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| Launch of JS Taigei ( SS-513 ) at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Kobe Shipyard 14th Oct 2020. Photo : JMSDF |
The Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force ( JMSDF ) had just revealed the name of its next generation attack submarine during its launch on 14th Oct 2020. It is known as the Taigei ( たいげい, 大鯨 ), meaning " big whale ". Post-World War II Japanese submarines had a tradition of being named after marine phenomenon or auspicious creatures, be it real or mythical. So while the previous generations of Japan's hunter-killer submarine ( SSK ) classes had been named after tides and dragons, this time though it might just be named after whales.
The naming of warships, especially the first in a series, can be very important as this will generally also be adopted as the name of the class. The Japanese knew this well enough to even refer to the lead ship of a class as the name ship ( ネームシップ nemu shippu). The name of the first-in-class also usually sets the tone and direction for the names of the subsequent vessels that would follow in the series.
Kujira!
In Japanese, the kanji character for whale is 鯨. On its own, this is usually pronounced as kujira ( Kun-reading ) but when combined as a word with another kanji character it is usually read as gei ( On-reading ).
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| Ukiyo-e painting by Hokusai of the appearance of a gigantic whale in the Goto Islands of Nagasaki Prefecture circa 1830. Wikipedia |
Whales and dolphins have an important place in the culture of Japan's indigenous Ainu people. They have lived with and hunted these marine creatures for sustenance as far back as time immemorial and there are folklore and festivals to celebrate their special relationship with these animals. In other parts of Japan especially around the Kii Peninsular of Honshu, coastal fishermen have been whaling with traditional methods for several centuries. Large scale commercial whaling with modern pelagic fleets only began about a hundred years ago during the Meiji era and intensified after World War II when Japan faced an acute shortage of food to feed its people. Whale meat then became a major source of protein for many Japanese in post-war Japan. However, as their country became more affluent, the Japanese could afford to import beef, pork and other meats such that whale meat consumption is now uncommon. That's not surprising at all because whale meat is tough and not as palatable as beef. Wagyu or Japanese beef taste a million times better than whale meat, or any meat for that matter.
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| Annual Whale Festival at Toba City, Mie Prefecture. Photo : Mainichi Shimbun |
As centuries of over exploitation has drastically reduced the whale population globally, the International Whaling Commission adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1982. Japan is one of the handful of member nations that defied the moratorium and continued with large scale whale hunting, purportedly for scientific research. After decades of unsuccessful lobbying for the ban to be lifted, Japan eventually withdrew its IWC membership in 2018. Japan's insistence on commercial whaling which required millions of dollars of government subsidy annually might be the result of lobbying by powerful political groups with vested interests. It has alienated Japan with many anti-whaling nations including Australia, who vehemently opposed Japanese whaling activities in the southern oceans. Hopefully this senseless culling will stop in the near future.
On a lighter note, whales of various types are also featured in many Japanese manga and anime including Children of the Sea ( trailer below ), Tico of the Seven Seas and my favourite, Children of the Whale ( Kujira no Kora wa Sajo ni Utau クジラの子らは砂上に歌う ).
Submarine Names
While the navies of the world had been deploying surface vessels for centuries, the history of modern submarines only went back about a hundred years. Especially in the early years, submarines do not bear traditional names like their surface counterparts did but instead were assigned alphanumeric characters like U-47 or I-400. This was because the early submarines were generally of lower tonnage and were only considered as boats, and navies by tradition do not name small crafts and boats.
Even has the design and function of submarines grew increasingly complex and with their tonnage possibly exceeding those of their surface counterparts, they were still called boats, again by tradition. The only thing that has changed in recent years especially post-WWII is nowadays almost all the world's submarines are named.
JMSDF's long standing tradition of naming its submarines after oceanic currents is very apt since they are vessels of the deep and are supposed to ride the currents to strike with precision. Being an island nation surrounded by the oceans, the various currents flowing around the Japanese archipelago would be of significance as they will have a huge impact on the climate and the way of life for the people. However, after decades of naming them after currents, there are now many Japanese boats of different generations bearing the same name like Kuroshio ( 3 ), Harushio ( 2 ) and Oyashio ( 2 ). This creates confusion especially when the JMSDF historically retires its submarines after only about twenty years in service and boats of two different generations with very similar sounding names are concurrently in active service.
