United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka U . S . Fleet Activities Yokosuka , or Commander , Fleet Activities Yokosuka is a United States Navy base , in Yokosuka , Japan . Its mission is to maintain and operate base facilities for the logistic , recreational , administrative support and service of the U . S . Naval Forces Japan , U . S . 7th Fleet and other operating forces assigned in the Western Pacific . CFAY is the largest strategically important U . S . Naval installation in the western Pacific . , it is commanded by Captain David Glenister . Fleet Activities Yokosuka comprises 2 . 3 km² ( 568 acres ) and is located at the entrance of Tokyo Bay , 65 km ( 40 mi ) south of Tokyo and approximately 30 km ( 20 mi ) south of Yokohama on the Miura Peninsula in the Kantō region of the Pacific Coast in Central Honshū , Japan . The 55 tenant commands which make up this installation support U . S . Navy Pacific operating forces , including principal afloat elements of the United States Seventh Fleet , including the only permanently forward - deployed aircraft carrier , , the group she heads , Carrier Strike Group Five , and Destroyer Squadron 15 . History . When Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan in 1853 , using naval pressure to open up Japan to foreign trade , Yokosuka was a quaint , native fishing village . In 1860 , Lord Oguri Kozuke - no - Suke , Minister of Finance to the Tokugawa Shogunate Government , decided that " If Japan is to assume an active role in world trade , she must have proper facilities to build and maintain large seagoing vessels . " He called upon the French Consul General , Léon Roches , and asked for the assistance of the French government to build a shipyard and various basing facilities capable of handling large ships . The French engineer Léonce Verny was sent to Japan to accomplish the task . After the inspection of several sites it was discovered that Yokosuka topographically , if on a smaller scale , resembled the port of Toulon , France . It was decided to establish the shipyard here . It would be called the " Yokosuka Iron Works " . In 1871 , the name was changed to the " Yokosuka Navy Yard " . It was the French engineer Louis - Émile Bertin 1840 - 1924 who reorganized " Yokosuka Navy Yard " completely from 1886 . Yokosuka was to become one of the main arsenals of the Imperial Japanese Navy into the 20th century , in which were built battleships such as " Yamashiro " , and aircraft carrier s such as " Hiryu " and " Shokaku " . Major Naval aircraft were also designed at the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal . During World War II , activities at the Yokosuka Navy Yard reached their peak . By 1944 , the Yard covered and employed over 40 , 000 workers . In addition to the shipbuilding plant , the yard also had a gun factory , ordnance and supply depots , a fuel storage facility , a seaplane base and a naval air station . U . S . Navy base . On 30 August 1945 , Vice Admiral Michitaro Totsuka , Commander of the Yokosuka Naval Base , surrendered his command to Rear Admiral Robert Carney , and the Base was peacefully occupied by U . S . Marines of the 6th Marine Division , British Royal Marines and U . S . Naval personnel . Commander Fleet Activities ( COMFLEACT ) Yokosuka was created shortly after the occupation in 1945 . As the Base became organized , the shipyard was deactivated and much of the equipment was sent to other countries as part of reparations . The repair ship took charge of ship repair and maintenance , the hospital became a Naval Dispensary ( and later the Naval Hospital Yokosuka Japan , ) and the Supply Department was organized with the mission to provide support to the fleet and shore - based activities . The Public Works Department was also established . The best known Commander of Fleet Activities was the one who served there the longest , Captain Benton W . " Benny " Decker , who was in command from April , 1946 until June , 1950 . When he assumed command , the base was fairly well - organized , and Captain Decker and his staff were able to devote their time to helping the townspeople economically , politically and socially . Buildings which had once housed war equipment were converted into schools , churches and hospitals for the people of Japan . In May , 1946 , the Marines at Yokosuka were redesignated Marine Barracks , U . S . Fleet Activities , Yokosuka . In April , 1947 , the Ship Repair Department was organized , and the shops and dry docks were reactivated to maintain the ships of the U . S . Fleet in the Pacific . With the onset of the Korean War on 25 June 1950 , Yokosuka Navy Base suddenly became very important and extremely busy . The U . S . , although still an occupying power in Japan , turned its full efforts to the support of South Korea . The Navy Dispensary was enlarged and expanded and was commissioned a U . S . Naval Hospital in 1950 . The Naval Communications Facility , Yokosuka , was commissioned in January , 1951 . In April 1951 , the Ship Repair Department became a component command . It was redesignated the Ship Repair Facility . As the major naval ship repair facility in the Far East , the Yokosuka Facility assumed a vital role in maintenance and repair of the U . S . Seventh Fleet during the Korean War and Vietnam War . In March , 1952 , the geographical boundaries of Naval Forces Far East were changed to exclude the Philippines , Marianas , Bonin and Volcano Islands . In December , 1952 , the Headquarters were shifted from Tokyo to Yokosuka . The expanded Supply Department of Fleet Activities became the Naval Supply Depot , Yokosuka in August , 1952 and in 1960 , the Naval Communications Facility was redesignated U . S . Naval Communications Station , Japan . On 5 October 1973 , with CVW - 5 and her accompanying task group put into Yokosuka , marking the first forward deployment of a complete carrier task group in a Japanese port . This was the result of an accord arrived at on 31 August 1972 between the U . S . and Japan . In addition to the morale factor of dependents housed along with the crew in a foreign port , the move had strategic significance because it facilitated continuous positioning of three carriers in the Far East at a time when the economic situation demanded the reduction of carriers in the fleet . In August 1991 , " Midway " departed Yokosuka and turned over to , which was replacing " Midway " as the forward - deployed carrier in Yokosuka . In August 1998 relieved " Independence " as the 7th Fleet forward - based carrier . On 1 December 2005 , the U . S . Navy announced that in 2008 the USS " Kitty Hawk " will be replaced at its forward base in Yokosuka by the nuclear - powered . A U . S . Navy spokesman said the decision was a mutual agreement between the United States and Japan . Hiroyuki Hosoda , spokesman for Japan ' s government , said , " We believe that the change ( of the carriers ) will lead to maintaining the solid presence of the U . S . Navy and contribute to keeping Japan ' s security and international peace into the future . " This would be the first time a nuclear - powered ship would be permanently based in Japan . On 25 September 2008 , the USS " George Washington " arrived in Yokosuka making it the only forward - deployed nuclear - powered aircraft carrier in the U . S . Navy . In recent years , a number of high profile international incidents involving American sailors occurred around the base . The most notable were two murders which occurred in 2006 and 2008 . The first murder was committed by Airman William Oliver Reese , who beat to death 56 - year - old Yokosuka woman Yoshie Sato and proceeded to take the equivalent of $ 130 from her purse . The second murder was committed by Seaman Olantunbosun Ugbogu , a Nigerian citizen who had joined the U . S . Navy , but had not yet received citizenship . Ugbogu stabbed a taxi driver to death in order to avoid paying a $ 200 fare , which he had incurred returning from Tokyo . He was stationed aboard the guided missile cruiser , but was absent without leave at the time of the murder and considered a deserter . Both murders resulted in the U . S . Navy severely restricting the liberty of all sailors in the fleet . Personnel and ships from the base assisted with Operation Tomodachi following and during the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima I nuclear accidents . During the crisis , around 3 , 000 American family members left the base and escaped into safety outside of Japan . Forward - deployed ships . Destroyers . Destroyer Squadron 15 ( COMDESRON 15 ) Landmarks . During the late 1960s and 1970s , the Yokosuka Microwave Communications Site was part of the telephone communications network in the Tokyo area of Japan . The location of the building and 106 . 7 metre tall microwave tower was on the highest hill on the U . S . Navy base .