JS Natori


Natori is a frigate of the Japan [Maritime Self-Defense Force], and the ninth ship of the. She is named after the Natori River, which flows through the cities of Natori and Sendai in the Miyagi Prefecture, and the second ship to be named this way, after the Imperial Japanese Navy's , as well as the first in the JMSDF era.

History

Natori was ordered in March 2023 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as part of the JMSDF's Mid-Term Defense Program and was laid down at the MHI Nagasaki Shipyard on 6 July 2023. She was christened and launched on 24 June 2024 and is scheduled to be commissioned in 2025 after a period of fitting out and subsequent sea trials.