The Hirashima class is a class of coastal minesweepers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
Development From the lessons learned in the 1991 dispatch of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to the Persian Gulf, the Maritime Self-Defense Force took the example of the Royal Navy's Sandown-class minehunter, built after the 1994 plan especially in order to improve its capabilities regarding mine clearance. However, due to the fact that the Sandown-class is basically a minesweeper that does not have minesweeping ability and the fact that the waters around Japan have many muddy seabeds that are not suitable for minesweeping, the abandonment of minesweeping ability was unacceptable to the JMSDF. For these reasons, ships were given the ability to sweep with Australian-made DYAD-sensitive minesweepers, but, due to magnetic management issues, it was decided that it would not be installed all the time but would be received from a mother ship at sea as needed. Operational restrictions were large, and mobility was also restricted.
For these reasons, the Hirashima-class was built as a new type of minesweeper equipped with a domestic system that had the same performance as the overseas-made minesweeping system equipped in the Sugashima-class.
Ships in the class Pennant no.NameBuildersLaid downLaunchedCommissionedHome portMSC-601HirashimaUniversal Shipbuilding Corporation, Keihin17 May 200527 September 200611 March 2008SaseboMSC-602Yakushima17 May 200626 September 20076 March 2009SaseboMSC-603Takashima10 May 200729 September 200826 February 2010Sasebo
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