J-Fishermen discover meaning of "Destroyer"

[Mulboyne]

AFP: Japan's navy chief sacked over accident scandal

Japan's defence minister on Friday dismissed the navy chief and punished nearly 90 officials in the biggest house-cleaning in years after a string of scandals including a fatal naval accident..."We deeply apologise to the people. We will promptly and continually carry out effective measures to prevent a recurrence," Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters as he announced the punishments. The dismissal of Admiral Eiji Yoshikawa will take effect on Monday. He will be replaced by Admiral Keiji Akahoshi, who currently heads the naval force's Sasebo district in southern Japan. The defence minister said that officers on the Atago lacked vigilance as they cruised back to Japan from Hawaii. "There was not adequate surveillance of the ship and the area around it," Ishiba said. "It is highly possible that the measures that the Atago took right before the collision were insufficient," he added.

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Ex-navigator saw no crash danger

The former chief navigator of the Aegis-equipped destroyer Atago told a former weapons officer that there was "no danger of collision" when turning over duties, according to sources close to an investigation into the Feb. 19 collision between the Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer and a fishing boat. The 35-year-old former chief navigator also told investigators of the 3rd Regional Coast Guard Headquarters that he had failed to use a gyro repeater, a device used to calculate the positions of the Atago and other ships, the sources said. The investigators suspect the chief navigator's insufficient vigilance led him to turn over the work to other duty officers inappropriately, which eventually led to a failure to take action to avert the collision with the fishing boat Seitoku Maru, they said. According to the sources, the former chief navigator spotted a convoy of fishing boats, including the Seitoku Maru, several kilometers off the starboard bow at about 3:50 a.m. on Feb. 19. The former chief navigator was quoted as saying, "When I checked visually, the convoy of fishing boats seemed to be cruising at a low speed and moving away, so I judged it would pass behind the Atago." The former chief navigator failed to continue monitoring the movements of the convoy and turned over duties to the weapons officer at 4 a.m.

The former chief navigator said he used radar, but admitted he did not use a gyro repeater at that time, the sources said. A gyro repeater enables navigators to accurately calculate the positions of their ships and the angle of other ships spotted visually. This allows estimates on the risk of collision. The public relations section of the MSDF's Staff Office says monitoring nearby ships with the use of a gyro repeater is a common practice. The accuracy and reliability of radar can vary with meteorological conditions, and waves can cause radar to sometimes fail to detect small ships. "It's out of the question for [navigators] conduct surveillance operations with only radar," an officer of the section said. The investigators said they also examined the Global Positioning Systems of the Seitoku Maru's fellow boats to analyze the course of the ships. The analysis showed that the convoy was on a collision course with the Atago unless it changed its course and speed, according to the sources. At 4 a.m., the Koun Maru, which was in front of the convoy, took evasive action. The regional headquarters therefore believes if the former chief navigator had conducted surveillance duties in the proper manner, such as by using a gyro repeater, he could have taken action to prevent the accident and alert the weapons officer of the danger of a collision.

The regional headquarters reportedly is investigating the two on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death and endangering sea traffic. It also is questioning the crew members who were on lookout duty in the combat information center (CIC) on the Atago's bridge on suspicion that they failed to spot the Seitoku Maru. The regional headquarters plans to send the case to prosecutors, probably this month, the sources said. A special investigation team of the Maritime Accident Investigator's Office plans to ask the Yokohama Marine Accident Inquiry Agency early this month to begin proceedings, they added. According to the sources, the regional headquarters plans to name four people--Ken Funato, 53, who was captain of the Atago at that time, the then weapons officer, 34, the then chief navigator and another 43-year-old senior officer who was in charge of the CIC--and the MSDF's 63rd convoy as designated figures concerned with the cause of the accident.

[kurohinge1]

Now it's the Taiwanese turn to discover meaning of "Destroyer":

Taiwan fishermen rescued after Japan patrol collision

A Taiwanese fishing boat sank after colliding with a Japanese patrol vessel off a disputed island chain, but all 16 crew were rescued with one member slightly injured, the Japanese coast guard said Tuesday.

