JDS Erimo

JDS Erimo
History
Japan
Name	Erimo (えりも)
Namesake	Erimo
Ordered	1953
Builder	UDC, Uraga
Laid down	10 December 1954
Launched	12 July 1955
Commissioned	28 December 1955
Decommissioned	27 March 1982
Reclassified	YAS-69
Homeport	Kure
Identification	Pennant number: AMC-491
Fate	Unknown
Class overview
Preceded by	N/A
Succeeded by	Sōya class
General characteristics
Type	Minesweeper
Displacement	634 t (624 long tons) standard 700 t (690 long tons) full load
Length	66 m (216 ft 6 in)
Beam	7.9 m (25 ft 11 in)
Draft	2.64 m (8 ft 8 in)
Depth	4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)
Propulsion	2 × Sasebo 5LKT42 / 56 diesel electric engines 2 × shafts
Speed	18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement	85
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-5 surface-search radar Mark 51 fire control system
Armament	1 × twin Oerlikon 40mm gun 2 × single Oerlikon 20mm guns 1 × Hedgehog 2 × K cannons

JDS Erimo (AMC-491) was a minelayer of Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in the mid-1950s.

Construction and career

Erimo was laid down on 10 December 1954 and launched on 12 July 1955 by Uraga Dock Company Uraga Shipyard. She was commissioned on 28 December 1955 and was homeported in Yokosuka under the Mine Warfare Force.^[1][2]

She joined the Kure District Force on June 1, 1958.

She joined the 1st Mine Warfare Force on May 1, 1960, in Kure.

She joined the 2nd Mine Warfare Force on September 1, 1961, in Yokosuka.

She returned to the 1st Mine Warfare Force on March 15, 1969.

On March 31, 1976, she was reclassified as an auxiliary vessel, her registration number was changed to YAS-69, and she became the mother ship of the Explosive Ordnance Corps belonging to the Kure. When she was reclassified into an auxiliary vessel, she was equipped with a soft-ball submersible, and the mine-loading hoist and part of the minelaying rails were removed. In addition, the mine-mounted crane in the center was removed and replaced by a new diving instrument.

She was decommissioned on March 27, 1982. Her mileage since her commissioning until removal was about 720,000 kilometers.^[3]

Citations