For a long time after its establishment in 1947,
the JMSDF mainly operated ships that focused on
a specific capacity, mainly for anti-submarine
warfare. That changed in late 1979 when they began
to build new destroyers to replace the ships that
had been in service from as far back as the early
1950s. What made them different from other destroyers
that the JMSDF had built thus far was that they
ships were designated as a general-purpose warship.
Equipped with many weapons for many different
threats as well as the hanger space to carry a
patrol helicopter for anti-submarine warfare,
the destroyers formed an important part of the
surface fleet of the JMSDF. The first one, called
the Hatsuyuki came into service in 1982 and the
last one in 1987.
While they fortunately never had to engage human
foes, they most certain did deploy to help deal
with the threats that kaiju had posed against
Japan. Among one of their main actions was when
the Hatsuyuki spotted Godzilla on sonar heading
towards Tokyo in 2003.
A year later in 2004, the Hatsuyukis along with
other warships of the JMSDF engaged Godzilla in
open combat as he headed towards Tokyo. Concentrating
their fire, they managed to delay Godzilla's
advance and avoid any losses although they did
not inflict any noticeable damage on Godzilla.