JS Ōsumi
1996 Ōsumi-class tank landing ship
JS Ōsumi (LST-4001) is the lead ship of the Ōsumi-class tank landing ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
Construction and career
Ōsumi was laid down on 6 December 1995 and launched on 18 November 1996 by Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, Tamano. She was commissioned into the 1st Landing Group on 11 March 1998.
Initially, the ship was not equipped with a fin stabilizer (rolling prevention device) that improves stability during open sea voyages and helicopter takeoffs and landings due to political judgment, and in 2006, eight years after commissioning, international emergency assistance was provided. The stabilizer installation cost was finally budgeted by the Defense Agency (currently the Ministry of Defense) as a repair cost for a large transport ship to respond to the activity, and at the same time the capacity of aviation fuel was increased. It was also equipped with a tactical air navigation system (TACAN), which was not available at the time of commissioning.
The vessel departed Kobe with Bungo and Tokiwa on 23 September 1999 to transport temporary housing as an aid to the damage caused by the northwestern Turkey earthquake that occurred on 17 August. The first long-distance continuous voyage in the history of the Maritime Self-Defense Force was carried out to Alexandria at an average speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) for 23 consecutive days without calling, and arrived at the port of Heidalpasha in Istanbul on 19 October. The return trip was scheduled to arrive at Kure on 22 November, but an issue that arose aboard Bungo delayed their arrival by one day. They arrived at Sasebo on the 22nd.
“JS Ōsumi” enters the record as 1996 Ōsumi-class tank landing ship. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ōsumi, Ōsumi-class and tank can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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