The U.S. Navy is making arrangements for the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) to make a port call in Ishigaki Island from March 11 to 14, according to an official at Ishigaki City.
If it goes as planned, this will be the first visit by any U.S. Navy’s destroyer to the politically sensitive island on Japan’s southwestern Nansei Island chain, which spans about 1,200 kilometers extending from the southern tip of Kagoshima toward Taiwan vis-à-vis China. Ishigaki is also part of the so-called “first island chain”.
Over the past few years, Japan has been increasingly deploying Self Defense Force troops to the Nansei Islands, while China has been enhancing its military activities in the East and South China Seas. Ishigaki Island is also close to the disputed Senkaku islands, known in China as the Diaoyu islands. The uninhabited islands are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan.
The USS Rafael Peralta is scheduled to enter the port at 9 a.m. on March 11 and depart at 9 a.m. on March 14 for the purpose of rest and replenishment, the city official told Naval News on February 8 by phone.
The U.S. Navy notified Ishigaki City of the port call through the Ishigaki Coast Guard Department based on the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, the official said.
However, the official at Ishigaki City, the port administrator for Ishigaki Port, said that “basically, our priority is given to private cruise ships to be scheduled to enter the port,” and that the city is still discussing how to respond to the U.S. Navy’s notification.
In the past, the Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship USS Pioneer (MCM 9) visited Ishigaki Port from September 7 to 8, 2023 during routine training in the region. Two mine warfare ships USS Guardian (MCM 5) and USS Patriot (MCM 7) also arrived at the port for a goodwill visit in April 2009. In each case, pacifist organizations and labor unions organized by harbor workers protested against the U.S. warships’ visits to the port on the island. Because Okinawa was the site of a fierce battle during World War II between Japan and the U.S., pacifist activities still remain strong there.
Ports in Okinawa Prefecture are known for their shallow waters, but Ishigaki Port is fully equipped with a quay with a depth of 10.5 meters. USS Rafael Peralta, forward deployed to Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, as part of U.S. 7th Fleet, also arrived at Otaru, on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido on February 5, 2024, for a scheduled port visit without any incident. The destroyer is about 155 meters in length, displacing about 9,000 tons, and has a crew size of around 300, according to the U.S. Navy.
