新型潜水艦「たいげい」進水　２２年３月就役―海自

　海上自衛隊の最新潜水艦「たいげい」の命名・進水式が１４日、三菱重工業神戸造船所（神戸市）で開かれた。基準排水量が過去最大の３０００トンとなる新型潜水艦の１番艦で、２０２２年３月に就役する予定。
　たいげいは全長８４メートル、全幅約９メートルで乗組員は約７０人。建造費は約８００億円で、今年３月に就役した「おうりゅう」、来年就役の「とうりゅう」に続きリチウムイオン電池を搭載。長時間の潜航が可能となるほか、ソナー（水中音波探知機）の性能も向上したという。
　「たいげい」は「大きな鯨」の意味で、旧日本海軍では「大鯨」が潜水母艦（後に航空母艦「龍鳳」に改装）として存在した。（2020/10/14-12:11）

A launch ceremony was held Wednesday for a new submarine of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.'s shipyard in the western Japan city of Kobe.
   It is the first of the Taigei-class submarines with standard displacements of 3,000 tons, the largest ever for MSDF submarines. It is scheduled to go into service in March 2022.
   Taigei means big whale in Japanese. MSDF submarines are traditionally named after marine phenomena, aquatic creatures or auspicious animals. Besides Taigei, the MSDF has Oyashio- and Soryu-class submarines. Oyashio is the name of an ocean current flowing near Japan. Soryu means blue dragon.
   Measuring 84 meters in length and some 9 meters in width, the new submarine will accommodate a crew of up to some 70. Construction costs totaled some 80 billion yen.
   It is equipped with lithium-ion batteries, the same feature as that for the Oryu and Toryu submarines, which were commissioned in March 2020 and will go into service next year, respectively. The Taigei-class submarine can cruise underwater for long periods and has an improved sonar. The Oryu and the Toryu are Soryu-class submarines.