JS Sazanami (DD-113)

History
Name:	JS Sazanami
Builder:	Mitsubishi
Laid down:	4 April 2002
Launched:	29 August 2003
Commissioned:	16 February 2005
Homeport:	Kure, Hiroshima
Status:	in active service
General characteristics
Class and type:	Takanami, destroyer
Displacement:	4,650 long tons (4,725 t) standard 6,300 long tons (6,401 t) full load
Length:	151 m (495 ft)
Beam:	17.4 m (57 ft)
Height:	10.9 m (36 ft)
Draft:	5.3 m (17 ft)
Propulsion:	2 × Ishikawajima Harima LM-2500 gas turbines 2 × Kawasaki Rolls Royce Spey SM1C gas turbines 60,000 shp (45 MW) 2 shafts
Speed:	30 knots (35 mph; 56 km/h)
Complement:	175
Sensors and processing systems:	OPS-25B Radar OPS-28D Surface Search Radar OPS-20 Navigational Radar OQS-5 Sonar UQR-2 Towed Sonar Type 81 Fire Control SYystem
Electronic warfare & decoys:	NOLQ-3 ECM system 4 × Mk137 Chaff Dispensers
Armament:	1 × Otobreda 127 mm/54 gun 2 × missile canister up to 8 Type 90 (SSM-1B) 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 2 × Type 68 triple torpedo tubes VLS Mk 41 (32 cells)   • Evolved Sea Sparrow SAM   • RUM-139 VL ASROC
Aircraft carried:	1 × SH-60J(K) anti-submarine helicopter [1]

JS Sazanami (さざなみ) is the fourth vessel of the Takanami class destroyers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).

Sazanami was authorized under the Medium-term Defense Buildup Plan of 1996, and was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyards in Nagasaki. She was laid down on 4 April 2002, launched on 29 August 2003. She was commissioned into service on 16 February 2005.^[2] and was initially assigned to the JMSDF Escort Flotilla 2 based at Sasebo.

Service

Sazanami, along with the fleet oiler Maiyu were assigned to the Indian Ocean in June 2006 to provide assistance in refueling anti-terrorist coalition forces in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. She returned to Japan in November 2006.

On 24 June 2008, Sazanami was the first JMSDF ship to bring disaster relief to the Chinese port of Zhanjiang following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. According to China Daily, the Japanese media sent more than 60 reporters to cover the event.^[3]

From 14 March 2009, Sazanami, along with the destroyer Samidare, was sent to the Gulf of Aden to participate in anti-piracy escort operations and to provide humanitarian assistance. The destroyer was the first of a series of JMSDF vessels deployed in rotation to patrol this region.^[4] Approximately 2,000 merchant ships with ties to Japan, Japan-flagged or operated by Japanese firms pass through the busy shipping channel each year.^[5] On 5 April 2009, she responded to a distress call made by a Singaporean-registered tanker, using a LRAD to warn approaching pirates away. She returned to Japan on 16 August 2009.

On 15 March 2011, Sazanami, along with the destroyer Inazuma, was again dispatched to Aden, Yemen to anti-piracy escort operations off the coast of Somalia. The destroyer was part of the eighth rotation of JMSDF vessels patrolling in this region. She undertook 28 sorties, returning to Japan on 16 August 2011. During this deployment, Sazanami also made a courtesy port call at Colombo, Sri Lanka.^[6]

Sazanami is currently assigned to the Eight Squadron of the JMSDF Escort Flotilla 4 based at Kure, Hiroshima.

References

• Saunders, Stephen. IHS Jane's Fighting Ships 2013-2014. Jane's Information Group (2003). ISBN 0710630484

Notes

1. Helis.com, DD 112 JDS Makinami
2. GlobalSecurity.org, DD-110 Takanami Class
3. "Japanese ship's arrival marks significant event," People's Daily (PRC). June 24, 2008.
4. "MSDF ship off Somalia aided Malta vessel," Japan Times. April 14, 2009; "Anti-piracy operations off the Coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden," Japan Defense Focus (Ministry of Defense or MOD), No. 14. August 2009.
5. "Japanese ships leave after visit," The Hindu (India). September 29, 2010.
6. Sri Lanka Navy home page