On April 15, the Japanese Squadron upped anchor and steamed east, destination - Pearl Harbor. No, this has nothing to do with a strike squadron but with the JMSDF Training Squadron on an Around-the-World cruise. The first stop was Pearl Harbor, which was reached on April 27, 2008. The training squadron consisted of three warships, the 4,050-ton Kashima, 3,550-ton Umigiri and 3,500-ton Asagiri, all powered by gas-turbine engines. The cruise will last from April 15, 2008 to September 18, 2008 and will circumnavigate the planet from west to east. Currently (August 5, 2008) the squadron is in the Mediterranean, having left Portsmouth, UK on July 28 and due to arrive in Port Said, Egypt on August 8.

JTS130hvb.JPG (50590 bytes) JTS133hvb.JPG (61028 bytes) JTS134hvb.JPG (91313 bytes)
JTS138hvb.JPG (97332 bytes) JTS139hvb.JPG (96837 bytes) JTS140hvb.JPG (101631 bytes) JTS132hvb.JPG (117330 bytes)
JTS154hvb.JPG (106984 bytes) JTS141hvb.JPG (121859 bytes) JTS142hvb.JPG (117753 bytes) JTS143hvb.JPG (112880 bytes)

From July 16 through July 20, 2008 the squadron was at anchor in Amsterdam, Netherlands. On the last day of their stay Harry van Baal went aboard and photographed the ships. Harry's photos are seen here.

JTS144hvb.JPG (123609 bytes) JTS145hvb.JPG (122714 bytes) JTS153hvb.JPG (137562 bytes) JTS156hvb.JPG (112697 bytes)
JTS161hvb.JPG (78746 bytes) JTS162hvb.JPG (116486 bytes) JTS163hvb.JPG (92411 bytes) JTS151hvb.JPG (134812 bytes)
JTS014hvb.JPG (148595 bytes) JTS015hvb.JPG (144731 bytes) JTS012hvb.JPG (158498 bytes) JTS149hvb.JPG (87797 bytes)

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________