J.M.S.D.F. DD MURASAME

The Murasame (DD-101) is a modern Japanese missile destroyer, the keel of which was laid in 1993, launched in August 1994, and commissioned in 1996. The total length of the ship is 151 meters and 17.4 meters wide. Full displacement is about 6,100 tons, and the maximum speed is around 30-31 knots. The destroyer's armament includes: a single 76 mm gun, two 20 mm Vulcan Phalanx CIWS sets, two VLS Mk.41 and Mk.48 16-rail launchers, and two triple torpedo tubes. The ship has a single Mitsubishi SH-60 helicopter. Murasame (DD-101) is the lead ship of the destroyer class of the same name. Units of this type have been designed and constructed primarily in terms of ZOP (anti-submarine combat) activities and countering surface targets. The Murasame-class destroyers arose as successors to the Asagiri-class. Compared to their predecessors, they have several significant improvements. First of all, they used some of the achievements of stealth technology - especially in the construction of superstructures. Murasame-class ships also have much more modern electronic equipment (especially radars) and missile weapons located in vertical VLS launchers. The first ship of this class was the Murasame (DD-101), which was built at the IHI Corporation shipyard in Tokyo. In 1998, 2000 and 2003, the unit took part in the international RIMPAC maneuvers. In 2004, the unit was sent to the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf region to support American forces operating in that region, and four years later Murasame (DD-101) operated in the Indian Ocean providing logistical support to international forces taking part in operations in Afghanistan. Interestingly, in 2005, the destroyer took part in the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. In 2010 and 2012, the destroyer operated in the waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Horn of Africa, carrying out anti-piracy activities and - above all - protecting civil shipping. Murasame (DD-101) is currently in active service.