JS Takanami (DD-110)

JS Takanami (たかなみ) is the lead vessel of the Takanami class destroyers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).

Takanami was authorized under the Medium-term Defense Buildup Plan of 1996, and was built by IHI Marine United shipyards in Uraga, Kanagawa. She was laid down on 25 April 2000, launched on 27 July 2001. She was commissioned into service on 12 March 2003. and was initially assigned to the JMSDF Escort Flotilla 1 based at Yokosuka.

Service
Takanami, along with the destroyer Kirishima and supply ship Mashu was assigned to the Indian Ocean in August 2004 to provide assistance to anti-terrorist coalition forces in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. On her return voyage to Japan in December 2004, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami struck, and she was diverted to Thailand to participate in international rescue and recovery operations.

On 13 October 2009, Takanami, along with the destroyer Hamagiri, was dispatched to the coast of Somalia to participate in anti-piracy escort operations. From November 7 to February 20, 2010 she undertook 34 sorties, escorting 283 vessels safely. She returned to Japan on March 18, 2010.

Takanami was one of many in the JMSDF fleet participating in disaster relief after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. She arrived at Ishinomaki, Miyagi the day after the disaster, rescuing 32 people.

On 11 October 2011 Takanami was dispatched to Aden, Yemen together with the destroyer Onami, to resume anti-piracy escort operations off the coast of Somalia. The context for this extended deployment off the Horn of Africa was the "Law on the Penalization of Acts of Piracy and Measures Against Acts of Piracy (Anti-Piracy Measures Law)". She returned to Yokosuka on 12 March 2012 and is currently assigned to the Sixth Squadron of the JMSDF Escort Flotilla 2.