A Japanese minesweeper was engulfed in fire while underway in the Sea of Japan and later sank, leaving one sailor missing.
JS Ukushima, a Sugashima-class minesweeper assigned to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, reported that its engine room caught fire to the country’s coast guard while sailing off the island of Oshima in Fukuoka Prefecture at around 9:40 a.m. local time on Sunday.
The prefecture is on the Japanese main island of Kyushu. It faces the Sea of Japan to the north, which lies between Japan and the Korean Peninsula, as well as Russia’s Far East.
【映像】海上自衛隊掃海艇から激しい炎
福岡県沖を航行していた海上自衛隊の掃海艇「うくしま」から出火。男性隊員1人が行方不明になっています。10日午後7時すぎに撮影した映像では船体から激しく炎が上がっています。海上保安部などが消火にあたるとともに捜索を進めることにしています。 pic.twitter.com/CFHGXqvEqr— NHK福岡 (@nhk_fukuoka) November 10, 2024
Minesweepers serve the purpose of clearing naval mines, which are self-contained explosive devices deployed to destroy submarines and surface vessels. They also aim to deny the enemy access to areas and to quarantine vessels in specific locations.
According to the United States Navy, there are three types of naval mines. They can be exploded by contacting a target, detonated by the presence of a ship be it magnetic, acoustic, or by pressure, or they can be set off from a control station onshore.
Naval mines can be neutralized by cutting their mooring cables, then detonating them at a safe distance away by the use of gunfire. They can also be detonated by artificially using an influence that is designed to mimic a ship’s presence, “tricking” it into detonation.
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
The fire was first contained at around 2 p.m. local time with the help of JS Toyoshima, a sister ship of the Ukushima, in a joint firefighting and rescue operation with the Japanese coast guard. However, there was a flare-up afterward, and the Ukushima‘s crew evacuated.
Tatsunori Koga, a 33-year-old sailor assigned to the Ukushima‘s engine room, was missing following the evacuation, which was done at around 3:45 p.m. local time. Another male sailor was hospitalized due to smoke inhalation, but his injuries were not life-threatening.
The minesweeper capsized shortly after midnight, which put out the fire and allowed the Japanese coast guard to commence a diving operation to search for the missing sailor.
Aerial footage taken by local broadcaster NHK on Monday showed that the Ukushima‘s bow was above the surface of the waters. Local news agency Kyodo News said the ship was conducting an exercise earlier on Sunday. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.
【動画】
福岡沖できのう起きた海上自衛隊の掃海艇「うくしま」の火事。隊員１人不明で海上保安部が潜水で捜索へ。船体は垂直の状態で、ほぼ沈んだ状態に。 pic.twitter.com/yIFOb0kNSx— NHK福岡 (@nhk_fukuoka) November 10, 2024
According to the Japanese navy, the Sugashima-class has a standard displacement of 510 tons with a length of 177 feet. The Ukushima was carrying a crew of about 40 at the time. A total of 12 ships of the class were built, but the first three had since been decommissioned.
To reduce its magnetic signature during minesweeping operations, the Sugashima-class is built in a wooden hull. Naval observers noted that once the wooden ship hadn’t been able to control the fire onboard in the early stages, it would have been more difficult to control the damage later.