Submarine Kenryu Delivered

Tokyo, March 16, 2012—Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. today held a ceremony marking the delivery of the submarine Kenryu to the Japan Ministry of Defense (MOD) at its Kobe Shipyard’s Nishihama Quay at 11:30 AM. The ceremony was attended by a delegation of top MOD officials.

The submarine is the fourth Soryu class submarine built by Kawasaki, and the 25th built at this shipyard after World War II.

It provides superior submerged operations and propulsion performance, and uses high tensile steel for its hull. It also has Stirling engines for increased underwater endurance, a variety of automated systems, improved surveillance capabilities using high-performance sonar, increased stealth capabilities, and enhanced safety measures.

The submarine’s specifications are as follows:

Construction:

Started:

March 31, 2008

Launched: November 15, 2010

Estimated completion: March, 2012

Specifications:

Length: 84m

Beam: 9.1m

Depth: 10.3m

Draft(normal): 8.4m

Displacement: 2,900tons

Engines: Kawasaki 12Ｖ 25/25 SB-type diesel engines (2)

Kawasaki Kockums V4-275R Stirling engines (4)

Electric propulsion motor (1)

Propeller: Single propeller

Speed: 20 knots

Armament: Underwater launch tubes

Other: Submarine snorkel