The Ayanami class was a destroyer class built for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in the late 1950s. The primary purpose was anti-submarine warfare, so this class was classified as "DDK" (hunter-killer anti-submarine destroyer) unofficially.
Design This class adopted a "long forecastle" design with inclined afterdeck called "Holland Slope", named after the scenic sloping street in Nagasaki City. Their steam turbine propulsion systems were similar to the ones of the , but they varied between each ship in the class as part of the JMSDF's attempt to find the best propulsion system for its future surface combatants.
The Ayanami class were the first JMSDF vessels equipped with six 3-inch/50 caliber Mark 22 guns with Mark 33 dual mounts and Mark 32 lightweight torpedoes with two Mark 2 over-the-side launchers. 3-inch guns were controlled by two Mark 63 GFCSs.
All seven vessels names had previously been borne by ships of the World War II-era and classes.
+ Ships in the class Pennant no. Name Builder Laid downGardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 223. Launched Commissioned Decommissioned DD-103/ASU-7004 Mitsubishi Zosen, Nagasaki 20 November 1956 1 June 1957 12 February 1958 25 December 1986 DD-104/TV-3502 Shin-Mitsubishi, Kobe 14 December 1956 30 September 1957 14 March 1958 1 July 1987 DD-105/ASU-7005 Kawasaki, Tokyo 1 February 1957 29 August 1957 27 February 1958 25 December 1986 DD-106/TV-3503 Mitsui Zosen, Tamano 14 December 1956 25 September 1957 15 March 1958 1 July 1987 DD-110/ASU-7009 Takanami Mitsui Zosen, Tamano 8 November 1958 8 August 1959 30 January 1960 1 March 1989 DD-111/ASU-7013 Ōnami or OonamiSometimes Oonami depending on romanization Ishikawajima HI, Kobe 20 March 1959 13 February 1960 29 August 1960 1 March 1990 DD-112/ASU-7014 MakinamiIono HI, Maizuru 20 March 1959 25 April 1960 28 October 1960 1 March 1990
See also List of destroyers of Japan
Equivalent destroyers of the same era
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