Japanese Shipyards to Help Keep US Warships Ready to Fight in Asia
The United States and Japan are looking to make a deal for Japanese shipyards to regularly overhaul and maintain U.S. Navy warships so they can stay in Asian waters ready for any potential conflict, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said on Friday."China watches what ships are coming in and out. It is not like this is a secret, they know what's happening. So therefore, they take an evaluation of your deterrence," Emanuel told reporters at the Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo.Unchallenged in Asian waters for decades, the U.S.
Japan to Use Ferry for Quarantine as Virus Spreads
Japan's military prepared a chartered ferry on Wednesday to use as a quarantine ship that could house hundreds of suspected coronavirus cases as the number of infected people in the country rises.The 17,000 ton Hakuou was docked at the Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo, which is also the home port of the U.S. Navy's Ronald Reagan carrier. If put into service, the ship will initially take up to 94 people, but can accommodate more."Around 300 people could comfortably live on the ship and it has a maximum capacity for 500, although that would mean queues for the baths and other facilities," a Japan Self Defense Force official told Reuters.Preparations aboard the Hakuou come as health authorities placed more than 3…
Japanese Warship to Patrol Oil Lifeline
A Japanese destroyer left for the Gulf of Oman on Sunday amid simmering Middle East tension to guard sea lanes that supply nearly all the oil that powers the world's third-biggest economy."Thousands of Japanese ships ply those waters every year including vessels carrying nine tenths of our oil. It is Japan's lifeline," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the crew at Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo, before they cast off in a ceremony attended by 500 family members and representatives from the United States…
An Hour Passed before Japan Authorities were Notified of Fitzgerald Collision
Nearly an hour elapsed before a Philippine-flagged container ship reported a collision with a U.S. warship, the Japanese coastguard said on Monday, as investigations began into the accident in which seven U.S. sailors were killed. The U.S. Navy confirmed that all seven missing sailors on the USS Fitzgerald were found dead in flooded berthing compartments after the destroyer's collision with the container ship off Japan early on Saturday. The Fitzgerald and a Philippine-flagged container ship collided south of Tokyo Bay early on Saturday. The cause of the collision is not known. Multiple U.S.
This Day In Naval History: August 30
1923 - USS Colorado (BB 45) is commissioned. Notable during her pre-World War II service, she helps in the search for missing aviator, Amelia Earhart, in 1937. During WWII, USS Colorado serves in the Pacific during World War II and is hit by kamikazes at Leyte in November 1944. 1929 - At New London, Conn., 26 officers and men test the Momsen lung to exit an intentionally-bottomed submarine. The device was created by Lt. C.B. Momsen following the failure to save surviving crew members trapped in USS S-4 (SS 109) that sank after a collision with Coast Guard cutter USS Paulding in 1927.
Japan's Navy Unveils De-Facto Aircraft Carrier
Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) took delivery of its biggest warship Izumo, since World War II, a vessel that observers say is a "de-facto aircraft carrier". The 19,500-ton destroyer Izumo, measuring 248 meters long and 38 meters wide, allows five helicopters to take off and land simultaneously. It can also load MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft to be purchased by the Ground Self-Defense Force, Japan's Kyodo News reported. The Izumo was indigenously constructed at a shipyard in Yokohama, near Tokyo, at a cost of around $1.5 billion. It is named after the former Izumo province in western Honshu. In Japanese mythology, the entrance to yomi (hell) is located in Izumo.
Japanese PM, US CNO Discuss Maritime Cooperation
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, May 27 in Abe's office to discuss regional security and maritime partnership opportunities between the United States and Japan. The meeting between Japan's political leader and the U.S. Navy service chief underscored the importance each nation places on maintaining their strong maritime relationship to achieve strength and stability in the region through cooperative efforts. "Given the increasingly severe security environment in the Asia-Pacific region the importance of the Japan-U.S.
Cowpens Team Attends Single-Ship ASW Qualifications at Yokosuka
The U.S. Navy anti-submarine warfare (ASW) team aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Cowpens (CG 63) attended the single-ship ASW qualification course at Yokosuka Naval Base on March 6. “The single-ship ASW qualification course provides ASW teams procedural and tactical training, and evaluation in a multithreat environment for conventional and data-equipped ships,” said Lt. Daryl Adamson, Center for Surface Combat Systems Detachment Yokosuka (CSCS Det. Yokosuka) officer in charge. The detachment provides this opportunity to the U.S. 7th Fleet during a two-week course of classroom instruction and different battle scenarios.
Naval Architects Honored 140 Years Later
140 years ago, Tadamasa Oguri said Japan needed a navy. Francois Leonce Verny said he’d build one. So they did, and 140 years later, people are still thanking them for it. According to a Stars and Stripes report, the two men were honored in a recent Yokosuka ceremony. Statues of Oguri and Verny look out over the 1865 shipyard that is still used today as a part of the Yokosuka Naval Base. The shipyard — a collaboration of a 28-year-old naval engineer from France and a finance magistrate — brought Yokosuka, and consequently Japan, into the industrial age, said the report. Ines Soavi and Misa Oguri, relatives of the men, met at the ceremony for the first time. U.S. Naval personnel also attended, along with Yokosuka city representatives and dignitaries from France.
