Akizuki-class destroyer (1959)

For the World War II class of the same name, see Akizuki-class destroyer (1942). For the 21st century class, see Akizuki-class destroyer (2010).

The Akizuki-class destroyer was a destroyer class built for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in the late 1950s. This class was planned to be a flotilla leader with the enhanced command and control capability, so sometimes this class was classified as the "DDC" (commanding destroyer) unofficially.^{[citation needed]}

JDS Akizuki
Class overview
Name	Akizuki class
Builders	Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Eng. Co. Kobe Shipyard & Eng. Works
Operators	Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
Preceded by	Murasame class
Succeeded by	Yamagumo class
In service	1960–1993
Completed	2
Retired	2
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	2,350 long tons (2,388 t) standard 2,890 long tons (2,936 t) normal
Length	118 m (387 ft 2 in)
Beam	12 m (39 ft 4 in)
Draft	4 m (13 ft 1 in)
Propulsion	2 Mitsubishi-Escher-Weiss (on Akizuki) or Westinghouse (on Teruzuki) steam turbines, 4 Mitsubishi CE-type boilers 45,000 shp (34,000 kW) / 2 shafts, 2 propellers[1]
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) max.
Complement	330
Sensors & processing systems	Mark 57 fire-control system Mark 63 fire-control system OPS-1 air search radar OPS-5 surface-search radar AN/SQS-4 sonar AN/SQR-8 sonar QQA-1A sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	NOLR-1 ESM
Armament	3 × 5"/54 caliber Mk.16 guns 4 × 3"/50 caliber Mk.22 guns (Type 57) 1 × Mk.108 ASW rocket launcher 2 × Hedgehog ASW mortars 1 x 4 Bofors 375 mm (15 in) ASW rocket launcher (replaced Mk. 108 in 1976) 2 × Mk.2 ASW torpedo racks 4 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes 2 × Y-gun Depth charge throwers 2 × Depth charge racks

Design

Initially, the American Military Assistance Advisory Group-Japan (MAAG-J) recommended a modified version of the American Fletcher class, but Japan had already constructed surface combatants of their own at that time. As a result, the project of this class was financed by the Off Shore Procurement (OSP) of the United States, but design and construction were completely indigenous.^[2]

Like its predecessors, the Murasame and Ayanami classes, this class adopted a "long forecastle" design with inclined afterdeck called "Holland Slope", named after the scenic sloping street in Nagasaki City.^[3] With the enlargement of the hull, the steam turbine propulsion system was uprated with higher-pressure boilers (570 psi).^[4]

This class was equipped with both the gunnery weapons of the Murasame class^[5] and the torpedo/mine weapons of the Ayanami class. Alongside these anti-submarine weapons, and similar to those of the Ayanami class, the Akizuki class were the first vessels equipped with a Mk.108 Weapon Alpha. While the JMSDF desired this American ASW rocket launcher originally, it became clear that its performance wasn't as good as was believed. It was later replaced by a Type 71 375 mm (15 in) quadruple ASW rocket launcher (the Japanese version of the Swedish M/50) in 1976.^[6]

Pennant no.	Name	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned
DD-161 ASU-7010	Akizuki	31 July 1958	26 June 1959	13 February 1960	7 December 1993
DD-162 ASU-7012 TV-3504	Teruzuki	15 August 1958	24 June 1959	29 February 1960	27 September 1993