JS Shirane

Shirane (しらね, Shi-ra-ne) (DDG-143) is a Shirane-class destroyer in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).

Shirane in 2013
History
Japan
Name:	JS Shirane
Builder:	Ishikawajima-Harima, Tokyo
Laid down:	25 February 1977
Launched:	18 September 1978
Commissioned:	17 March 1980
Decommissioned:	25 March 2015
Homeport:	Sasebo, Nagasaki
Identification:	MMSI number: 431999501
Status:	Decommissioned
General characteristics
Class and type:	Shirane-class destroyer
Displacement:	5,200 long tons (5,300 t) standard; 7,500 long tons (7,600 t) full load
Length:	159 m (522 ft)
Beam:	17.5 m (57 ft)
Draft:	5.3 m (17 ft)
Propulsion:	2 × IHI boilers 850 psi (60 kg/cm², 5.9 MPa), 430 °C 2 × turbines 2 shafts 70,000 shp (52 MW)
Speed:	31 knots (36 mph; 57 km/h)
Complement:	350 20 staff
Armament:	Sea Sparrow SAM launcher ASROC Mk 112 octuple launcher 2 × FMC 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 guns 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 2 × Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes (Mk-46 torpedoes)
Aircraft carried:	3 × SH-60J(K) anti-submarine helicopters

She was laid down by Ishikawajima-Harima in Tokyo on February 25, 1977; launched on September 18, 1978; and commissioned on March 17, 1980. She was decommissioned on March 25, 2015, as the Shirane class is slowly being phased out by the newer Izumo-class helicopter destroyers.

Operational history

In 1981, Shirane was incorporated as the flagship of Escort Flotilla One, based in Yokosuka. The following year, she attended her first RIMPAC, RIMPAC 1982. She has continued to attend RIMPACs, such as RIMPAC 1988, RIMPAC 1998, and, more recently, RIMPAC 2012. She was involved in multiple naval exercises led by the U.S. in 1985, 1987, and 1993. The Republic of the Philippines hosted marine exercises in 1992 and 1993 that Shirane also attended. When the Great Hanshin earthquake struck in July 1995, Shirane was used as a rescue and relief ship. In 2003, she attended a Russian naval exercise called SAREX; in 2005, she once again attended a Filipino naval exercise, this time called PSIEX. In 2009, the Shirane was moved from Escort Flotilla One to Escort Flotilla Three, based in Maizuru, Kyoto. In 2011, after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, she was used as a relief ship. In 2012, along with attending RIMPAC, she also attended Fleet Week, a United States naval tradition in which naval ships are showcased.[1]

Incidents

On December 15, 2007, a fire broke out on board Shirane near the rudder house as she was anchored at Yokosuka. It took seven hours to extinguish and injured four crew members.[2]

Fleet Week 2012

Shirane visited Baltimore on her way to New York City as part of Fleet Week 2012.[3] She was open to visitors for a few days.[4]

Shirane passed by the Freedom Tower as part of the ship parade in New York Harbor and the Hudson River on May 23, 2012.[5][6][7]

RIMPAC 2012

Shirane was one of three ships sent by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force to attend Exercise RIMPAC, along with JS Bungo and the destroyer JS Myōkō.[8]

Target ship

In November 2015, the Japanese Ministry of Defense announced that Shirane would be in a live-fire test against the XASM-3 supersonic anti-ship missile in 2016.[9]

Images

• 
  Shirane (DDH-143) at Maizuru

References

1. Potts, JR (7 August 2013). "JDS Shirane (DDH-143) Helicopter Carrier / Destroyer (1980)". militaryfactory.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
2. "Latest Stories". www.dawn.com. December 15, 2007. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
3. "SS JOHN W BROWN updates".
4. "JS Shirane DDH143 (Now Closed)" – via FourSquare.
5. "People watch as the Japanese Navy ship, JS Shirane". The Baltimore Sun. May 24, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
6. "JS Shirane (DDH 143) arrives in New York". Liveboat USA. May 24, 2012 – via YouTube.com.
7. "Fleet Week New York 2012: Arrival of the fleet". Liveboat USA – via YouTube.com.
8. "Participating Forces - RIMPAC 2012". U.S. Navy. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
9. Japan to Test its New XASM-3 Supersonic Anti-Ship Missile Against Shirane-class Destroyer - Navyrecognition.com, 16 November 2015