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Japanese Submarine Collides with Commercial Ship While Surfacing
9 Feb 2021
The Associated Press | By Mari Yamaguchi
TOKYO � A Japanese navy submarine and a commercial ship collided off Japan's southern coast on Monday, causing minor injuries to three crewmembers of the submarine and damage to its mast, defense officials said.
The submarine Soryu was in the process of surfacing about 27 nautical miles (50 kilometers) south of Cape Ashizuri on Japan's southwestern island of Shikoku when it collided with the commercial ship, the Maritime Self-Defense Force said in a statement.

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Japan commissions its first submarine running on lithium-ion batteries
By: Mike Yeo ? 5 hours ago
The Ouryu submarine during its commissioning ceremony at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in the city of Kobe. (Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force photo)
MELBOURNE, Australia � The Japan Maritime Self Defense Force on Thursday welcomed into service its first submarine using lithium-ion batteries with the commissioning of the 11th Soryu-class boat.
In a ceremony held at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in the city of Kobe, officials welcomed the diesel-electric attack submarine Ouryu into service, where it will be assigned to the 1st Submarine Flotilla in the nearby port of Kure.
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Kawasaki launches second Soryu-class for Japan Maritime Self Defense Force
November 2019 News Naval Navy Maritime Defense Industry Posted On Wednesday, 06 November 2019 15:5
The 84 m-longboat, which has been named Toryu (with pennant number SS 512), entered the water on 6 November in a ceremony held at KHI's facilities in Kobe.
According to SUN TV, 380 people were attending the ceremony, including employees of the Ministry of Defense and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Hiroshi Yamamura, the chief of staff of the Ministry of Defense, cut the rope and started the launch, and big applause occurred within the venue.
JS Toryu is the 12th and final Soryu-class submarine produced for the JMSDF (the 6th built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the other 6 having been built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries). Toryu means Fighting Dragon. The name of Toryu is derived from the famous scenic dragon fighting in Kato City, Hyogo Prefecture, where the torrent of the Kako River flows between strangely shaped rocks.
The ship, built for 69 billion yen, has a displacement of 2,950 tons and a total length of 84 meters and a width of 9.1 meters. It is capable of navigating at about 20 knots when submerged and 12 knots when surfaced. The power source uses a lithium-ion battery, which has excellent submarine capabilities and automates the system. The Submarine is equipped with a Kawasaki 12V 25 / 25SB type diesel engine and another Kawasaki Kokkamusu V4-275R Stirling engine four.
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Japan launches first lithium-ion battery powered submarine JS Oryu
Japanese shipbuilder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has launched the 11th Soryu-class submarine for the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force at its Kobe shipyard.
JS Oryu (SS-511) was launched October 4 and is the first JMSDF submarine to run on lithium-ion batteries which store considerably more power than the lead-acid batteries installed on the previous ten Soryu-class submarines.
Oryu is the sixth vessel in the class to be built by MHI. The other shipbuilder involved in the construction of Japan�s diesel-electric submarines is Kawasaki Heavy Industries who launched the country�s tenth submarine in November 2017.
MHI says the 84-meter submarines are the world�s largest conventionally powered boats. They are also Japan�s first submarines to be fitted with air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems that enable them to remain fully submerged for longer periods of time.
The 2,950-ton submarines are propelled by a Diesel-Stirling-electric main engine to a maximum billed speed of 20 knots. They are manned by 65 sailors.

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