Ayanami class destroyer

The West Japanese destroyer RJS Ayanami (DD-103) at sea.

The Ayanami-class was a destroyer class built for the Republic of Japan Navy (RoJN) in the late 1950s.The primary purpose was anti-submarine warfare, so this class was classified as "DDK" (hunter-killer anti-submarine destroyer) unofficially.

This class adopted a "long forecastle" design with inclined afterdeck called "Holland Slope", named after the scenic sloping street in Nagasaki. Steam turbine propulsion systems were similar to the one of the Harukaze-class, but they varied little in each ships because the RoJN tried to find the best way in the propulsion systems of future surface combatants.

This class is equipped with six QF 4.5"/45-caliber Mk.V dual purpose naval guns with dual mounts, a pair of Hedgehog ASW mortors, a quartet of Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns and Type 95 Mod 1 torpedoes fired from a pair of 21" triple torpedo tubes.

All seven vessels were named after Fubuki-class destroyers and Yūgumo-class destroyers, Ayanami being named after a Fubuki-class destroyer of the same name, which was lost in action at Guadalcanal. The remaining six were also named after WWII Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers, all being lost during the war.

Specifications

• Type: Destroyer
• Service Period: 1958-1990
• Characteristics:
  • Length: 358 feet (109.12 meters)
  • Beam: 35 feet (10.67 meters)
  • Depth: 26 feet 8 inches (8.13 meters)
  • Draft: 12 feet (3.66 meters)
  • Displacement: 1,700 tons (Standard); 2,500 tons (Full Load)
• Crew: 220
• Propulsion: 2 x Mitsubishi/Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2 x Mitsubishi/English Electric steam turbines, 2 x shafts, 35,000 shp (26,250 shp)
• Range:
• Speed: 32 knots (59.26 km/h)
• Sensor suite:
  • OPS-1 Air Search RDF
  • OPS-5 Surface Search RDF
  • Type 975 Navigation RDF
  • Type 275 Fire Control RDF
  • OQY-1 Hull Mounted ASDIC
  • OQA-1A Variable Depth ASDIC
• Countermeasures:
  • NOLR-1 Electronic Countermeasures Suite
• Armament:
  • 6 x QF 4.5"/45-caliber Mk.V dual purpose naval guns (3x2)
  • 4 x 21" torpedo tubes (fires Type 54 Model 3 Mod 1 torpedoes)
  • 2 x Hedgehog anti-submarine mortars
  • 2 x K-guns

Unit Run

• RJS Ayanami (DD-107)
• RJS Isonami (DD-108)
• RJS Uranami (DD-109)
• RJS Shikinami (DD-110)
• RJS Takanami (DD-114)
• RJS Oonami (DD-115)
• RJS Makinami (DD-116)