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.

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 steam turbines, 4 boilers 45,000 shp (34,000 kW) / 2 shafts, 2 propellers
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.^[1]

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.^[2] With the enlargement of the hull, the steam turbine propulsion system was uprated with higher-pressure boilers (570 psi).^[3]

This class was equipped with both the gunnery weapons of the Murasame class^[4] 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.^[5]

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