Harishima-class minesweeper

Last updated

MSC 601 HIRASHMA.jpg
JS Hirashima
Class overview
NameHirashima
Builders USC, Keihin
Preceded by Sugashima class
Succeeded by Enoshima class
Built2005-2008
In commission2008-present
Planned3
Completed3
Active3
General characteristics
Type Minesweeper
Displacement
Length57  m (187  ft 0  in)
Beam9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
Depth4.4 m (14 ft 5 in)
Propulsion
Speed14  kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement48
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament1 × single JM61R-MS 20mm guns

The Hirashimaclass is a class of coastal minesweepers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. [1]

Contents

Development

From the lessons learned from the 1991 dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to the Persian Gulf, the Maritime Self-Defense Force took the example of the Royal Navy's Sandown class minehunter, built after the 1994 plan, especially in order to improve its capabilities regarding mine clearance. However, while the Sandown class is basically a minesweeper that does not have minesweeping ability. The waters around Japan have many muddy seabeds that are not suitable for minesweeping, and abandonment of minesweeping ability is unacceptable. For this reason, the class is also given the ability to sweep with Australian-made DYAD-sensitive minesweepers, but due to magnetic management issues, it was decided that it would not be installed all the time, but would be received from the mother ship at sea as needed. Operational restrictions were large, and mobility was also restricted. [2] [3]

For this reason, it was built as a new type of minesweeper equipped with a domestic system that has the same performance as the overseas-made minesweeping system equipped in the Sugashima class, as well as realizing the installation of minesweepers on its own boat. [2]

Ships in the class

Pennant no.NameBuildersLaid downLaunchedCommissionedHome port
MSC-601 Hirashima Universal Shipbuilding Corporation, Keihin 17 May 200527 September 200611 March 2008Sasebo
MSC-602 Yakushima 17 May 200626 September 20076 March 2009Sasebo
MSC-603 Takashima 10 May 200729 September 200826 February 2010Sasebo

Citations

  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. 1 2 Details of the new minesweeper Hirashima, Ships of the World. Vol. 694. Japan: Gaijinsha. August 2008. pp. 154–159.
  3. Takahashi, Yoichi (May 2013). Mine Warships (Special Feature: Maritime Self-Defense Force's New Weapons)-(Notable New Weapons), Ships of the World. Vol. 778. Japan: Gaijinsha. pp. 92–97.

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