Tachikaze class Guided missile destroyers - A decade for a class of 3

de_Radio_Demon · July 19, 2023, 10:37pm

Would you like to see the Tachikaze class guided missile destroyers added to the game?

Yes
Maybe
Unsure
No

0 voters

What refits would you like to see the Tachikaze added in?

As built (All)
1988 Refit (Tachikaze)
1988 Refit (Asakaze)
1988 Refit (Sawakaze)
Unsure
I said no to the first question

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Tachikaze class Guided missile destroyers - A decade for a class of 3

Background and History

The Tachikaze class destroyer was a class of 3 guided missile destroyer that were built in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, they were the second class of guided missile destroyer ever built for the JMSDF (Japanese maritime self defense force) and were in fact the first class of guided missile destroyers of the JMSDF to consist of multiple ships as the previous destroyer Amatsukaze which itself started construction and entered service around a decade earlier and was the only ship on her class though she was planned to be a subclass of a anti aircraft destroyer as the Guided missile destroyer variant, as however for why the previous class only had one ship was due to in part the the missiles system being the Tartar was too expensive to build another ship that used the system and as a result a decade passed when the first ship of the not yet named Tachikaze class was laid down June 19th, 1973 under the building number 2308.

Compared to the previous class the Tachikaze class were not a sub class of any sort but rather this time their own design, as was desired previously the ships were capable of using the Tartar-D missile system. As for the ships capabilities the ships were capable of 32 knots via 2 boilers, and well their range is not listed so yeah… the ships themselves displaced around 3,850 tons though in the case of Sawakaze she displaced 3,950 tons and at full load the ships displaced another 1,000 tons, they came with only 1 Mk 13 missile launcher located at the stern of the ship, it was not only just able to use the RIM-66 but was also capable of using Harpoon missiles later on, additionally the ships were armed with 2 5-inch/54 caliber Type 73 (Mark 42 mod 7) guns with one at the front of the ship while the other place near the rear, and we’re a license produced version of the American Mod 7 version, the ships also came with 2 Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes with one on each side of the ship, they also came as standard with a 8 cell type 74 launcher for ASROC anti submarine missiles, also at some point in their service life they would receive 2 CWIS air defense systems at some point.

As if the title was not fitting enough the ships themselves saw construction that spanned over a decade as Tachikaze was launched on December 12th, 1974, and was commissioned on March 26th, 1976, as for her sisters Asakaze was laid down May 27th, 1976, and was launched on October 15th, 1977, and was commissioned almost 3 years after her older sister enter service on March 27th, 1979, finally Sawakaze was laid down September 14th, 1979, and was launched on June 4th, 1981 and entered service on once again nearly the same day of the same month as the first ship of the class on March 30th, 1983, and each ship would see around 31 to 27 years of service and during their service would all share the same home port of Sasebo until 1995 when they were transferred to Yokosuka before being pulled out of service, Tachikaze would decommission January 15th, 2007, Asakaze was decommissioned on March 12th, 2008, and Sawakaze was decommissioned June 25th, 2010.

Specifications

Displacement:

Standard:

3,850 long tons

3,950 long tons (DDG-170)

Full load:

4,800 long tons (sources don’t state this however at full load DDG-170 would probably be another 100 tons heavier)

Length: 143 m (469 ft 2 in)

Beam: 14.3 m (46 ft 11 in)

Draft:

4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)

4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) (DDG170)

Propulsion:

2 × Mitsubishi steam turbines, 70,000 shp (60,000 hp) (one source says 6 turbines however the power output is the same)

2 shafts

Speed: 32 knots (37 mph; 59 km/h)

Complement:

250 - 230 (DDG168) (later reduced)

255 (DDG170)

Armament:

Main guns:

2 × 5-inch/54 caliber Type 73 (Mark 42 mod 7) gun (DDG168 ×1 in 1998)

Anti Air guns:

2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS (later refit)

Anti ship missile launchers:

1 × Mk 13 missile launcher capable of using: (40 missiles carried total)

RIM-66 standard missile
Harpoon SSM (only 8 could be carried) (1 source indicates only Sawakaze was able to use them however no other source states this, as a result in to poll only Sawakaze has the Harpoon SSM’s since no source explicitly says that all 3 ships could use them)

Anti submarine missile launchers:

1 × Type 74 launcher for the ASROC (1 x 8)

Torpedo launchers:

2 × HOS-301 triple 324 mm (12.8 in) torpedo tubes (2 x 3)