The Uzushio-class submarine was a series of seven submarines in service with Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force during the Cold War between 1972 and the mid-1990s. They were the first generation of the teardrop type submarine that valued the underwater performance against that of the preceding conventional-hull type . Many were converted to training submarines (ATSS) towards the end of their lives.
The Uzushio class was the first Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine design to incorporate the teardrop hull. The Uzushios had a double hull construction which used NS-63 high-tensile steel to allow for a deeper diving depth of . The submarines measured 72m (236feet) long between perpendiculars and at the beam. They had a maximum draught of and had a standard displacement of 1850t and a displacement when submerged.
The submarines were powered by a diesel-electric system composed of two Kawasaki-MAN V8V24/30AMTL diesel engines and two electric motors turning one shaft creating 3400BHP surfaced and 7200SHP submerged. This gave the boats a maximum speed of 12kn surfaced and dived. The submarines incorporated a separate emergency blowing system to all the vessels to surface rapidly and had a 3D automatic steering system which combined automatic depth and automatic direction maintenance systems.
The Uzushios were armed with Japanese Type 89 torpedoes fired from six 533mm torpedo tubes located amidships. The submarines had their sonar array located in the bow which was composed of a ZPS-4 surface search sonar, a ZQQ-2, ZQQ-3, or ZQQ-4 passive/active search sonar suite and a SQS-36J or SQS-4 active sonar.
| Project no. | Building no. | Pennant no. | Name | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S118 | 8081 | SS-566 | 25 September 1968 | 11 March 1970 | 21 January 1971 | Decommissioned 24 March 1987, scrapped | |
| 8082 | SS-567 | 21 June 1969 | 27 January 1971 | 2 February 1972 | Decommissioned 11 March 1988, scrapped | ||
| S119 | 8083 | SS-568/ ATSS-8001 | 9 July 1970 | 18 March 1972 | 25 November 1972 | Converted to auxiliary training submarine (ATSS-8001) on 24 March 1989, decommissioned 25 March 1992, sunk as target off Izu Ōshima August 1994 | |
| 8084 | SS-569/ ATSS-8002 | 8 May 1971 | 22 November 1972 | 28 September 1973 | Converted to auxiliary training submarine (ATSS-8002) on 8 June 1990, decommissioned 15 March 1993, scrapped | ||
| 8085 | SS-570/ ATSS-8003 | 5 July 1972 | 22 February 1974 | 27 November 1974 | Converted to auxiliary training submarine (ATSS-8003) on 20 March 1991, decommissioned 1 March 1994, scrapped | ||
| S119A | 8086 | SS-571/ ATSS-8004 | 6 July 1973 | 30 June 1975 | 30 January 1976 | Converted to auxiliary training submarine (ATSS-8004) on 6 June 1992, decommissioned 26 July 1995, scrapped | |
| 8087 | SS-572/ ATSS-8005 | 14 April 1975 | 19 May 1977 | 7 March 1978 | Converted to auxiliary training submarine (ATSS-8005) on 14 August 1994, decommissioned 1 August 1996, scrapped | ||
| ~ | One hull canceled because of the 1973 oil crisis, naval budget was used for the and others. | ||||||