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United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka

April 13, 2024

"Yokosuka Navy Yard" redirects here. For the Imperial Japanese Navy shipyard, see Yokosuka Naval Arsenal.

United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka (横須賀海軍施設, Yokosuka kaigunshisetsu) or Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka (司令官艦隊活動横須賀, Shirei-kan kantai katsudō Yokosuka) is a United States Navy base in Yokosuka, Japan. Its mission is to maintain and operate base facilities for the logistic, recreational, administrative support and service of the U.S. Naval Forces Japan, Seventh Fleet and other operating forces assigned in the Western Pacific. CFAY is the largest strategically important U.S. naval installation in the western Pacific.[1]

United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka
Yokosuka, Japan
U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka logo
TypeMilitary Base
Site information
Controlled byJapan (1870s–1945)
United States (1945–present)
Site history
Built1870
In use1870–present
Battles/warsServed as support in naval battles during World War II Asiatic-Pacific Theater, Korean War, Vietnam War
Garrison information
Current
commander		Captain Les Sobol
Past
commanders		Vice Admiral Robert L. Thomas
Oliver O. Kessing
GarrisonUnited States Seventh Fleet

Fleet Activities Yokosuka comprises 2.3 km2 (568 acres) and is located at the entrance of Tokyo Bay, 65 km (40 mi) south of Tokyo and approximately 30 km (20 mi) south of Yokohama on the Miura Peninsula in the Kantō region of the Pacific Coast in Central Honshu, Japan.

The 55 tenant commands which make up this installation support U.S. Navy Pacific operating forces, including principal afloat elements of the United States Seventh Fleet, including the only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), the group she heads, Carrier Strike Group Five, and Destroyer Squadron 15.

History edit

See also: Yokosuka Naval District

When Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan in 1853, using naval pressure to open up Japan to foreign trade, Yokosuka was a quaint, native fishing village. In 1860, Lord Oguri Kozukenosuke, Minister of Finance to the Tokugawa Shogunate Government, decided that "If Japan is to assume an active role in world trade, she must have proper facilities to build and maintain large seagoing vessels." He called upon the French Consul General, Léon Roches, and asked for the assistance of the French government to build a shipyard and various basing facilities capable of handling large ships. French engineer Léonce Verny was sent to Japan to accomplish the task.

After the inspection of several sites, it was discovered that Yokosuka topographically, if on a smaller scale, resembled the port of Toulon, France. It was decided to establish the shipyard here. It would be called the "Yokosuka Iron Works". In 1871, the name was changed to the "Yokosuka Navy Yard". It was French engineer Louis-Émile Bertin who reorganized "Yokosuka Navy Yard" completely from 1886.

 
Construction of the Yokosuka arsenal c.1870.

Yokosuka was to become one of the main arsenals of the Imperial Japanese Navy into the 20th century. Battleships such as Yamashiro, and aircraft carriers such as Hiryu and Shokaku were built there. Major naval aircraft were also designed at the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal. In addition, numerous other facilities, including the headquarters of various naval units, administration buildings, military training schools, airfields, communication facilities, barracks, armories and a military hospital were established nearby in the course of its history, turning the area around the arsenal into a major fleet base.

During World War II, activities at the Yokosuka Navy Yard reached their peak. By 1944, it covered 280 acres (1.1 km2) and employed over 40,000 workers. In addition to the shipbuilding plant, the yard also had a gun factory, ordnance and supply depots, a fuel storage facility, a seaplane base and a naval air station.

U.S. Navy base edit

 
USS Oriskany (CVA-34) at Yokosuka, circa 1952
 
USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) docks at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, Japan.
 
The U.S. Navy base at Yokosuka, with USS George Washington (CVN-73)
 
Main street food court
 
Yokosuka, Japan (23 June 2003) – Vice Adm. Takashi Saito, Commandant, Yokosuka District Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces (JMSDF), and Capt. Michael Seifert, Commanding Officer, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the JMSDF Commandant Yokosuka District Headquarters. The MOU provides a framework under which the two maritime forces will conduct force protection exercises in Yokosuka.

