The Enoshima class is a class of coastal minesweepers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.[1]
From the lessons learned from the 1991 dispatch of the 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. . The waters around Japan have many muddy seabeds that are not suitable for minesweeping, and abandonment of minesweeping ability is unacceptable. For this reason, the class is given the ability to sweep with Australian-made -sensitive minesweepers, but due to, it was decided that it would not be installed all the time but would be received from at sea as needed., and mobility was restricted.[2] [3]
For, it was built as a new type of minesweeper equipped with a domestic system that has the same performance as the overseas-made minesweeping system equipped in the Sugashima class, as well as realizing .
| Pennant no. | Name | Builders | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Home port | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSC-604 | Enoshima | Universal Shipbuilding Corporation, Keihin | 14 May 2009 | 25 October 2010 | 21 March 2012 | Yokosuka | |
| MSC-605 | Chichijima | 24 May 2010 | 24 November 2011 | 21 March 2013 | Yokosuka | ||
| MSC-606 | Hatsushima | Japan Marine United, Yokohama | 26 April 2012 | 6 December 2013 | 19 March 2015 | Yokosuka |