Harishima-class minesweeper

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{{Infobox ship image

| Ship image = File:MSC 601 HIRASHMA.jpg

| Ship caption = JS Hirashima

}}{{Infobox ship class overview

| Class before = Sugashima class

| Class after = Enoshima class

| Name = Hirashima

| Builders = USC, Keihin

| Total ships planned = 3

| Built range = 2005-2008

| Total ships on order =

| Total ships completed = 3

| Total ships active = 3

| In commission range = 2008-present

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

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| Ship type = Minesweeper

| Ship displacement = *{{convert|570|t|LT|lk=out|abbr=on}} standard

{{convert|650|t|LT|lk=out|abbr=on}} full load

| Ship length = {{convert|57|m|ftin|lk=on|abbr=on}}

| Ship beam = {{convert|9.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| Ship depth = {{convert|4.4|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| Ship draft =

| Ship propulsion = *2 × Mitsubishi 6NMU diesel electric engines

2 × shafts

| Ship speed = {{convert|14|kn|abbr=on|lk=in}}

| Ship range =

| Ship endurance =

| Ship test depth =

| Ship complement = 48

| Ship sensors = *OPS-39 surface-search radar

| Ship EW =

| Ship armament = 1 × single JM61R-MS 20mm guns

| Ship notes =

| Ship aircraft facilities =

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The Hirashima class is a class of coastal minesweepers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).{{Cite web|url=https://www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/agenda/meeting/materials/seisan/sonota/pdf/04/001.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=1 June 2021 |archive-date=14 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214104134/https://www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/agenda/meeting/materials/seisan/sonota/pdf/04/001.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Development

From the lessons learned in the 1991 dispatch of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to the Persian Gulf, the Maritime Self-Defense Force took the example of the Royal Navy's Sandown-class minehunter, built after the 1994 plan especially in order to improve its capabilities regarding mine clearance. However, due to the fact that the Sandown-class is basically a minesweeper that does not have minesweeping ability and the fact that the waters around Japan have many muddy seabeds that are not suitable for minesweeping, the abandonment of minesweeping ability was unacceptable to the JMSDF. For these reasons, ships were given the ability to sweep with Australian-made DYAD{{clarify|date=January 2025}}-sensitive minesweepers, but, due to magnetic management issues, it was decided that it would not be installed all the time but would be received from a mother ship at sea as needed. Operational restrictions were large, and mobility was also restricted{{clarify|date=January 2025}}.{{Cite book|title=Details of the new minesweeper Hirashima, Ships of the World|publisher=Gaijinsha|date=August 2008|volume=694|location=Japan|pages=154–159}}{{Cite book|last=Takahashi|first=Yoichi|title=Mine Warships (Special Feature: Maritime Self-Defense Force's New Weapons)-(Notable New Weapons), Ships of the World|publisher=Gaijinsha|date=May 2013|volume=778|location=Japan|pages=92–97}}

For these reasons, the Hirashima-class was built as a new type of minesweeper equipped with a domestic system that had the same performance as the overseas-made minesweeping system equipped in the Sugashima-class.