On 30 August 1945, Vice Admiral Michitaro Totsuka, last Japanese commander of the Yokosuka Naval District, surrendered his command to Rear Admiral Robert Carney, and the base was peacefully occupied by U.S. Marines of the 6th Marine Division, British Royal Marines and U.S. Naval personnel. Commander Fleet Activities (COMFLEACT) Yokosuka was created shortly after the occupation in 1945.[2]

As the Base became organized, the shipyard was deactivated and much of the equipment was sent to other countries as part of reparations. The repair ship Piedmont took charge of ship repair and maintenance, the hospital became a Naval Dispensary, later Naval Hospital Yokosuka Japan, and the Supply Department was organized to provide support to the fleet and shore-based activities. The Public Works Department was established. Yokosuka Submarine Base was founded in September 1945.[3]

In May 1946, the Marines at Yokosuka were redesignated Marine Barracks, U.S. Fleet Activities, Yokosuka. In April 1947, the Ship Repair Department was organized, and the shops and dry docks were reactivated to maintain the ships of the U.S. Fleet in the Pacific. With the onset of the Korean War on 25 June 1950, Yokosuka Navy Base suddenly became very important and extremely busy.

The U.S., still an occupying power in Japan, turned its full efforts to the support of South Korea. The Navy Dispensary was enlarged and expanded and was commissioned a U.S. Naval Hospital in 1950. The Naval Communications Facility, Yokosuka, was commissioned in January 1951. In April 1951, the Ship Repair Department became a component command. It was redesignated the Ship Repair Facility. As the major naval ship repair facility in the Far East, the Yokosuka Facility assumed a vital role in maintenance and repair of the U.S. Seventh Fleet during both the Korean War and Vietnam War.

In March 1952, the geographical boundaries of Naval Forces Far East were changed to exclude the Philippines, Marianas, Bonin and Volcano Islands. In December 1952, the headquarters were shifted from Tokyo to Yokosuka. The expanded Supply Department of Fleet Activities became Naval Supply Depot, Yokosuka in August 1952. In 1960, the Naval Communications Facility was redesignated U.S. Naval Communications Station, Japan.

In 1952, US occupation of Japan formally ended and Japanese rearmament commenced, with its naval forces formally organized as Japan Maritime Self Defense Force by 1954. Some parts of the former Yokosuka Naval District were ceded back to house a new base for JMSDF, now known as JMSDF Yokosuka Naval Base.

On 5 October 1973, USS Midway, with Carrier Air Wing Five and her accompanying task group, put into Yokosuka, marking the first forward deployment of a complete carrier task group in a Japanese port. This was the result of an accord reached on 31 August 1972 between the U.S. and Japan. In addition to the morale factor of dependents housed along with the crew in a foreign port, the move had strategic significance because it facilitated the continuous positioning of three carriers in the Far East at a time when the economic situation demanded the reduction of carriers in the fleet.

 
USS Midway departs Yokosuka for the last time in August 1991, having spent eighteen years homeported in Japan

In August 1991, Midway departed Yokosuka and was replaced by Independence as the forward-deployed carrier in Yokosuka. In August 1998, Kitty Hawk relieved Independence as the 7th Fleet forward-based carrier.

On 1 December 2005, the U.S. Navy announced that in 2008 Kitty Hawk would be replaced by the nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier George Washington. A U.S. Navy spokesman said the decision was a mutual agreement between the United States and Japan. Hiroyuki Hosoda, spokesman for Japan's government, said, "We believe that the change (of the carriers) will lead to maintaining the solid presence of the U.S. Navy and contribute to keeping Japan's security and international peace into the future." On 25 September 2008, George Washington arrived in Yokosuka, making it the only forward-deployed, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy.[4]