The Japanese vessel Koshiki was on a routine patrol near the islands in the East China Sea which are known as the Senkaku in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese, the coast guard said.

The Koshiki spotted what it believed was a foreign ship which started moving away when the patrol vessel approached, the Japan Coast Guard said in a statement.

Chief government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said all the crew members were taken to Ishigaki, an island in Japan's Okinawan chain some 200 kilometres (124 miles) south of the disputed territories . . . more

2008 tournament
JSDF: 2
Fishermen: 0

Best of 5?

[Behan]

With all the advanced equipment that you would think they would have, how could they accidentally hit a fishing boat?
It must be a great patrol vessel for detecting smugglers.

[kurohinge1]

With all the advanced equipment that you would think they would have, how could they accidentally hit a fishing boat? . . .

[SIZE="4"]Lien Ho intentionally hit by Japanese boat: crew members[/SIZE]

Two crew members of the 270-ton fishing boat Lien Ho said yesterday that their ship was hit by a Japanese maritime defense frigate "on purpose" on Monday.

Yang Kun-feng and Hsiang Yen-hao returned to Taipei from Okinawa in the morning to tell their side of the story of Monday's collision off the Tiaoyutai Islands.

"The Japanese patrol boat hit ours on purpose," Yang told the press on arrival at Taoyuan International Airport. The Koshiki, the frigate, is 30 times as large as the Lien Ho, aboard which were the three-man crew and 13 sports fishermen. All of them were rescued by the Koshiki. Only the skipper, Ho Hung-yi, is still under detention on Ishigaki-jima, one of the southernmost islands of the Ryukyus.

"We were not zigzagging as the Japanese claimed," Hsiang told reporters. He said he didn't know what was going on when the Lien Ho was hit. "I only heard the crashing sound," he added.

"Our ship was sailing straight," Hsiang insisted. "We were not fleeing," he added. "It was a purposeful ramming," Hsiang charged. "As a result, our ship was damaged beyond repairs and sank," he pointed out. As sea waters rushed in, the skipper ordered "abandon ship," Hsiang said. "So we all jumped."

Both crew members thanked Taipei's representative in Naha, Lee Ming-tzung, for helping them on Ishigaki. "We don't know Japanese, but Japanese coastguardsmen demanded that we sign our testimony, and we dared not until after Mr. Lee made clear that it's all right to sign," they said. . . more

Certainly a great way of getting rid of those pesky photos and videos that may contradict the "official story" - sink the blighters and send the evidence to "Davey Jones locker".

[kurohinge1]

This latest incident is getting more interesting:

[SIZE="4"]Taiwanese coast guard ships, protesters enter Japanese waters near disputed islands[/SIZE]

Nine Taiwanese coast guard vessels entered Japanese waters Monday near disputed islands in the East China Sea to accompany a ship of protesters angry over the sinking nearby of a Taiwanese fishing boat, officials said.

Japan immediately denounced the incident as a violation of its territorial waters, amid a spike in tensions over the islands, known as Diaoyutai in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese. Officials in Taiwan called it a mission to uphold its sovereignty over the disputed territory.

The vessels and the protest ship were in Japanese waters for about two and a half hours near the islands, defying repeated warnings from Japanese patrol boats, the Japanese coast guard said in a statement.

Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration Vice Minister Cheng Chang-hsiung said the protesters got less than two-thirds of a mile (less than 1 kilometer) from an island in the chain, where they were blocked by nine Japanese patrol vessels. Cheng said Taiwan dispatched nine patrol vessels to protect the protesters' ship along the way.

"We did not notify Japan of the operations beforehand because the operations aimed to maintain (Taiwan's) sovereignty," Cheng said in a televised news conference.

Japan contends the captain of a Taiwanese leisure fishing boat is responsible for last week's collision with a Japanese coast guard vessel off the disputed islands. The Taiwanese captain claims the Japanese vessel rammed his craft. No one was injured in the incident. Taiwan recalled its envoy to Japan on Saturday in protest over the collision.