The arrival of the Soryu-class SSK changed this long standing habit with the entire class named after dragons. If anything, this allows for the instant distinction of submarine class and capability just from the name alone, well mostly, if you disregard the fact the the last two boats of the Soryu-class are actually powered by lithium batteries instead of the usual lead-acid accumulators combined with air-independent propulsion technology found in the rest of the class. Naming submarines after dragons are also apt as dragons, at least in East Asian culture, are powerful mythical creatures of the sea that even have the ability to unleash storms of unimaginable ferocity.
With the completion of the 12 boat Soryu-class submarines, it is now evident that the JMSDF is naming the lead boat of the new class after a whale. That itself does not guarantee that the subsequent vessels will also bear names of whales. For all we know it might be a marine mammal series - sea lion, seal, walrus, dolphin, or a even possibly fish series. However, based on the naming pattern observed since 1955 and the fact that the Japanese love conformity and order, I would hazard a guess that the rest of the series will also be named after whales.
Naming Submarines After Whales
The naming of submarines after whales ( and dolphins ) is not entirely novel as proven by the numerous US Navy submarines that bear such names : Finback, Narwhale, Porpoise, Grampus ( Risso's dolphin ), Whale, Dolphin and Cachalot ( sperm whale ). In the JMSDF though, that would be a first. Even more than ocean currents and dragons, whales share many characteristics with modern submarines and to name them after whales are definitely appropriate.
For instance, both are deep diving, air breathing, fearless hunters of the oceans. Most importantly the use of sound waves in echo-location for navigation, locating prey and even performing an acoustic attack to disorientate the prey are tactics common to both toothed whales, dolphins and the modern sonar-equipped submarine.
In fact, the Japanese have nicknamed the JS Akishio, a decommissioned Yushio-class submarine which is currently on display at the JMSDF Kure Museum, as the Iron Whale ( 鉄のくじら tetsu no kujira ) and the museum itself, Museum of the Iron Whale.
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| The Iron Whale JS Akishio at the JMSDF Kure Museum Photo : Wikipedia |
IJN Ships Named After Whales
While the JMSDF never had a vessel named after whales until now, its predecessor the Imperial Japanese Navy ( IJN ) had the history of naming 3 of its submarine tenders after whales. They were chronologically the Jingei ( 迅鯨 swift whale ), Chogei ( 長鯨 long whale ) and the Taigei ( 大鯨 big whale ).
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| Submarine Tender IJN Jingei. Image : Pit Road |
The IJN Jingei and IJN Chogei were sister ships that were the Imperial Navy's first purpose built submarine tenders. Launched in 1923 and 1924 respectively and with a standard displacement of 5160 long ton, the Jingei-class submarine tender were designed to perform multiple roles such as being the submarine division commander's flagship with the ability to resupply and support the communications and command and control for a division of 9 medium type submarines. They could also provide for crew accommodation, perform simple repairs and carry out torpedo maintenance works. They were armed with 4 x 140mm naval guns and 2 x 76mm anti-aircraft guns and a myriad of 25mm autocannons and 13mm machine guns. After 1930 they were even equipped with a float plane.
Despite this seemingly impressive list of armament and capabilities, due to speed and size limitations, the Jingei-class tenders were unable to support the IJN's largest fleet submarines. They were largely obsolete by the time WWII commenced and were superseded by the IJN Taigei.
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| Submarine Tender IJN Taigei. Image : Aoshima |
Launched in 1933 under the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, the IJN Taigei was constructed as a large submarine tender with provisions for later conversion into an aircraft carrier. It was designed to support a division of the largest Japanese fleet submarines. Although it was the first major Japanese ship to be constructed using electric arc welding which was then considered innovative, lack of familiarity with the technique lead to weak welds, a warped hull and the appearance of many cracks later. The ship also suffered from poor stability because of some inherent flaws with the basic hull design resulting from an unfortunate combination of a high freeboard with a shallow draught. Its diesel engines also proved problematic, churning out only half the expected output. Damage from a typhoon shortly after completion in 1934 further delayed its integration into the fleet which eventually occurred in 1938.
