The Shirane class destroyers are a class of Japanese destroyer originally built during the late 1970s and still in active service. They are built around a large central hangar which houses up to three helicopters and they are the natural successor of the Haruna-class destroyers. They were the first ships in Japanese service to be fitted with 3D radars - the NEC OPS-12.
On December 15, 2007, a fire broke out on board the Shirane near the rudder house as it was anchored at Yokosuka. It took seven hours to extinguish and injured four crew members.
On 27 October 2009, the JS Kurama collided with a South Korean container ship under the Kanmonkyo Bridge in the Kanmon Straits off the coast of Japan. While neither ship sunk, the bow of the Karuna was badly damaged and burned for hours. Three Karuna crew members were reported injured.
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Shirane class destroyer |
| Builders: | Ishikawajima-Harima, Tokyo |
| Operators: |  Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force |
| Preceded by: | Haruna-class destroyer |
| Built: | 1977–1981 |
| In commission: | 1980– |
| Completed: | 2 |
| Active: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | destroyer |
| Displacement: | 5,200 long tons (5,283 t) standard 7,500 long tons (7,620 t) full load |
| Length: | 159 m (522 ft) |
| Beam: | 17.5 m (57 ft 5 in) |
| Draft: | 5.3 m (17 ft 5 in) |
| 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: | 350 360 (DDH-144) 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 |
