It’s “Furorida e yōkoso!” — Welcome to Florida! — for sailors, officers and 200 newly commissioned ensigns on board three Japanese warships who dock Thursday at Mayport Naval Station as the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Training Squadron makes a three-day goodwill visit.
As the training squadron’s visiting sailors enjoy liberty at a new port of call, its military band will join Navy Band Southeast for a free public concert at 7 p.m. Saturday at the University of North Florida.
The JDS Kashima was the first member of the Japanese naval training force to dock at Mayport Naval Station Thursday morning. It's on board band played the patriotic American classic, "Stars and Stripes Forever," as the lines were thrown ashore.
The three Japanese vessels are among dozens of visiting foreign navy ships and submarines that dock at Mayport annually for liberty, supplies or joint maneuvers. One of the most publicized came Nov. 3 when ships from China’s Task Group 152 made their first official visit to an East Coast U.S. naval base. The frigate Yiyang, destroyer Jinan and fleet oiler Qiandao Hu docked near a visiting Brazilian warship.
This time, two of the three visiting Japanese ships are training vessels.
The JDS Setoyuki is a 426-foot destroyer with a crew of 200, capable of going 35 mph driven by gas turbines. Launched in 1995, the JDS Kashima is a 469-foot training vessel with 370 crew members and can go close to 30 mph via its twin turbines. They are joined by the 449-foot JS Asagiri, a destroyer powered by four gas turbines for speeds of about 35 mph with a crew of 220 sailors.
The ships launched from Tokyo on May 20, en route to a 16-port/13-country goodwill tour crewed by more than 750 Japanese sailors and 200 newly commissioned ensigns. The squadron is commanded by Rear Adm. Hidetoshi Iwasaki and had already visited Pearl Harbor, San Diego and Panama City before docking in Mayport.
Rear Adm. George Ballance, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and the U.S. 4th Fleet, said they had been anticipating this visit for months.
“The many events we have planned during this port visit will not only strengthen the already close relationship between the United States and Japanese navies, but will hopefully introduce each of our nation’s sailors to the other nation’s customs and culture which is tremendously valuable in our global society,” Ballance said.
Besides a welcome ceremony with Balance, private events for the port visit include sporting challenges, a picnic and a formal reception onboard the Japanese flagship. The only public event is Saturday night’s free concert with the squadron band and Navy Band Southeast at Lazzara Performance Hall at UNF.
The U.S. and Japanese navies have participated in several joint exercises in the past year, the most recent the bi-annual Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC 2016) in the Hawaiian Islands. The ongoing exercise is the 19th year that Japan has participated.
I'm told this is "the true test of seamanship" ... "parallel parking" @FCN2go pic.twitter.com/yAIxToMaEz
— Shelby Danielsen (@NewsShelby) July 7, 2016