Works to convert the IJN Taigei to a light aircraft carrier commenced in Dec 1941 in Yokosuka and was originally scheduled to be completed in 3 months. It involved the installation of a 185m flight deck and the replacement of the problematic diesel engines with steam turbines. However, numerous problems and issues including bomb damage from the Doolittle air raid on Tokyo delayed the completion until November 1942. The vessel was then renamed the IJN Ryuho ( 龍鳳 dragon phoenix ).
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| IJN Ryuho 1/700 waterline series. Image : Fujimi |
The IJN Ryuho would carry out many aircraft ferry missions and training missions throughout the Pacific War and was also involved in combat including the Battle of the Philippine Sea in 1944. It was critically damaged during the Kure air raid of March 1945, stricken on 30th Nov 1945 and scrapped in 1946.
JS Taigei ( SS-513 )
The JS Taigei ( SS-513 ) is the first-in-class of a new generation of advance diesel-electric attack submarine built for the JMSDF. It was also known as the 29SS ( 平成29年計画潜水艦 ) as it was promulgated in the defense plans in the 29th year of the Heisei era ( 2017 ) or even the 3000 Ton Class Submarine ( 3000トン型潜水艦 ) as that was the intended displacement of the new submarine.
It is the successor to the already very capable Soryu-class SSK with improvements in hull design for extreme quietness and impact resistance. The propeller and hull shapes are optimised to reduce flow noise generation and the submarine will adopt a floating floor structure with floorboards being attached to the inner shell via a buffer mechanism to reduce the outward transmission of vibrations and to protect the submarine against exogenous shock waves.
Incorporating advance optical fiber technology, the integrated sonar suite comprising of a bow array, flank array and towed array, is designed to detect a future generation of very quiet submarines of Japan's near-peer rivals. The bow cylindrical array has a conformal horseshoe shape for improved directivity while the flank array has been changed from the conventional piezoelectric type hydrophones to an optical fiber hydrophone array making it smaller and lighter with reduced power requirements and reduced susceptibility to electromagnetic interference from within the submarine. The towed array has also been similarly infused with optical fiber technology for improved directivity and sensitivity.
The torpedo countermeasure system ( TCM ) installed on the Taigei is similar to those found on the last 5 Soryu-class submarines. The Type 1 Mod 1 non-hull penetrating photonics mast / periscope is said to be a licenced version of the Thales CM010 produced by Mitsubishi. Unlike traditional periscopes, these modern prism-less digital sensor masts only require very small apertures through the pressure hull for cabling and that preserves the integrity of the hull. They need not be directly above the user and are much more compact and can be housed entirely in the sail. This provides flexibility to the location of the control room which can be moved from the cramped upper deck to the more spacious second deck. Other areas of innovation are found in the submarine's C4ISTAR control systems which features enhanced combat management system and tactical display consoles. It is believed that the Taigei will be armed with japan's most advance Type 18 (G-RX6 ) torpedoes and the trusty Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
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| JS Taigei Innovations. Original image without annotations : Maritime Staff Office. |
Just like the last two boats of the Soryu-class, the JS Taigei has a high efficiency power generation and storage system which utilises diesel engines and lithium-ion batteries, a combination which completely negates the need for an air-independent propulsion system. The lithium batteries, likely the Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminium Oxide ( NCA ) variety that populated SS-511 and SS-512 as well, were developed by Japan's leading battery maker GS Yuasa. They have many advantages when compared with lead-acid batteries, including having a higher energy density, a greater depth of discharge, a greater efficiency, a shorter charging time, a lower rate of self-discharge, a longer lifespan and also being lighter and more compact. The only disadvantages are cost and the increase in the risk of combustion which can be somewhat mitigated through the incorporation of special protective circuitry.
All these advantages of lithium-ion battery technology will translate to better endurance, higher dash speed, and better survivability for the submarine. To rapidly charge its lithium batteries, the Taigei will feature a new snorkel power generation system which involves improvements to the snorkel, diesel engines and the generators.
