Ayanami class memberAyanami
Class overview
Name	Ayanami class
Builders	Hitachi Zosen (1) Ishikawajima Heavy Industries (1) Kawasaki Dockyard Co. (1) Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Eng. Nagasaki Shipyard (1) Kobe Shipyard (1) Mitsui Shipbuilding & Eng. (2)
Operators	Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
Preceded by	Harukaze class
Succeeded by	Murasame class
Built	1956–1960
In commission	1958–1990
Completed	7
Retired	7
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	1,720 t (1,690long tons) standard 2,500 t (2,500 long tons) full load
Length	109 m (358 ft)
Beam	10.7 m (35 ft)
Depth	8.1 m (26 ft 7 in)
Complement	220
Sensors & processing systems	AN/SPS-12air-search radar OPS-5surface-search radar AN/SPS-11A OQA-1variable depth sonar Mark 63fire-control system
Electronic warfare & decoys	NOLR-1
Armament	6 ×3"/50 caliber Mk.22 guns 4 × 533 mm (21 in)torpedo tubes 2 ×ASWtorpedo racks 2 ×Hedgehoganti-submarine mortars 2 × DCT (K-guns)

TheAyanami class was adestroyerclass built for theJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in the late 1950s. The primary purpose wasanti-submarine warfare, so this class was classified as "DDK" (hunter-killer anti-submarine destroyer) unofficially.^[1]

This class adopted a "long forecastle" design with inclined afterdeck called"Holland Slope", named after thescenic sloping street inNagasaki City.^[2] Theirsteam turbine propulsion systems were similar to the ones of theHarukaze class, but they varied between each ship in the class as part of the JMSDF's attempt to find the best propulsion system for its future surface combatants.^[3]

TheAyanami class were the first JMSDF vessels equipped with six3-inch/50 caliber Mark 22 guns with Mark 33 dual mounts and Mark 32 lightweighttorpedoes with two Mark 2 over-the-side launchers.^[4] 3-inch guns were controlled by two Mark 63 GFCSs.^[5]

All seven vessels names had previously been borne by ships of the World War II-eraFubuki andYūgumo-class destroyer classes.^{[citation needed]}

• List of destroyers of Japan

Equivalent destroyers of the same era

• Skory class
• Holland class
• Östergötland class
• Zerstörer 1 class
• Artigliere class

• Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen (1995).Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-132-7.

• Ayanami-class destroyers
• Destroyer classes
• Steam turbine-powered ships

• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2025