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Oceanographic research ship
JS Nichinan is a oceanographic research ship. It was built by Mitsubishi , Shimonoseki.
Technical data
True scale
Sourced dimensions beside a 1.75 m human reference.
Nichinan (にちなん)
Nichinan
1996
Mitsubishi , Shimonoseki
7 August 1997
11 June 1998
24 March 1999
Yokosuka
Pennant number : AGS-5105 IMO number : 9178604 MMSI number : 431999636 Callsign : ZL6DEF1
Active
Futami class
Shōnan class
Oceanographic research ship
3,300 t (3,200 long tons ) standard 4,500 t (4,400 long tons) full load
111.0 m (364 ft 2 in )
17 m (55 ft 9 in)
4.5 m (14 ft 9 in)
9.0 m (29 ft 6 in)
2 × Mitsubishi S16U diesel electric engines 1 × Mitsubishi S8U diesel electric engine 2 × shafts
20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
80
OPS-20 surface-search radar Sonar Sea Beam 2112 Multibeam Echo Sounder
NORA-1
In terms of design, it is said to be a performance-enhancing type of JS Wakasa , and the ship type has also the same long forecastle, but the displacement is increased by 1,000 tons or more. The same is true for the apparently distinctive bow bow sheave. In order to reduce wave-making resistance and prevent interference with underwater acoustic equipment at the bottom of the ship (acoustic obstruction due to air bubbles, etc.), a U-shaped frame is used for the bow and a V-shaped frame is used for the stern. Was done. The adoption of bulbous bow was the first for an ocean observation ship.
In addition, the crew of female SDF personnel is taken into consideration, and as a residential area for women, there is an officer's bedroom (for 2 people) near the officer's room on the 2nd deck and a staff's living area (for 8 people) in the central part of the 1st deck. It has been placed. Also, on this ship, as the first attempt as a self-defense ship, the design of her captain's room was ordered from a private designer, which is very excellent.
In order to reduce underwater radiation noise, the main engine and main generator are double anti-vibration support, and auxiliary equipment such as the hull is also anti-vibration support with anti-vibration rubber and anti-vibration pipe joints as with conventional ships. The vibration damping material is installed on the outer panel of the hull at the bottom of the ship. The variable-pitch propeller is also a large-diameter 5-wing high-skewed propeller, and the shaft rotation speed is also reduced. In order to suppress the shaft inclination as much as possible, the height of the propulsion motor itself was kept low and placed on the side as much as possible. In addition, it is equipped with two side thrusters on the bow (thrust of 9 tons each) and one on the stern (thrust of 12 tons) to improve low-speed motion performance in the presence of wind and tide.
As for the onboard boats, 11-meter work boats are mounted on the dabit on the deck of the poop on both sides of the chimney, of which the port side boats are equipped with shallow sea echo sounders and towed side scan sonar . It is said to be an observation work boat.
In addition, it is equipped with a roped unmanned underwater vehicle (ROV) for underwater work such as cable repair. It is usually mounted on the deck room that is continuous with the deck of the ship tower, and is lifted and lowered by the A-frame crane at the stern. Made in the United States, it weighs about 5.5 tons in the air, has a total length of about 2.9 meters, a width of about 1.8 meters, and a height of about 2.4 meters. It is equipped with two manipulators and a water jet excavator as work equipment. She is said to have a pressure resistance of 1,000 meters and a working depth of 400 meters.
At around 2:45 am on July 20, 2016, a 27-year-old male chief sailor disappeared while sailing about 30 km east of Amami Oshima in Kagoshima Prefecture. The chief officer searched by aircraft or ship, thinking that he might have fallen into the sea, but the search was terminated at 8:00 pm on July 27.
Reference text from Wikipedia contributors, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
JS Nichinan equipment records. Variants, orders and quantities are shown as reported in each inventory source; coverage is incomplete.
JapanMaritime Self-Defense Force exact named equipment holdings: Nichinan. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: LOGISTICS AND SUPPORT / AGS. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.