Our History

The U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility Japan Regional Maintenance Center (SRF-JRMC)’s proud tradition and "root" were firmly implanted in 1865 under the patronage of the Tokugawa Shogunate when the "Yokosuka Iron Works" was established. Since that time, the shop and waterfront facilities have been extensively developed and expanded. During World War II, the shipyard was one of the largest shipbuilding and repair sites of the Imperial Japanese Navy, employing over 40,000 people and building over 100 combatant ships. Among these were the 62,000 ton carrier Shinano, along with 10 other aircraft carriers, the 33,800 ton battleship Mutsu, and six other battleships, six cruisers and 20 submarines.


The facility was opened by U.S. Forces on Apr. 28, 1947 as the "Ship Repair Department" Fleet Activities, Yokosuka, with an Officer-in-Charge and a staff of 75 U.S. Navy personnel and 576 former Japanese Imperial Navy employees. At that time the facility occupied about 72 acres, approximately one quarter of the former Imperial Japanese Naval Shipyard.

On Aug. 15,1951, the facility was officially designated the "U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility" by the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations, and a Commanding Officer was assigned. On Mar. 29, 1976, the Commanding Officer established a Sasebo office with a staff of seven Japanese. On Mar. 1, 1984, the U.S. Naval Ship Repair Detachment, Sasebo was officially established by the Chief of Naval Operations led by an Officer-in-Charge.

Today the facility employs both U.S. military and U.S. civilian personnel as well as over 2,000 full-time Japanese Nationals (230 in our Sasebo Detachment) who are assigned throughout the organization, including top management.

Yokosuka and Detachment Sasebo are home to 22 ships of the Forward Deployed Naval Forces (FDNF) serving the U.S. 7th Fleet. This includes the USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), the flagship of Commander U.S. 7th Fleet. With homeport transfer of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) to Yokosuka, Ronald Reagan is the second U.S. nuclear powered aircraft carrier permanently based outside the continental U.S. Having the capability and capacity of a medium-sized U.S. Naval public shipyard, SRF-JRMC provides the full range of ship repair and modernization to the FDNF ships as well as voyage repairs to visiting ships.

Dry-docking facilities can support timely dry-docking of most ships in the U.S. Navy inventory. Facilities include six dry docks with a combined displacement of 530,000 tons, 19 wet berth locations, 10 industrial buildings with combined workshop space of 730,000 square feet, and 15,300 combined feet of pier to support maintenance.

SRF-JRMC's continuous improvement is the direct result of the dedicated efforts of our most important asset - our people! Our talented multinational work force is frequently augmented by very capable U.S. and Japanese contractors. The resulting team effort has earned SRF-JRMC an enviable reputation for completing complex repair and modernization work of unparalleled quality, timelines and reduced costs.

 

The spirit and dedication of the members of the U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility Japan Regional Maintenance are reflected in their motto:
 
"Nan Demo Dekimasu - We Can Do Anything"