Sunday, March 29, 2020

COVID19 USN-- Off-Limits @ Yokosuka Base--FACEBOOK SCUTTLEBUTT (MUTINY?)

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     "...Whether or not contamination of the carrier is evident has not been addressed …"

     (The Scullery)--With the USS Theodore Roosevelt out of action and moored at Navy Base Guam, yet another American aircraft carrier has now reported cases of the deadly virus onboard, the USS Ronald Reagan;


Now Both Aircraft Carriers In The Western Pacific Have COVID-19 Cases, Raising Readiness Concerns

Two sailors onboard the Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which forward-deployed in Japan and presently pier-side there, have tested positive for the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. This comes just a day after the U.S.

       

     "Fleet Activities Yokosuka, a U.S. Navy base in the city of the same name, where the carrier is presently moored, will reportedly be on lockdown at least through the weekend. It's not clear yet what other steps the service may take, such as quarantining the entire ship." (The Drive)
According to the Marine Traffic website, which plots locations of ships, the USS Reagan had sailed recently from Singapore and was shown at Marine Traffic to be in the Yokosuka harbor in November, (image to left). None of the news articles currently indicate when the carrier arrived recently or whether it has been in the harbor for some time.  The website for the US Naval Institute shows a map in an article dated 02 March with the USS Reagan in port in Yokosuka, three weeks before the recent postings related to infected sailors onboard. (USNI) A Stars & Stripes article dated 24 August 2019 reported that the USS Reagan had just returned to port having been at sea for three months. The Caitlin Doornbos article notes the carrier's itinerary during that mission at sea;
     "The Reagan made two stops over its 94-day deployment. First at Brisbane, Australia, to join in the Talisman Sabre 2019 war games off Australia’s east coast, then at Manila, Philippines for a brief port visit. The Reagan also participated in several exercises at sea with partner nations, most recently with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force." (S&S)
Considering the span of the recent time out at sea, it is not beyond speculation that the Reagan has been in harbor since November, meaning that the sailors may have contracted the virus on shore. Again, Doornbos reports yesterday of the status quo of the infected sailors, and it appears that the disease may well have been contracted onshore;
          " 'With the unknown origins of these new cases, we need to take some immediate conservative actions to protect the health of our community until the nature of the public health threat can be characterized,' Yokosuka commander Capt. Rich Jarrett said in the statement.” (S&S2)
Whether or not contamination of the carrier is evident has not been addressed in the recent article concerning the outbreak.


     Clearly, the base commander is unaware of the nature of the origin according to his quote. In her Navy Times story dated "3 days ago," Diana Stancy  Correll reports the first sailor to have been found infected had actually recently returned to the base from the United States;
     "...the sailor returned to Japan from the U.S. on March 15 and was subsequently placed under Restriction of Movement status for 14 days — meaning the sailor was not permitted to interact with individuals outside of his or her assigned quarters." (Sailor-Zero)
The story does not reveal where the sailor was in the USA. The Navy base Facebook page shows a shelter-in-place order for the installation. From the tone of the posts at the Facebook page, many do not like the idea at all, especially the orders to stay inside. One sailor complains that housing services aren't open and he will be stuck on a ship.
     Others comment that the total number of infected personnel at the base may be as high as five, as reported by a Japanese TV station where the stories are untranslated. Sailors are being restricted to ship. When inquiring about the total number of cases, the sailors are being sent to the generic Navy.mil website or told that numbers are not available due to security and operational readiness.  Only "mission-essential personnel" are ordered to report to work.


Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka

Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Yokosuka-shi, Kanagawa, Japan. 52K likes. http://www.cnic.navy.mil/regions/cnrj/installations/cfa_yokosuka.html http://www.youtube.com/cfayyokosuka...



USS Reagan Page, https://www.reagan.navy.mil/
Marine Traffic, Yokosuka, https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:4961183/zoom:15
Navy Base Yokosuka, https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/32772/now-both-aircraft-carriers-in-the-western-pacific-have-covid-19-cases-raising-readiness-concerns
Carrier Locations, https://news.usni.org/2020/03/09/usni-news-fleet-and-marine-tracker-march-9-2020
Reagan at Sea, https://www.stripes.com/news/us/uss-ronald-reagan-returns-to-japan-after-three-months-at-sea-1.595647
Onshore, https://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/two-more-yokosuka-based-sailors-test-positive-for-coronavirus-commander-orders-base-to-shelter-in-place-1.623910
Sailor-Zero, https://www.navytimes.com/news/coronavirus/2020/03/26/first-service-member-in-japan-tests-positive-for-covid-19-after-returning-from-us/
Yokosuka Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/pg/cfayokosuka/posts/
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