Building bridges

THEY HAD a mere four days in Chennai and so much to see and experience. A team of visiting Japanese overseas training cruise personnel had a hectic schedule in Chennai and its neighbourhood.

Two ships, a load of trainees and trainers, and a top ranking officer were shown of glimpses of the city's special place in the cultural topography of the country. They were here for hardly four days, and the traditions had to be encapsulated for the Japanese palate.

The two ships, though on a training role, are equipped with quite a range of systems that many, who had a chance to step in, stopped to admire.

But most Chennaiites did not have a chance to have a look at the two Jap-ships DD 152 or popularly Yamagiri, the second `Kiri' class multi-purpose destroyer and TV 3508, Kashima, a training ship. Kashima is a region located in the Tsukuba, Ibaragi prefecture (province). Kashima is also the name of a national park of quagmire with breathtakingly beautiful lakeside marshes and many rivers.

Kashima has a long history. The first one with the same name sailed out in 1906, from England and joined the Imperial Japanese Navy. This ship, which participated in the Siberia despatch in 1918, was scrapped after the Washington Naval treaty in 1924. The second Kashima was built at Mitsubishi yards at Yokohama in 1940. This ship, a training cruiser, survived World War II and later played an active part in repatriation transportation. The present Kashima was commissioned in 1992, to replace the only training ship of the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (that's what the Japanese Navy is officially called), Katori.

A host of dignitaries from the State and the Armed Forces interacted with the visiting Japanese. The only hitch. Most of what transpired is secret. Ask the Indian Navy which hosted them here, and they will tell you nothing. Favourite line from INS Adyar: ``Contact the consulate.''

The ships sailed out today for some real workout - a joint exercise with their Indian counterparts. Early September, they get back home - Tokyo. By then, they would have sailed nearly 24,000 nautical miles, touching 13 ports in 13 countries in 144 days.

By R. K. Radhakrishnan

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Talk of the town
Next     : The call of the wild