Three evolutions of Japanese destroyer
In this shot of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force battle group underway, you have a nice slice of that country’s very effective surface
combatant design history.
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The ship in the foreground is the 4900-ton Asagiri-class destroyer DD-155 Hamagiri. Commissioned in 1990 with a 76mm gun, twin CIWS,
8x Harpoon anti-ship missiles and an ASROC launcher to go along with her helicopter and triple 324mm ASW torpedo tubes, she is
optimised to bust DPRK, Russian, or PLN subs.
To the Hamagiri‘s starboard side is the brand new (commissioned 14 March 2012) DD-115 Akizuki (Autumn Moon). She is the lead ship of
a quartet of modernized and slightly heavier variant of the Takanami class destroyer, whose purpose is to shield the Kongo class from air,
surface and subsurface threats. At 6800-tons, she is something of a ‘pocket DDG-51’ in guided missile frigate form with a single 127mm
gun, 32 VLS cells for ESSMs and ASROC, 2 CIWS, and a single helicopter.
Beyond her is the Kongo herself, DDG-173. Commissioned in 1993 she is the 9500-ton Japanese Aegis guided missile destroyer with an
impressive 90 VLS cells for Standard missiles, ESSM and ASROc as well as the nifty Italian Oto-Breda 127mm gun forward and, like the
Flight I DDG-51s, a helicopter deck but no hangar.
Note the flattop at the far left of the image is the 14,000-ton Osumi-class tank landing ship Kunisaki (LST-4003) while the ship bringing up
the rear is the USS Tortuga (LSD-46), a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. Since Tortuga returned to the
Eastern seaboard in late 2013 from her previous 8-year forward deployment to Japan, odds are this picture was taken between April 2012
and August 2013.