Ayanami-class destroyer

The Ayanami class was a destroyer class built for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in the late 1950s.The primary purpose was anti-submarine warfare, so this class was classified as "DDK" (hunter-killer anti-submarine destroyer) unofficially.

This class adopted a "long forecastle" design with inclined afterdeck called "Holland Slope", named after the scenic sloping street in Nagasaki City. Steam turbine propulsion systems were similar to the one of the Harukaze-class destroyer, but they varied little in each ships because the JMSDF tried to find the best way in the propulsion systems of future surface combatants.

This class is the first JMSDF vessels equipped with Six 3"/50 caliber Mark 22 guns with Mark 33 dual mounts and Mark 32 lightweight torpedoes with two Mark 2 over-the-side launchers. 3-inch guns were controlled by two Mark 63 GFCSs.

All 7 vessels were named after Fubuki-class destroyers and Yugumo class destroyers, Ayanami being named after a Fubuki-class destroyer of the same name, which was lost in action at Guadalcanal. The remaining six were also named after WWII Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers, all being lost during the war.