Navy vows to give 24 hours'
notice
prior to nuclear sub visits in Japan
By Greg Tyler, Sasebo
bureau chief
Greg Tyler / Stars and Stripes
Rear Adm. Robert C. Chaplin, left, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Japan, meets Friday with
Sasebo Mayor Akira Mitsutake, right foreground, at Sasebo City Hall to dicuss measures to
ensure that the city is alerted at least 24 hours in advance of any U.S. nuclear
submarines entering Sasebo waters. |
SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — The U.S. Navy will alert Japanese officials at least 24
hours prior to any nuclear-powered submarine visits, the top Navy official in Japan
assured Sasebo’s mayor Friday.
The USS Chicago anchored April 2 near Sasebo Naval Base, and the Japanese government
said the visit was unannounced.
Sasebo Mayor Akira Mitsutake was one of the most vocal Japanese leaders denouncing the
lack of notification. At the time, he said he was "deeply enraged."
His reaction was a departure from the normally harmonious relationship between the
mayor and the Navy.
"The mayor was satisfied after the meeting. We left his office on very cordial
terms," Rear Adm. Robert Chaplin, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Japan, said Friday.
"I would say he was happy."
Providing 24 hours’ notice to Japanese authorities before the arrival of
submarines in Japanese ports is part of a 1964 agreement between the Navy and the Japan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and can be sidestepped when operational factors warrant, a
CNFJ spokesman said.
The notice is designed to give local authorities time to check radioactivity levels in
ports before and after nuclear-powered submarine visits.
"The meeting was an opportunity for the mayor to express his concerns about the
Chicago port visit," Chaplin said. "And it was the chance for us to relay the
circumstances of what happened, and to ensure the mayor that we take this very seriously
and are working hard to make sure this doesn’t happen again."
The Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs was notified about the submarine’s arrival
March 30 — 48 hours in advance. However, the vessel arrived April 2 about an hour
earlier, and in a slightly different location, than originally planned. The Navy failed to
notify the proper Japanese officials 24 hours in advance of the change in plans.
When a U.S. sub collided with a Japanese fishing boat off Hawaii, "we in Sasebo
City asked the U.S. Navy to make utmost efforts to prevent any accidents," Mitsutake
said after the meeting. "The entry of the USS Chicago without notice happened shortly
after we filed the claim, which I feel is very regrettable."
Mitsutake said he welcomes renewed efforts by the Navy to inform the Japanese prior to
submarine arrivals and would "like to close this issue here."
The Chicago, with a crew of 110 sailors, never pulled alongside a pier, and a personnel
transfer via a small boat was completed while the Chicago was on the surface. The
submarine was in Sasebo less than an hour.
The foreign minister at the time, Yohei Kono, was so outraged that he suggested further
Japan port calls by U.S. submarines be put on hold until the matter was resolved.
At a recent U.S.-Japan Joint Committee meeting in Tokyo, the Navy reaffirmed that it
will "normally" inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan at least 24
hours in advance of the estimated arrival and intended location of mooring or anchoring of
its nuclear-powered subs, according to a U.S. Forces Japan statement.
The Navy has initiated measures to ensure that notifications are transmitted in a
timely manner, USFJ stated. The measures relate to messages dealing with sub movements,
and steps to confirm information provided to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Chiyomi Sumida contributed to this report.
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