JS Ashigara
JS Ashigara (DDG-178) is an Atago-class guided missile destroyer in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). Ashigara was named for Mount Ashigara, and is the first Japanese ship to bear the prefix JS (Japanese Ship) instead of JDS (Japanese Defense Ship).
![]() JS Ashigara in May 2010 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Namesake | Mount Ashigara |
| Ordered | 2003 |
| Builder | Mitsubishi, Nagasaki |
| Laid down | 6 April 2005 |
| Launched | 30 August 2006 |
| Commissioned | 13 March 2008 |
| Homeport | Sasebo |
| Identification |
|
| Status | Active |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Atago class destroyer |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 560 ft (170 m) |
| Beam | 68.9 ft (21.0 m) |
| Draft | 20.3 ft (6.2 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Range |
|
| Complement | 300 |
| Sensors and processing systems | AN/SPY-1D(V) |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 1 x SH-60K helicopter |
She was laid down by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagasaki, Nagasaki on April 6, 2005, launched on August 30, 2006; and was commissioned on 13 March 2008.
Service
This ship was one of several in the JMSDF fleet participating in disaster relief after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[1]
In late April 2017, the Ashigara along with the JS Samidare joined the US Navy's Carrier Strike Group 1 as the Strike Group moved into position off the Korean peninsula in response to escalating tensions between North Korea and the United States over the DPRK's nuclear weapons program.[2]
Ashigara and the JS Ise participated in the RIMPAC exercises in the waters around Hawaii on August 17-30, 2020.[3]
Gallery
JS Ashigara on 3 June 2007
JS Ashigara and JS Asahi on 2 January 2017
JS Ashigara on 25 November 2017_left_front_view_at_Mitsubishi_Heavy_Industries_Nagasaki_Shipyard_November_25%252C_2017_03.jpg.webp)
JS Ashigara on 18 August 2020
Notes
- Seawaves,"Warships Supporting Earthquake in Japan" Archived 2011-03-23 at the Wayback Machine
- "USS Carl Vinson Strike Group Sails Towards North Korea". Gung Ho Vids. 28 April 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21 – via YouTube.com.
- "JS ISE (DDH 182) arrived at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii". Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force.
