Japan Launches Final Soryu Class Submarine
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The Japanese Navy, or the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), has recently been preparing for their twelve and final Soryu-class diesel-electric attack submarine. The JS Toryu SS-512 is the second Soryu submarine to feature lithium-ion batteries.
Built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI), the final submarine in the class was first launched from the company’s shipyard in Chuo-ku, Kobe.
The submarine’s name Toryu roughly translates to “Fighting Dragon”. It is the sixth and final Soryu submarine built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, with another six submarines built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
The first Soryu submarine, the SS-501, was first launched in December 2007 and commissioned in March 2009. The latest Soryu class submarine to join the JMSDF fleet was commissioned about 10 years after the first, on March 18 2019.
Electric-diesel submarines are powered by batteries whenever they are submerged underwater. When the batteries run dry, the submarine transitions to powering itself via its diesel engine. When the submarine is powered by its diesel engine it must surface, or at least send an exhaust pipe to the surface, to release the gas created by the engine. When the diesel engine is powered, the submarine makes a lot of noise and loses a lot of its “invisibility.”
The two most recently built Soryu class submarine has improved underwater endurance due to its new lithium-ion batteries. The older submarines in the class use lead-acid batteries. The lithium-ion batteries are designed to store double the power of older batteries, which allows the submarines to stay hidden underwater longer. Navalnews.com reports that the lithium-ion submarines will likely serve as a test-bed for the next generation of Japanese SSK.
Soryu class submarines are the largest conventionally powered submarines and an improved version of the Oyashio class submarines. The Soryus are 84 meters long, nine meters wide, and with a depth of 10.3 meters. The submarine weighs about 2,950 tons.
