JS ''Shimokita'' (LST-4002) is the second ship of the s of the

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

(JMSDF).

Construction and career

''Shimokita'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 30 November 1999 and launched on 29 November 2000 by

Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding () is a Japanese company. It is listed on the Nikkei 225. Mitsui E&S is one of the companies of the Mitsui Group. Established in 1917 as the Shipbuilding Division of Mitsui & Co. with the first shipyard at Tamano. In 1937 the shipyards became ...

Tamano is a city located in southern Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The city was officially founded on August 3, 1940. As of October 1, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 60,101 and a population density of 580 persons per km². The total area i ...

. She was commissioned into the 1st Landing Group on 12 March 2002. On 7 September 2009, the fifth aviation group together with

Okinawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city o ...

to participate in disaster prevention drills,

Air Self-Defense Force The , , also informally referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air and space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warfare. ...

Fire Service A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

, NTT,

Okinawa Electric Power Company , OEPC or for short, is an electric utility with its exclusive operational area of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is the smallest by electricity sales among Japan’s ten regional power utilities, indeed, its electricity sales is approximately ...

and the

Japanese Red Cross Society The is the Japanese affiliate of the International Red Cross. The Imperial Family of Japan traditionally has supported the society, with the Empress as Honorary President and other imperial family members as vice presidents. Its headquarters ...

to train for stacking a variety of vehicles such as ambulance. From 24 to 27 January 2011, ''Shimokita'' and implemented special training together. In response to the

Great East Japan Earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

off the Pacific coast the vessel was dispatched to respond to the disaster. At the time of the earthquake, the Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Tamano Plant was conducting an annual inspection of the ship, of which completion was accelerated to 1 April, and the vessel joined the disaster relief from 6 April. From 10 to 26 June 2013, ''Shimokita'' participated for the first time in the integrated training Dawn Blitz 13, which was held by the US military at

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oc ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and

San Clemente Island San Clemente Island (Tongva: ''Kinkipar''; Spanish: ''Isla de San Clemente'') is the southernmost of the Channel Islands of California. It is owned and operated by the United States Navy, and is a part of Los Angeles County. It is administered b ...

. In addition, and participated from the Ground Self-Defense Force, including the Western Army Infantry Corps and the Western Air Corps and during the exercise period, a

US Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a convention ...

. The vertical takeoff and landing transport aircraft landed aboard the ship. ''Shimokita'' participated in the Okinawa Prefectural Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Drill held on

Miyakojima is the largest and the most populous island among the Miyako Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Miyako Island is administered as part of the City of Miyakojima, which includes not only Miyako Island, but also five other populated islands. ...

, Taramajima, and

Irabujima ( Miyako: ''Irav''), is an island in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The island is connected to Miyako Island by a bridge , which was completed in January 2015. Irabu Island is also connected via six bridges to Shimoji-shima. There are ...

as part of the 2014 remote island integrated disaster prevention drill held from 3 to 6 September 2014. On 4 November as part of the Chenzi 26 exercise, which is a large-scale exercise of the Ground Self-Defense Force's Western Army, the

MLRS A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple launchers which are fixed to a single platform, and shoots its rocket ordnance in a fashion similar to a volle ...

of the Western Army was being trained to shoot on the ship's deck. On 1 July 2016, the 1st Transport Corps was reorganized under the Mine Warfare Force. On 6 July ''Shimokita'' departed Kure in order to participate in Pacific Partnership 2016, visiting

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

and other port calls to make medical support and returned to Kure on 20 August. On 9 April 2018, joint training was conducted with and several other ships in the waters west of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

. From 8 to 24 May, she participated in amphibious rapid deployment exercises with JS ''Hyūga'' in the western waters of Kyushu,

Tanegashima is one of the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, 444.99 km2 in area, is the second largest of the Ōsumi Islands, and has a population of 33,000 people. Access to the island is by ferry, or by air to New ...

Kagoshima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,599,779 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 9,187 km2 (3,547 sq mi). Kagoshima Prefecture borders Kumamoto P ...

, and the surrounding waters. In response to the water outage in Kure city due to the heavy rain in July 2018, a special bath installed on the ship moored in the Kure base mooring moat area was opened to those affected on 8/9 July. On 10 July, ''Shimokita'' was in Hiroshima Ujina Port while transporting gasoline, diesel fuel about 124 such kiloliters loaded with tank trucks. After that, bathing and water supply support was provided again until 18 July. The people who took a bath were mainly residents of Etajima City, and were picked up by

LCAC LCAC may refer to: Hovercraft * A generic term for an air cushioned landing craft, taken from US Navy designation "Landing Craft, Air Cushion". ** Landing Craft Air Cushion, a US Navy hull classification symbol for the Landing Craft Air Cushion-c ...

from the Hitonose LCAC Maintenance Center in the city. On 25 August, the same year, joint training was conducted with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in the waters south of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

Gallery

File:JMSDF LST 4002 Shimokita.JPG, JS ''Shimokita'' on 29 October 2006 File:JS Shimokita (LST-4002) leaves Pearl Harbor for San Diego, -20 May 2013 a.jpg, JS ''Shimokita'' leaving

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

on 20 May 2013 File:JS Shimokita (LST-4002) en USS Halsey (DDG-97) in de Stille Oceaan tijdens Keen Sword 2015, -12 november 2014 a.jpg, JS ''Shimokita'' and on 12 November 2014 File:JS Shimokita(LST-4002) left rear view at JMSDF Kure Naval Base May 6, 2018 01.jpg, JS ''Shimokita'' at

Kure is a port and major shipbuilding city situated on the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. With a strong industrial and naval heritage, Kure hosts the second-oldest naval dockyard in Japan and remains an important base for the Japan M ...

on 6 May 2018 File:Bridge & mast of JS Shimokita(LST-4002) left rear view at JMSDF Kure Naval Base May 6, 2018.jpg File:JMSDF-shimokita in Kure Naval Base-1.jpg, JS ''Shimokita'' at Kure on 20 October 2019

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimokita (LST-4002) Ōsumi-class tank landing ships Ships built by Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding 2000 ships