U.S. Navy hints at delay in carrier deployment to Yokosuka due to fire

Sunday 25th May, 04:56 AM JST

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Zen_Builder at 08:03 PM JST - 24th May

Alphaape.

While I agree in majority with your post I got to say:

"A local civic group" does NOT equal the J-gov.

Not sure where you pulled that one from. Unless you got some super-duper secret info linking said "local civic group" to the J-Goverment.
SushiSake3 at 09:01 PM JST - 24th May

Wow, last year it was U.S. aircraft, helicoptors and parts falling out of the skies and smashing into schools.

Now a nuke powered U.S. carrier catches fire.

Whatever next??
SushiSake3 at 09:05 PM JST - 24th May
Alphaape - "Probably your basic Class "C" (electircal fire) caused by faulty wiring."

Yeah, is that the usual official excuse? 7

"Now, I bet if one were to look back on the logs of the Kitty Hawk, they have had these types of fires all the time."

Great, now I feel even more confidant in the U.S. navy than ever.

"J-gov officals need to get grips and really start to worry about the spectre of earthquakes here and the lax safety of the Japanese nuclear industry."

Is that just a 'Look over there! Bill Clinton!!' distraction from the REAL problem??

"and make sure that we all don't go up in flames here."
- bit of an exaggeration there, I must admit...
sailwind at 11:22 PM JST - 24th May

Try again since I my post got Modded and left only the above , Sushi fires happen on ships, fires are put out out by ships crew, ships crew in the U.S Navy are trained to fight shipboard fires.

You'd rather they didn't???????
Alphaape at 12:17 AM JST - 25th May

Zen, did not mean to indite the J-gov, just the local yocals here in yokosuka.

suhisake3, yes fires do happen all the time, and it is not that big of a deal (in terms of causing local governments worry). Ships do fire drills daily. Stuff happens all the time. Why, I even hear sirens from the local fire department all the time here in yokosuka. Should I assume then that the local Yokosuka gov. is negligent in making sure that citizens here are living up to fire safety?
yabits at 12:49 AM JST - 25th May

Pop quiz: Japan has many nuclear reactors; which are safest?

Answer: The ones on the USS George Washingon, whenever it's in port.
13akio13 at 03:35 AM JST - 25th May

The problem is not which carrier is stationed here? the problem is why are they here. When are these people going to leave our country. The war has been over for 62 years.
yabits at 05:34 AM JST - 25th May

the problem is why are they here. When are these people going to leave our country.

Take a look at the Philippines. The US was there until the Philippine government formally asked the US to remove their bases. The same is true of Thailand. As long as Japan has a government that represents the wishes of the Japanese people AND that government wants the US to stay, the US will stay.

It's really a question for the Japanese to answer. These suckers never seem to getting around to asking the US to leave.
viking68 at 07:28 AM JST - 25th May

13akio13

When are these people going to leave our country. The war has been over for 62 years.

They are here for three reasons. One, the US has negotiated with the Japanese government to all them a friendly place in Asia to operate from to protect US interest in the reagion, i.e., N. Korea, China, etc. Two, Japan doesn't want to do the hard lifting of keeping a military to protect itself from above, so it is renting one. Three, the US, the world and Japan itself doesn't fully trust that Japan will not fall into another right wing war era.

I would have to agree that a fire aboard a ship is serious, but only if it is out of control. Navys spend an enormous amount of time training to deal with them. Just imagine, these ships are designed to deal with people shooting explosive missiles and torpedoes at them.
Alphaape at 10:30 AM JST - 25th May

yabits, good points. We have given back territory of former US bases here in Japan, and if the people really wanted us out, then they should go to their politicians and ask them to make us leave. If the ones in office don't do it, then simply elect someone that will.

We are here at the behast of the Japanese government (as we are constangly told). They can kick us out at any time they feel are services are no longer needed.

If people want to see what type of damage a carrier can take, they should do a google search on the USS Forrestal Fire that happened back during Vietnam. A lot of safety measures have been put in place since then.

In regards to the fire and someone worried about the weapons, the magazines are well away from where this fire happened, and have extensive safety measures. This was just a small fire, that probably damaged the room that it was in and one or two sailors got a case of smoke inhalation and burns. No major threat to the ship or safety of the free world.
SushiSake3 at 10:36 AM JST - 25th May

Yabits - "As long as Japan has a government that represents the wishes of the Japanese people"......hhmmmmmm, there you have the problem.
Loki520 at 11:12 AM JST - 25th May

Her come the loons, worrying about a fire. I agree with Alpha, since MOST fires on carriers are Alpha's and a result of faulty wiring. It is not a big deal, while on the KH, we had them all the time. There is always some sort of casualty onboard a ship. The sheer amount of equipment stuffed into a relatively confined space is going to make it happen. Age, PMS, etc... all plays a part. But what does NOT play a part is the nuclear reactor. Safer than anything ashore.

"...they will closely watch how the United States handles the aftermath of the fire."

Just think.... if these people would have known about all the casualties on the other ships, we apparently could have kept them too busy to worry about anything else.

"...and the fire this time demonstrated the potential danger” such an incident may pose."

No, the fire this time demonstrated the ability of the USN to react to emergencies. It also demonstrated the best maritime casualty training in the world is done onboard an aircraft carrier.

"...We would like to closely watch if the U.S. Navy will see to it that information about this trouble is released to citizens..."

Nice try to turn this into a public safety thing.. first off, it is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS what happens on a USN vessel, or how any information about any casualty. Secondly, reactors at sea and especially when inport, are safer than any land-locked reactor in Japan. It's safer than any of your chemical plants, and it is certainly safer than your imported gyoza. You guys have more things that are ACTUALLY a danger to your populace than the GW and it's reactor. Step off your political platform, for that's all it is, and examine the widely available FACTS. You'll find items within a 10 city block radius of where you live that provide more danger.
yabits at 11:16 AM JST - 25th May

And so, Sushisake, I am trying to understand the nature of the problem: Is it that the Japanese government is so strong that it can ignore the wishes of the people; or are the Japanese people so weak that they can't make their wishes convert into policy; or is it that most Japanese are either ambivalent towards or supportive of the US bases?

I suspect that the truth lies in the vicinity of the last choice.
sailwind at 01:09 PM JST - 25th May

Alpha,

If people want to see what type of damage a carrier can take, they should do a google search on the USS Forrestal Fire that happened back during Vietnam. A lot of safety measures have been put in place since then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chuiyXQKw3I&feature=related

The actual video and training video made after would be better. I remember watching this in Bootcamp and the lessons learned from that tragedy changed the Navy forever that day forward as far as training future ships crews, no matter what platform they would be assigned to on how to fight every Sailors nightmare, a fire out at sea. Also a bit of trivia when watching the video, John McCain was in one of the Skyhawks that day on the port side and was getting ready for flight ops and had to run for his life as the ordinance starting cooking off the other aircraft.

I'm glad the crew of the G.W didn't lose anybody during this fire on-board and I would hope no matter what political point one wants to make that they would be glad of that also.
Alphaape at 02:23 PM JST - 25th May

sailwind, Thanks for the link. If I remember correctly, the next mission (or soon there after) was the one where John McCain was shot down over North Vietnam.

There have been many mishaps at sea, we forget that two nuclear subs have been lost at sea, and if one were to check the radiation levels around the east coast of the US where they went down, they are normal. If I were the locals in Yokosuka, I would be more worried the next time a Chinese warship visitied or a Russian navy ship visited rather than a US. True, bad things happen, but I would put the US training as better than any other navy's in the region in regards to damage control.