In recent years, a number of high-profile international incidents involving U.S. sailors occurred around the base. The most notable were two murders which occurred in 2006 and 2008. The first was committed by Airman William Oliver Reese, who beat to death 56-year-old Yokosuka woman Yoshie Sato and stole the equivalent of $130 from her purse.[citation needed] The second murder was committed by Seaman Olantunbosun Ugbogu, a Nigerian citizen who had joined the U.S. Navy, but had not yet received citizenship. Ugbogu stabbed a taxi driver to death in order to avoid paying a $200 fare, which he had incurred returning from Tokyo.[5] He had been stationed aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens (CG-63), but was absent without leave at the time of the murder and considered a deserter. Both murders resulted in the U.S. Navy severely restricting the liberty of all sailors in the fleet.[6]

Personnel and ships from the base assisted with Operation Tomodachi following and during the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima I nuclear accidents. During the crisis, around 3,000 U.S. family members left the base, preferring to be outside Japan during a time of uncertainty.[7]

Forward-deployed ships edit

Command ship edit

Aircraft carrier edit

Cruisers edit

Destroyers edit

Destroyer Squadron 15 (COMDESRON 15)

Ships formerly forward-deployed edit

Landmarks edit

During the late 1960s and 1970s, the Yokosuka Microwave Communications Site was part of the telephone communications network in the Tokyo area.[9] The building and 106.7 meter tall microwave tower was on the highest hill on the U.S. Navy base.

Komatsu, a historic restaurant near the naval base, became famous for serving Japanese navy personnel before 1945 and the U.S. Navy after. It was destroyed by fire in 2016.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ . US Navy Website. 18 December 2018. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  2. ^ U.S. Submarine Base, Yokosuka, JapanUS Navy
  3. ^ U.S. Submarine Base, Yokosuka, JapanUS Navy
  4. ^ USS George Washington makes historic arrival in Japan. Stars and Stripes
  5. ^ Sailor gets life sentence in Japanese taxi driver's death. Stars and Stripes.
  6. ^ Communities react to restrictions that followed taxi driver's death. Stars and Stripes
  7. ^ Reed, Charlie, "Military wraps up first round of departures from Japan", Stars and Stripes, 25 March 2011, retrieved 28 March 2011.
  8. ^ wikipedia
  9. ^ Yokosuka-microwave-site-1969-1970.stevemcarthur.com

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka.
  • Navy Lodge Yokosuka
  • U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka official website
  • U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka official website

