| United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka | |
|---|---|
| Yokosuka, Japan | |
 U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka logo | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Military Base |
| Controlled by | Japan (1870s–1945) United States (1945–present) |
 | |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1870 |
| In use | 1870–present |
| Battles/wars | Served as support in naval battles duringWorld War IIAsiatic-Pacific Theater,Korean War,Vietnam War |
| Garrison information | |
| Current commander | Captain Jonathan Hopkins |
| Past commanders | Vice Admiral Robert L. Thomas Oliver O. Kessing |
| Garrison | United States Seventh Fleet |
United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka (横須賀海軍施設,Yokosuka kaigun-shisetsu) orCommander Fleet Activities Yokosuka (横須賀艦隊活動司令官 or 横須賀艦隊基地隊,Yokosuka kantai katsudō Shirei-kan or Yokosuka kantai kichi-tai) is aUnited States Navy base inYokosuka,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]
Fleet Activities Yokosuka comprises 2.3 km2 (568 acres) and is located at the entrance ofTokyo Bay, 65 km (40 mi) south of Tokyo and approximately 30 km (20 mi) south ofYokohama on theMiura Peninsula in theKantō region of the Pacific Coast in CentralHonshu, 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-deployedaircraft carrier,USS George Washington (CVN-73), the group she heads,Carrier Strike Group Five, andDestroyer Squadron 15.
When CommodoreMatthew 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, LordOguri Kozukenosuke, Minister of Finance to theTokugawa 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 engineerLéonce 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 ofToulon, France. It was decided to establish theshipyard here. It would be called the "Yokosuka Iron Works". In 1871, the name was changed to the "Yokosuka Navy Yard". It was French engineerLouis-Émile Bertin who reorganized "Yokosuka Navy Yard" completely from 1886.
Yokosuka was to become one of the main arsenals of theImperial Japanese Navy into the 20th century. Battleships such asYamashiro, andaircraft carriers such asHiryu andShokaku were built there. Major naval aircraft were also designed at theYokosuka 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.
DuringWorld 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, aseaplane base, and a naval air station.
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On 30 August 1945, Vice AdmiralMichitaro Totsuka, last Japanese commander of the Yokosuka Naval District, surrendered his command to Rear AdmiralRobert Carney, and the base was peacefully occupied byU.S. Marines of the6th Marine Division, BritishRoyal 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 shipPiedmont took charge of ship repair and maintenance, the hospital became a NavalDispensary, laterNaval 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 theKorean 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 ofSouth 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 theKorean War andVietnam War.
In March 1952, the geographical boundaries ofNaval Forces Far East were changed to exclude the Philippines,Marianas,Bonin andVolcano 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 asJapan 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 asJMSDF Yokosuka Naval Base.
On 5 October 1973,USS Midway, withCarrier 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.
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In August 1991,Midway departed Yokosuka and was replaced byIndependence as the forward-deployed carrier in Yokosuka. In August 1998,Kitty Hawk relievedIndependence as the 7th Fleet forward-based carrier.
On 1 December 2005, the U.S. Navy announced that in 2008Kitty Hawk would be replaced by thenuclear-poweredNimitz-classaircraft carrierGeorge 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 whichoccurred in 2006 and 2008. The latter was a murder 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 theguided missile cruiserUSS Cowpens (CG-63), but wasabsent 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 withOperation Tomodachi following and during the March2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami andFukushima 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]
Destroyer Squadron 15 (COMDESRON 15)
During the late 1960s and 1970s, the Yokosuka Microwave Communications Site was part of the telephone communications network in the Tokyo area.[8] The building and 106.7-meter-tall (350 ft) microwave tower were 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.
Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools include:
Ikego Elementary School is located in the Ikego Housing Area.[12]
CFA Yokosuka
CFA Yokosuka
CFA Yokosuka
35°17′36″N139°40′17″E / 35.2932°N 139.671293°E /35.2932; 139.671293