Japan's top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, denounced Taiwan's violation of Japanese waters.

"The violation of territorial waters was extremely regrettable. The Senkaku islands are part of Japan, and this is beyond question," Machimura told a news conference.

. . . Japanese public broadcaster NHK said it was unprecedented for a Taiwanese patrol vessel to enter Japanese waters. NHK said the protest ship carried around 40 activists, while the Japanese coast guard said about a dozen activists were spotted. . . more

[Mulboyne]

Atago: MSDF officers apologize for Atago collision, but insist proper measures were taken

Duty officers and the former skipper of the Aegis destroyer Atago apologized Thursday for a collision in February that killed two fishermen but denied they had failed to take adequate safety measures. In opening remarks at the Yokohama Marine Accident Inquiry Agency, Lt. Cmdr. Keitaro Ushirogata, who was the duty officer just before the collision off the Boso Peninsula on Feb. 19, and Lt. Cmdr. Tomohisa Nagaiwa, who was the duty officer when the accident occurred, both apologized. However, Ushirogata said Atago crew members were watching the movements of the fishing boat Seitoku Maru, countering allegations by the Yokohama Marine Accident Investigators' Office that Ushirogata failed to properly monitor fishing boats in the area. The office also said Ushirogata failed to notify Nagaiwa who relieved him. Nagaiwa argued that he initially judged there was no danger of a collision with the fishing vessel, but the situation suddenly changed when the Seitoku Maru veered right. He suggested that the fishing vessel's change of course "created a new danger"...

...According to the investigators' statement, Ushirogata noticed a fishing boat flotilla at 3:40 a.m. on Feb. 19. But he judged that the vessels would not come closer to the destroyer and did not warn Nagaiwa who relieved him. Between 3:57 and 3:58 a.m., Nagaiwa noticed a fishing vessel 3 nautical miles ahead on the starboard side. While the Atago was obliged to take action to avert a collision, Nagaiwa failed to notice the risk posed by the fishing vessel, investigators said. At 4:06 a.m., the two ships collided, investigators said. Ataka is accused of failing to give proper instructions to crew members inside the combat information center, while Funato is accused of failing to properly instruct the entire crew on duty. The fleet command is accused of not properly educating and training the crew. While the investigators' office initially placed some fault on the Seitoku Maru crew for failing to take voluntary measures to prevent a collision, the allegation was dropped after the two fishermen were declared dead.

[FG Lurker]

Japan destroyer collides with fishing boat: coast guard
Yahoo News, December 15, 2008

A Japanese destroyer and a fishing boat collided Monday near Tokyo but no one was hurt or missing, the coast guard said, months after a similar incident caused an uproar.

The Shirane destroyer collided with the fishing boat as it entered Yokosuka, a major naval port south of Tokyo, a Japan Coast Guard spokesman said.

The small vessel, the Honei-maru, "remained on the surface with no one injured," he said.

(Full Story)

"Oops..."

[IkemenTommy]

Japan destroyer collides with fishing boat: coast guard
Yahoo News, December 15, 2008

"Oops..."

[quote="kurohinge1"]

2008 tournament
JSDF: 2
Fishermen: 0

Best of 5?

]
That pretty much wrapped up the 2008 Tournament for the JSDF team. The Fishermen had no chance up against the mighty JSDF.

Looking forward to another great season next year.

[Mike Oxlong]

"Oops..."

...we did it again.
We rammed your boat.
Got lost in the game.
Oh, mayday; mayday.
Oops!
... You think we will shove.
When we loom from above...
We're not that competent.

[Buraku]

The two China's in the Navy news this week

Taiwan Vs Japan -
Ministry unaware of US view on Diaoyutai islands
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/03/06/2003437734

Chinese Vs America - China has heaped more criticism on the US after a weekend confrontation between the two countries' vessels in the South China Sea.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7936468.stm


kinda surprised the Koreans aren't joining in by burning flags etc

how long before Korea feels like it needs more attention