uzushio (SS 592) arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hic.jpg, JS ''Uzushio'' (SS 592) arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam to begin their annual training exercise.
File:US Navy 100621-N-8539M-604 The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Oyashio-class submarine J.S. Mochishio (SS 600) arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to support Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises.jpg, JS ''Mochishio'' (SS 600) arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam to support Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises.
File:Oyashio class submarine.svg, ''Oyashio''-class submarine profile
See also
*
List of submarine classes in service
The list of submarine classes in service includes all submarine classes currently in service with navies or other armed forces worldwide. For surface combatants, see the list of naval ship classes in service.
Ballistic missile submarines
C ...
References
External links
''Oyashio'' class entry at GlobalSecurity
{{Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Submarine classes
Oyashio class
Auxiliary training ship classes