35°17′36″N 139°40′17″E / 35.2932°N 139.671293°E / 35.2932; 139.671293

April 13, 2024
united, states, fleet, activities, yokosuka, yokosuka, navy, yard, redirects, here, imperial, japanese, navy, shipyard, yokosuka, naval, arsenal, 横須賀海軍施設, yokosuka, kaigunshisetsu, commander, fleet, activities, yokosuka, 司令官艦隊活動横須賀, shirei, kantai, katsudō, yo. Yokosuka Navy Yard redirects here For the Imperial Japanese Navy shipyard see Yokosuka Naval Arsenal United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka 横須賀海軍施設 Yokosuka kaigunshisetsu or Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka 司令官艦隊活動横須賀 Shirei kan kantai katsudō Yokosuka is a United States Navy base in Yokosuka Japan Its mission is to maintain and operate base facilities for the logistic recreational administrative support and service of the U S Naval Forces Japan Seventh Fleet and other operating forces assigned in the Western Pacific CFAY is the largest strategically important U S naval installation in the western Pacific 1 United States Fleet Activities YokosukaYokosuka JapanU S Fleet Activities Yokosuka logoTypeMilitary BaseSite informationControlled byJapan 1870s 1945 United States 1945 present Site historyBuilt1870In use1870 presentBattles warsServed as support in naval battles during World War II Asiatic Pacific Theater Korean War Vietnam WarGarrison informationCurrentcommanderCaptain Les SobolPastcommandersVice Admiral Robert L ThomasOliver O KessingGarrisonUnited States Seventh FleetFleet Activities Yokosuka comprises 2 3 km2 568 acres and is located at the entrance of Tokyo Bay 65 km 40 mi south of Tokyo and approximately 30 km 20 mi south of Yokohama on the Miura Peninsula in the Kantō region of the Pacific Coast in Central Honshu Japan The 55 tenant commands which make up this installation support U S Navy Pacific operating forces including principal afloat elements of the United States Seventh Fleet including the only permanently forward deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan CVN 76 the group she heads Carrier Strike Group Five and Destroyer Squadron 15 Contents 1 History 2 U S Navy base 3 Forward deployed ships 3 1 Command ship 3 2 Aircraft carrier 3 3 Cruisers 3 4 Destroyers 4 Ships formerly forward deployed 5 Landmarks 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksHistory editSee also Yokosuka Naval District When Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan in 1853 using naval pressure to open up Japan to foreign trade Yokosuka was a quaint native fishing village In 1860 Lord Oguri Kozukenosuke Minister of Finance to the Tokugawa Shogunate Government decided that If Japan is to assume an active role in world trade she must have proper facilities to build and maintain large seagoing vessels He called upon the French Consul General Leon Roches and asked for the assistance of the French government to build a shipyard and various basing facilities capable of handling large ships French engineer Leonce Verny was sent to Japan to accomplish the task After the inspection of several sites it was discovered that Yokosuka topographically if on a smaller scale resembled the port of Toulon France It was decided to establish the shipyard here It would be called the Yokosuka Iron Works In 1871 the name was changed to the Yokosuka Navy Yard It was French engineer Louis Emile Bertin who reorganized Yokosuka Navy Yard completely from 1886 nbsp Construction of the Yokosuka arsenal c 1870 Yokosuka was to become one of the main arsenals of the Imperial Japanese Navy into the 20th century Battleships such as Yamashiro and aircraft carriers such as Hiryu and Shokaku were built there Major naval aircraft were also designed at the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal In addition numerous other facilities including the headquarters of various naval units administration buildings military training schools airfields communication facilities barracks armories and a military hospital were established nearby in the course of its history turning the area around the arsenal into a major fleet base During World War II activities at the Yokosuka Navy Yard reached their peak By 1944 it covered 280 acres 1 1 km2 and employed over 40 000 workers In addition to the shipbuilding plant the yard also had a gun factory ordnance and supply depots a fuel storage facility a seaplane base and a naval air station U S Navy base edit nbsp USS Oriskany CVA 34 at Yokosuka circa 1952 nbsp USS Kitty Hawk CV 63 docks at the U S Navy base in Yokosuka Japan nbsp The U S Navy base at Yokosuka with USS George Washington CVN 73 nbsp Main street food court