Externally, the Taigei looks rather similar to the Soryu submarines with the same hull form, diving planes, propeller and x-shaped rudder. Its interior however is designed to accept female submariners with separate bunking facilities. This is also a first for the JMSDF as their silent service has only recently lifted restrictions on the placement of female personnel onboard submarines.
Built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at its Kobe shipyard at a cost of 80 billion yen ( US$800 million ), the JS Taigei was launched and named on 14th Oct 2020 by Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo ( 岸信夫 ) who is actually ex-Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's brother. The commanding officer of the pre-commissioning unit is 45 year old Commander Tsuchiya Tooru ( 二等海佐 土屋亨 ) who will very likely continue as the first CO upon the Taigei's commissioning.
The boat is scheduled to be commissioned in Mar 2022 and will be converted into an experimental submarine for the testing and evaluation of new technology for Japan's next generation submarines. This arrangement will allow existing JMSDF submarines to dedicate their entire service life to operational and training matters, rather than the existing routine of having every submarine in the fleet to take turns performing the testbed role. Currently, the Japanese Ministry of Defense has allocated funds for three more submarines of the Taigei-class, SS-514 ( 30SS ) $697million, SS-515 ( 31SS ) $698million and SS-516 $702million. Budgetary approval for a fifth boat had been submitted on 30th Sep 2020. Following tradition, Mitsubishi and Kawasaki will each take turns building the submarines until the entire class is completed.
The following photos and video of the launch and naming ceremony are courtesy of the JMSDF.
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| The JS Taigei is the 1320th ship ( 第一三二〇番船 ) constructed at the MHI Kobe shipyard. |
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| Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi cutting rope with silver axe |
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| Ceremonial Silver Launching Axe |
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| Streamers activated as boat is launched |
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| Colourful balloons released as boat moves down the slipway |
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| More fitting and trails await the JS Taigei |
Likely Names of the Taigei-Class Submarines
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Kanji |
Hiragana |
Alphabetic |
Meaning |
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瑞鯨 |
ずいげい |
Zuigei |
Auspicious |
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巨鯨 |
きょげい |
Kyogei |
Huge |
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雪鯨 |
ゆきげい |
Yukigei |
Snow |
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祥鯨 |
しょうげい |
Shogei |
Blessed |
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雲鯨 |
うんげい |
Ungei |
Cloud |
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魔鯨 |
まげい |
Magei |
Magical |
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玉鯨 |
たまげい |
Tamagei |
Jade |
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宝鯨 |
ほうげい |
Hogei |
Treasure |
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仁鯨 |
じんげい |
Jingei |
Kind |
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迅鯨 |
じんげい |
Jingei |
Swift |
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騰鯨 |
とうげい |
Togei |
Leaping |
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闘鯨 |
とうげい |
Togei |
Fighting |
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涛鯨 |
とうげい |
Togei |
Wave |
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韻鯨 |
いんげい |
Ingei |
Rhythm |
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長鯨 |
ちょうげい |
Chogei |
Long |
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遠鯨 |
えんげい |
Engei |
Afar |
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淵鯨 |
えんげい |
Engei |
Abyssal |
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焔鯨 |
えんげい |
Engei |
Flaming |
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琥鯨 |
こげい |
Kogei |
Amber |
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古鯨 |
こげい |
Kogei |
Ancient |
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皇鯨 |
こうげい |
Kogei |
Emperor |
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煌鯨 |
こうげい |
Kogei |
Glittering |
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王鯨 |
おうげい |
Ogei |
King |
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螢鯨 |
けいげい |
Keigei |
Fluorescent |
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楽鯨 |
らくげい |
Rakugei |
Merry |
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雷鯨 |
らいげい |
Raigei |
Thunder |
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舞鯨 |
まいげい |
Maigei |
Dancing |
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襲鯨 |
しゅうげい |
Shugei |
Attacking |
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寿鯨 |
じゅげい |
Shugei |
Longevity |
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若鯨 |
わかげい |
Wakagei |
Young |
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| Some Taigei Specifications and Manga Art by @ginntokii via twitter |
