JS Shirane (しらね, Shi-ra-ne) (DDH-143) was the lead ship of the her eponymous class of destroyer in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).

JS Shirane underway in 2013
History
Japan
Name	Shirane (しらね)
Namesake	Mount Shirane
Ordered	1975
Builder	IHI, Tokyo
Laid down	25 February 1977
Launched	18 September 1978
Commissioned	17 March 1980
Decommissioned	25 March 2015
Homeport	Yokosuka (1980-2009) Maizuru (2009-2015)
Identification	MMSI number: 431999501 Pennant number: DDH-143
Fate	Scrapped
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

Namesake

Immediately before the launch, the Maritime Staff Office requested a name from the former Navy's Kongō-class battlecruiser, which is also a mountain name, and the Chief of Staff, Maritime Staff advised Shin Kanemaru, who was the Secretary of the Defense Agency at the time, to that effect. It was such an anomalous name because he forcibly ordered him to be named Shirane from his hometown of Shirane.

The Maritime Self-Defense Force derives the ship's name from Mt. Shiramine, and Mt. Kitadake of Mt. Shiramine is also called Mt. Shirane.[1] Only Mt. Nikko-Shirane and Mt. Kusatsu-Shirane are referred to as Mt. Shiramine.[2] In addition to Mt. Shiramine, Nikko, and Kusatsu, there are multiple mountains commonly known as Mt. Shirane in Japan, so they are distinguished by the names of each place.

Construction and career

She was laid down by Ishikawajima-Harima in Tokyo on February 25, 1977; launched on September 18, 1978; and commissioned on March 17, 1980. 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. 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.[3] 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.[4]

Shirane visited Baltimore on her way to New York City as part of Fleet Week 2012.[5] She was open to visitors for a few days.[6] she passed by the Freedom Tower as part of the ship parade in New York Harbor and the Hudson River on May 23, 2012.[7][8][9] 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.[10]

She was decommissioned on March 25, 2015, as the Shirane class was slowly being phased out by the newer Izumo-class helicopter destroyers.

Post-Decommission

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.[11] Since she was planned to be a target ship for the test of XASM-3, she was moored and stored at Maizuru East Port G Buoy, but on November 14, 2015, to make necessary modifications. She was towed to the JMU Inshima Plant and left Maizuru.[12] After completing the ship-type target remodeling work, the former Shirane was towed to Etajima in March 2017 and moored for a while, and then re-entered Maizuru, the final home port, on April 28, 2017. After that, until the actual explosion test is completed, the flight is moored at the quay near Maizuru Crane Bridge, and the Repatriation Course (14:00 departure) of the Port Excursion Boat Related to the Navy (Maizuru Port Pleasure Boat) I was able to see it up close.

After undergoing several tests in Wakasa Bay as a target for XASM-3, she left Maizuru Port on September 4 and entered Moji Port on September 7 to head for the dismantling site. At that time, the former Shirane, which was swept away by the tide when passing through the Kanmon Strait, collided with the No. 26 buoy and which the buoy sank. The Japan Coast Guard was dispatched and conducted an investigation after berthing at Mojiko. After leaving Mojiko, she was moored again at the Etajima mooring site. It was sold as a ship-type target on October 31, and dismantling began on the same day.[13]

Some of the ship's accessories (lifesaving floating ring, ship history nameplate, etc.) are on display in the consignment cafeteria Shirane Shokudo in the Maizuru Regional Headquarters, and the chairs on the table of the ship are on the ship's table. The chairs actually used in the command office, officer's room, and senior sea sergeant's room are used as they are. The front anchor is preserved and exhibited in a corner of the Red Brick Park Parking Lot adjacent to Maizuru Air Base.

Images

• 
  Stern view of JS Shirane underway, date unknown
• 
  JDS Shirane underway on 21 May 1985
• 
  JDS Shirane underway in February 2001
• 
  JS Shirane at Maizuru on 6 June 2010
• 
  JS Shirane underway with Mount Fuji in the background on 21 August 2013
• 
  JS Shirane underway during Exercise RIMPAC 2013
• 
  Ex-JS Shirane on 4 July 2015
• 
  Ex-JS Shirane on 9 August 2017
• 
  Anchor of JS Shirane on display

References

External links

Media related to JS Shirane (DDH-143) at Wikimedia Commons