nbsp Yokosuka Japan 23 June 2003 Vice Adm Takashi Saito Commandant Yokosuka District Japanese Maritime Self Defense Forces JMSDF and Capt Michael Seifert Commanding Officer Fleet Activities Yokosuka sign a Memorandum of Understanding MOU at the JMSDF Commandant Yokosuka District Headquarters The MOU provides a framework under which the two maritime forces will conduct force protection exercises in Yokosuka On 30 August 1945 Vice Admiral Michitaro Totsuka last Japanese commander of the Yokosuka Naval District surrendered his command to Rear Admiral Robert Carney and the base was peacefully occupied by U S Marines of the 6th Marine Division British Royal Marines and U S Naval personnel Commander Fleet Activities COMFLEACT Yokosuka was created shortly after the occupation in 1945 2 As the Base became organized the shipyard was deactivated and much of the equipment was sent to other countries as part of reparations The repair ship Piedmont took charge of ship repair and maintenance the hospital became a Naval Dispensary later Naval Hospital Yokosuka Japan and the Supply Department was organized to provide support to the fleet and shore based activities The Public Works Department was established Yokosuka Submarine Base was founded in September 1945 3 In May 1946 the Marines at Yokosuka were redesignated Marine Barracks U S Fleet Activities Yokosuka In April 1947 the Ship Repair Department was organized and the shops and dry docks were reactivated to maintain the ships of the U S Fleet in the Pacific With the onset of the Korean War on 25 June 1950 Yokosuka Navy Base suddenly became very important and extremely busy The U S still an occupying power in Japan turned its full efforts to the support of South Korea The Navy Dispensary was enlarged and expanded and was commissioned a U S Naval Hospital in 1950 The Naval Communications Facility Yokosuka was commissioned in January 1951 In April 1951 the Ship Repair Department became a component command It was redesignated the Ship Repair Facility As the major naval ship repair facility in the Far East the Yokosuka Facility assumed a vital role in maintenance and repair of the U S Seventh Fleet during both the Korean War and Vietnam War In March 1952 the geographical boundaries of Naval Forces Far East were changed to exclude the Philippines Marianas Bonin and Volcano Islands In December 1952 the headquarters were shifted from Tokyo to Yokosuka The expanded Supply Department of Fleet Activities became Naval Supply Depot Yokosuka in August 1952 In 1960 the Naval Communications Facility was redesignated U S Naval Communications Station Japan In 1952 US occupation of Japan formally ended and Japanese rearmament commenced with its naval forces formally organized as Japan Maritime Self Defense Force by 1954 Some parts of the former Yokosuka Naval District were ceded back to house a new base for JMSDF now known as JMSDF Yokosuka Naval Base On 5 October 1973 USS Midway with Carrier Air Wing Five and her accompanying task group put into Yokosuka marking the first forward deployment of a complete carrier task group in a Japanese port This was the result of an accord reached on 31 August 1972 between the U S and Japan In addition to the morale factor of dependents housed along with the crew in a foreign port the move had strategic significance because it facilitated the continuous positioning of three carriers in the Far East at a time when the economic situation demanded the reduction of carriers in the fleet nbsp USS Midway departs Yokosuka for the last time in August 1991 having spent eighteen years homeported in JapanIn August 1991 Midway departed Yokosuka and was replaced by Independence as the forward deployed carrier in Yokosuka In August 1998 Kitty Hawk relieved Independence as the 7th Fleet forward based carrier On 1 December 2005 the U S Navy announced that in 2008 Kitty Hawk would be replaced by the nuclear powered Nimitz class aircraft carrier George Washington A U S Navy spokesman said the decision was a mutual agreement between the United States and Japan Hiroyuki Hosoda spokesman for Japan s government said We believe that the change of the carriers will lead to maintaining the solid presence of the U S Navy and contribute to keeping Japan s security and international peace into the future On 25 September 2008 George Washington arrived in Yokosuka making it the only forward deployed nuclear powered aircraft carrier in the U S Navy 4 In recent years a number of high profile international incidents involving U S sailors occurred around the base The most notable were two murders which occurred in 