Japanese torpedo sends US ship to the ocean floor during Valiant Shield exercise

The U.S. Navy’s decommissioned Austin-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Juneau (LPD-10) was sent to the ocean floor during the ongoing Valiant Shield exercise taking place from June 22 to July 1.

Sunk more than 200 nautical miles off the coast in the Mariana Islands Range Complex, the death knell to the Juneau came from a torpedo strike from a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine.

“This SINKEX provided an outstanding opportunity for our joint team to integrate capabilities across domains, honing the lethal precision and coordination essential for high-end maritime operations in the Pacific theater,” said Rear Adm. Eric Anduze, commander of Carrier Strike Group 5 and Task Force 70.

Valiant Shield involving the U.S., Japan, Australia, Canada and New Zealand is a biennial field training that builds real-world proficiency in sustaining joint forces through detecting, locating, tracking and engaging units at sea, in the air, in space, on land and in cyberspace, according to the Navy.

The SINKEX of the USS Juneau comes nearly 84 years after the first USS Juneau, CL-52, was infamously sunk by a Japanese torpedo during the Guadalcanal campaign in November of 1942. Upon contact with the torpedo from Japanese submarine I-26, the Juneau exploded and sank within minutes. Only 10 crew members survived the attack — and among those lost were the five Sullivan brothers. As a result of their loss, according to Naval History and Heritage Command, the U.S. Navy barred close relatives from serving onboard the same ship.

Juneau (LPD-10) entered service in 1969, seeing action in the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm. It was decommissioned in 2008 and was moored in Naval Sea Systems Command Inactive Ships On-Site Maintenance Office at Pearl Harbor before being used by the U.S. and its allies as a means to gain proficiency and confidences in their weapons systems that can not be duplicated in simulations.

According to the Navy, prior to the sinking of any vessel for participation in a SINKEX, each vessel is put through a rigorous cleaning process, “including the removal of all liquid polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from transformers and large capacitors, small capacitors to the greatest extent practical, and all trash, floatable materials, mercury or fluorocarbon-containing materials, and readily detachable solid PCB items. Petroleum is also cleaned from tanks, piping, and reservoirs.”

In addition, a Navy environmental, safety and health manager and a quality assurance supervisor are on hand to inspect the environmental remediation conducted.