The JS Kitashio (JS 北潮) is the protagonists main ship during the events of Gate Season 2. It is an Oyashio-class submarine, and the second JMSDF vessel to enter the Special Region.

Deployment to the Special Region

The encounter with the Armored Whale Moby Dick left the JMSDF's existing submarine Nishishio seriously damaged and in need of major drydock repairs and overhaul. To fill the operational gap and avenge the Nishishio, the JMSDF elected to send the Kitashio to the Special Region to eliminate Moby Dick and continue reconnaissance operations in the Blue and Avion Seas.

Depending on the source material, the submarine was either transferred overland from Tokyo Bay, through the Ginza Gate, down the Roma River, and to the Elbe port city of Vaasa, or portaled over to Vaasa using a Gate constructed by Lelei La Lalena.

The first action of the Kitashio in the Avion Sea was to hunt down and kill Moby Dick.

Operations in and around the Avion Sea

Following the Armored Whale hunt, the Kitashio rendezvoused with a tribe of Aqua led by Kemmy for guidance through the shallows near Tinae. There they dispatched Edajima Goro and Tokushima Hajime for an operation into Nasta to recover Edmund Chan. The submarine quietly tailed the group, periodically communicating with Edajima via shotwave radio. Near the end of the battle of East Redoubt Reef, the Kitashio attacked a pod of Armored Whales to save Edajima and Tokashima, along with the Tinaean delegation consisting of Primera, Odette, Shura, Oux, and Amaretto.

The Kitashio was forced into combat with the remaining armored whales and was flipped on her nose when one whale grabbed the vessel by its TASS, injuring or incapacitating much of the crew, and forcing Edajima Goro to temporarily take command. Once the whale was killed, Edajima relinquished command and the ship set out for Vaasa, via the Coral Passages.

Crew

• CO: CAPT Kurokawa Masaya
  • XO: CDR Hachinohe
    • OOD (Shift 1) / WSO: LT Atsugi
    • OOD (Shift 2) / QM: LTCDR Komatsujima
    • OOD (Shift 3) / CE: LTCDR Maizuru
    • Helmsman: PO3 Kiuchi
    • Helmsman: PO3 Kariya
  • Corpsman: LTCDR Minato
  • Sonar Chief: CPO Katagiri
    • PO1 Matsubashi
  • Cullinary: CPO Natsuzawa
    • PO3 Unnamed (Officer's Mess)
    • PO2 Koda
    • PO2 Takada
  • Zodiac Operator: SCPO Tagami
  • Visitor Guard: CPO Unnamed

Passengers

• Intelligence Services Group (SR Division)
  • CAPT Edjajima Goro
  • PO1 Tokushima Hajime
• Tinayan Delegation
  • Primera Luna Avion
  • Shura no Arch
  • Odette Ze Nebula
  • Oux Do Vi
  • Amaretto
• Pido Village Aqua
  • Kemmy
  • Yuri
• Edmund Chan

Trivia

Like all Oyashio-class submarines, the Kitashio's name ends in しお or "-shio"

The Kitashio is a fictional submarine of the Oyashio-class. The Oyashio-class is the oldest active class of submarine in the JMSDF, and five of the eleven built have either been decommissioned or converted to training submarines. This is in keeping with other near-obsolete equipment the JSDF sends through the Gate.