2006 and 2008 The first was committed by Airman William Oliver Reese who beat to death 56 year old Yokosuka woman Yoshie Sato and stole the equivalent of 130 from her purse citation needed The second murder was committed by Seaman Olantunbosun Ugbogu a Nigerian citizen who had joined the U S Navy but had not yet received citizenship Ugbogu stabbed a taxi driver to death in order to avoid paying a 200 fare which he had incurred returning from Tokyo 5 He had been stationed aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens CG 63 but was absent without leave at the time of the murder and considered a deserter Both murders resulted in the U S Navy severely restricting the liberty of all sailors in the fleet 6 Personnel and ships from the base assisted with Operation Tomodachi following and during the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima I nuclear accidents During the crisis around 3 000 U S family members left the base preferring to be outside Japan during a time of uncertainty 7 Forward deployed ships editCommand ship edit USS Blue Ridge LCC 19 flagship United States Seventh Fleet 1979 Present Aircraft carrier edit USS Ronald Reagan CVN 76 flagship Carrier Strike Group Five Cruisers edit USS Robert Smalls CG 62 Destroyers edit Destroyer Squadron 15 COMDESRON 15 USS Benfold DDG 65 USS Milius DDG 69 USS Higgins DDG 76 USS Howard DDG 83 USS McCampbell DDG 85 USS Shoup DDG 86 USS Dewey DDG 105 USS John Finn DDG 113 USS Ralph Johnson DDG 114 USS Rafael Peralta DDG 115 Ships formerly forward deployed editUSS Pollux AKS 4 1958 December 1968 USS Vandegrift FFG 48 1998 2006 USS Gary FFG 51 1999 2007 USS Mobile Bay CG 53 1990 2003 USS Cowpens CG 63 2000 2013 USS George Washington CVN 73 2008 2015 USS Kitty Hawk CV 63 1998 2008 USS Independence CV 62 1991 1998 USS Vincennes CG 49 1997 2005 USS Hewitt DD 966 USS McClusky FFG 41 1990 1996 USS O Brien DD 975 August 1992 2004 USS Cushing DD 985 March 1998 2005 USS Fife DD 991 1988 1998 USS Knox FF 1052 August 1977 July 1988 USS Lockwood FF 1064 May 1975 July 1988 USS Midway CV 41 1973 1991 USS Rodney M Davis FFG 60 March 1988 1995 USS Reeves DLG 24 1980 1991 USS Bunker Hill CG 52 August 1988 July 1998 USS Towers DDG 9 October 1980 October 1990 USS Cochrane DDG 21 1983 October 1990 USS White Plains AFS 4 USS Parsons DDG 33 USS Henry W Tucker DD 875 1968 August 1970 USS Rupertus DD 851 1968 August 1970 USS Mahopac ATA 196 USS Francis Hammond FF 1067 USS Oklahoma City CG 5 USS Worden CG 18 USS Waddell DDG 24 USS Oldendorf DD 972 1984 1995 USS Rowan DD 782 USS Thach FFG 43 USS Bausell DD 845 USS Richard B Anderson DD 786 USS Castor AKS 1 1954 1968 8 USS Curts FFG 38 1988 1997 USS Kirk FF 1087 USS Lassen DDG 82 2005 2016 USS Fitzgerald DDG 62 2004 2019 USS Curtis Wilbur DDG 54 1996 2021 USS McCampbell DDG 85 2007 2020 USS Gurke DD 783 USS Stethem DDG 63 2005 2019 USS Carronade IFS 1 USS White River LSM R 536 USS Clarion River LSM R 409 USS St Francis River LSM R 525 USS John S McCain DDG 56 1997 2021 USS Mustin DDG 89 2006 2021 USS Barry DDG 52 2016 2023Landmarks editDuring the late 1960s and 1970s the Yokosuka Microwave Communications Site was part of the telephone communications network in the Tokyo area 9 The building and 106 7 meter tall microwave tower was on the highest hill on the U S Navy base Komatsu a historic restaurant near the naval base became famous for serving Japanese navy personnel before 1945 and the U S Navy after It was destroyed by fire in 2016 See also editUnited States Fleet Activities SaseboReferences edit Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka US Navy Website 18 December 2018 Archived from the original on 1 December 2016 Retrieved 15 June 2019 U S Submarine Base Yokosuka JapanUS Navy U S Submarine Base Yokosuka JapanUS Navy USS George Washington makes historic arrival in Japan Stars and Stripes Sailor gets life sentence in Japanese taxi driver s death Stars and Stripes Communities react to restrictions that followed taxi driver s death Stars and Stripes Reed Charlie Military wraps up first round of departures from Japan Stars and Stripes 25 March 2011 retrieved 28 March 2011 wikipedia Yokosuka microwave site 1969 1970 stevemcarthur comExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka Navy Lodge Yokosuka U S Fleet Activities Yokosuka official website U S Naval Hospital Yokosuka official website35 17 36 N 139 40 17 E 35 2932 N 139 671293 E 35 2932 139 671293 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka amp oldid 1218143472, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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