JS Abukuma

JS Abukuma
History
Japan
Name	Abukuma (あぶくま)
Namesake	Abukuma (1923)
Ordered	1986
Builder	Mitsui, Tamano
Laid down	17 March 1988
Launched	21 December 1988
Commissioned	12 December 1989
Homeport	Kure
Identification	MMSI number: 431999508 Pennant number: DE-229
Status	Active
General characteristics
Class and type	Abukuma-class destroyer escort
Displacement	2,000 tons standard 2,550 tons full load
Length	357 ft (109 m)
Beam	44 ft (13 m)
Draft	12 ft (3.7 m)
Propulsion	CODOG, two shafts 2 × Kawasaki-RR SM1A gas turbines 26,650 hp (19,870 kW) 2 × Mitsubishi S12U MTK diesels 6,000 hp (4,500 kW)
Speed	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Complement	120
Sensors and processing systems	FCS-2
Armament	8 × Harpoon missiles ASROC octuple launcher 1 × Otobreda 76 mm gun 1 × Phalanx 20 mm CIWS 2 × HOS-301 triple 324 mm (12.8 in) torpedo tubes

JS Abukuma (DE-229) is the lead ship of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts. She was commissioned on 12 December 1989.^[1]

Abukuma was laid down at Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Tamano Shipyard on 17 March 1988 and launched on 21 December 1988. She was commissioned on 12 December 1989 and deployed to Maizuru.^[2]

The Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Perth and frigate HMAS Canberra, which called at Maizuru from 29 October to 3 November 1993, were hosted by the escort ship JS Chikuma and Abukuma.

A suspicious ship off was spotted off the Noto Peninsula on 23 March 1999. The first "maritime security action" was announced, and the suspicious ship was tracked by Abukuma along with the escort ships JS Haruna and JS Myōkō.

The destroyer escort joined Maizuru District Force 24th Escort Corps on 6 November 2003. On 26 March 2008, the 24th escort was renamed to the 14th escort due to a major reorganization of the Self-Defense Fleet, and was reorganized under the escort fleet.

On 6 July 2009, Japan-Korea rescue joint training was held in the Sea of Japan, and Abukuma participated with the escort ship JS Ōnami and three P-3C patrol aircraft, and the Republic of Korea Navy destroyer ROKS Yang Man-chun. Training was conducted with ROKS Wang Geon.^[3][4]

On 15 March 2010, the escort fleet was transferred to the 12th escort corps due to reorganization, and the homeport was transferred from Maizuru to Kure. Abukuma was among the naval forces dispatched to aid inhabitants of Japan after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake off the Pacific coast on 11 March 2011.

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  JS Abukuma underway, date unknown.
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  JS Abukuma at Maizuru in 2009.
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  JS Abukuma and JS Sawagiri on 28 October 2006.
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  JS Abukuma and JS Matsuyuki on 29 October 2006.
• 
  JS Abukuma and JS Setoyuki on 25 August 2013.
• 
  JS Abukuma at Kure on 6 May 2018.
• 
  "Abukuma" and the Peruvian Navy corvette "Guise" during a goodwill exercise in the East China Sea
• 
  Escort Division 12 "UMIGIRI", "ABUKUMA", "TONE".

Media related to JS Abukuma (DE-229) at Wikimedia Commons