The Yūshio-class was an enlarged derivative of the preceding, with improved electronics and capable of diving to greater depths. Ten Yūshios were built, to a regular programme of one being ordered each Fiscal Year.
Nadashio was 76m (249feet) long, with a beam of 9.9m (32.5feet) and maximum draught of 7.5m (24.6feet). Displacement was 2250t surfaced. Like the Uzushios, the class was of double-hull construction, with a streamlined teardrop hull. A 7200hp electric motor drove a single propeller shaft, while two Kawasaki-MAN diesel engines could charge the ship's batteries and power the ship on the surface. Speed was 20kn submerged and 13kn on the surface. Six 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes were fitted amidships, while Nadashio was the first of her class to be able to launch Sub-Harpoon anti-ship missiles. She had a crew of 75–80.
Nadashio was ordered under the Fiscal Year 1980 shipbuilding programme, and was laid down at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Kobe shipyard on 16 April 1981. She was launched on 27 January 1983 and commissioned on 6 March 1984.
In 1987, Nadashio was the first of her class to be fitted with a towed array sonar.
On 23 July 1988 the submarine collided with and sank the sports fishing boat Fuji Maru No 1 causing the death of 30 people and injuring a further 17. Both the captain of Nadashio and the skipper of Fuji Maru No 1 were given suspended prison sentences because of the collision, while the Director General of the Japanese Defense Agency resigned as a result of the accident.[1] [3]