Japan minesweeper sinks after catching fire; 1 crew member still missing

Wow...a really poor translation! There must be a new (younger, inexperienced, cheaper) translation staff on duty...

The fire was burning for 11 hours and was still going when the story was filed? How well are MSDF crews going to cope in the event of war?

I hope they find the missing member, best of luck.

The fire was burning for 11 hours and was still going when the story was filed? How well are MSDF crews going to cope in the event of war?

Sigh, you must be the type that thinks every event will be solved within 60 minute period, including time for commercials.

3RENSHOToday  08:28 am JST

Wow...a really poor translation!

What part of the article exactly are you complaining about?

Hope they save the crew and the ship.

dobre vam zajebavaToday  10:34 am JST

bad engrish.

zenzen wakarimasen.

News articles are translated with AI apps these days. These often produce technically accurate translations that lack the fluidity of human translation. However, I see nothing in the article that is confusing, vague or possibly mistranslated. Is English your mother language? That's probably why you don't understand.

BTW, it's spelled English, not Engrish.

"What part of the article exactly are you complaining about?"

I now retract my earlier comment to stand corrected.

The fire was burning for 11 hours and was still going when the story was filed? How well are MSDF crews going to cope in the event of war?

Minesweepers have to have non-magnetic hulls. Until the 1980s that meant wood. Most modern minesweepers use either fiberglass or more often Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) hulls. If that stuff lights up it isn't like fighting a fire on a steel hulled ship. The hull itself is burning. It is a problem all navies face with minesweepers.

unfortunate, I agree with the grp comments, but wow takes some energy to get that stuff going, uwat a serving guy from the engine room is the one missing (loads of energy in there) and you bitch about Engirsh!

Before everything condolences to the family of the crewmember.

the capsizing will most likely be caused by inexperience in trying to put out the fire.

the excess of water can cause an unbalance and the ship capsizes.

Minesweepers have a very shallow draught and are easy to capsize.

the capsizing will most likely be caused by inexperience in trying to put out the fire.

Based on my own hands on experience with the JMSDF, that is probably not the case. I have walked the decks of warships from many nations including several modern Japanese warships and can attest that the JMSDF takes fire fighting and damage control as seriously as the US Navy does and Japanese ships are better built and better equipped to survive fired and damage than their European counterparts. In DC school they put you in a trainer that floods and burns. You have to find the leaks, seal them and put out the fires. It is very realistic training.

In time there will be a mishap report. The press is saying there were explosions. There are several reasons this could happen including fuel and oil leaks from ruptured pipes or hoses, a blown cylinder head on one of the diesel engines or a generator could have grenaded for some reason. Hopefully the ship is saved and the cause found.

So the US Navy at Sasebo uses the JMSDF damage control trainers to train US Navy crews, and at Yokosuka there is a Japanese contractor operating the damage control trainer there.

https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/damage-control-training/

"Valdez says his trainers work with the JMSDF counterparts, and have trained JMSDF crews, as well as hosting trainers from the ROKN as observers. “The Japanese teams are very professional. They do things a little bit differently, particularly how they measure and cut their shoring, while we use pre-cut shoring,” Valdez says."

Shoring are heavy wooden timbers used to prop up and reinforce bulkhead behind which there is flooding or to support damaged decks. You see shoring everywhere on US Navy and JMSDF ships. You also notice that like US Navy ships, JMSDF ships have no decorative wood, no paneling and no decorative false overheads with flush lighting like you see on many European warships. It looks nice, but all that has to be chopped away to get at fires and stop flooding. It also burns really nice. Japanese and US warships have bare steel overheads. You see all the wire bundles, pipes and ventilation ducts. That is deliberate. Makes fighting fires and finding and plugging leaks easier.

Humans are just totally stupid, that's it. We are land animals and no fish in the sea. We don't belong there, such easy it is, and of course mines also don't belong there, then you also don't need minesweepers. It's totally easy to understand. Give it a try, or three more if still stupid.

Humans are just totally stupid, that's it. We are land animals and no fish in the sea. We don't belong there, such easy it is, and of course mines also don't belong there, then you also don't need minesweepers. It's totally easy to understand. Give it a try, or three more if still stupid.c

Some of us were born to go to sea, but if you lack a soul you might not understand this fact. If you like seafood you aren't getting most of it fishing from a pier. If you want things from other nations those things will come to you across oceans on a ship. Man has gone to sea from for as long as they walked the Earth. It is in our blood.

Fire is one of the greatest fears of sailors.

The ship sank in the harbor with one crew member missing.