Sōryū class submarine | Trackpads Warship Archive

Representative image: 潜水艦はくりゅうの艦名板。真珠湾基地に寄港中。 Naamplaatje van de Japanse onderzeeboot Hakuryu (SS-503) die heeft een bezoek aan de marinebasis Pearl Harbour op 6 februari 2013.This image was released by the United States Navy with the ID 130206-N-DB801-112 (next) . This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing . العربية ∙ বাংলা ∙ Bahasa Indonesia ∙ Bahaso Jambi ∙ Deutsch ∙ Deutsch (Sie-Form) ∙ English ∙ español ∙ euskara ∙ فارسی ∙ français ∙ italiano ∙ 日本語 ∙ 한국어 ∙ македонски ∙ മലയാളം ∙ Plattdüütsch ∙ Nederlands ∙ polski ∙ پښتو ∙ português ∙ русский ∙ slovenščina ∙ svenska ∙ Türkçe ∙ українська ∙ 简体中文 ∙ 繁體中文 ∙ +/− · Public domainImage source

CountryJapan

NavyJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force

TypeAttack Submarine

EraPost-Cold War, Twenty-first century

Ships completed12

Recorded members12

Overview

Sōryū class submarine was a attack submarine associated with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Developed for Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Sōryū class submarine belongs to the Submarines family and is associated with Post-Cold War and Twenty-first century. Its documented designations include Attack submarine, while its intended roles include Anti-submarine warfare, Anti-surface warfare, and Intelligence collection.

Development and construction

records the documented ship roster without expanding into every JMSDF destroyer generation, ROK patrol/corvette family, or distinct later program batch.

The documented program for Sōryū class submarine lists 12 planned, 12 ordered, 12 laid down, 12 completed, and 0 cancelled. These figures provide the clearest available measure of the class's planned and completed scale.

Design characteristics and intended role

The surviving classification data associates Sōryū class submarine with Air-independent propulsion and Lithium-ion battery transition. Read together with the recorded roles of Anti-submarine warfare, Anti-surface warfare, and Intelligence collection, these attributes show the operational problem the design was intended to address without implying specifications that the sources do not establish.

The class record identifies Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force as the principal design or service authority. Where individual ships changed navy, name, or pennant, those later identities are retained on the ship pages rather than treated as separate vessels.

Service history and class roster

The class roster currently links 12 ships. Named members include JS Hakuryū, JS Jinryū, JS Kenryū, JS Kokuryū, JS Seiryū, JS Sekiryū, JS Shōryū, and JS Sōryū. The linked ships are associated with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Historical significance

The class is retained as a representative modern combat-fleet anchor for its navy.

Sōryū class submarine is most useful when read as both a design and a group of individual careers. The class page establishes the shared technical and operational context; the linked ship pages preserve differences in construction, service identity, deployment, transfer, preservation, and fate where those details are documented.

Ships in this class

Showing 12 recorded class members.

Sources and further reading

Submarine Soryu class ↗Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force · accessed 2026-09-21

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