Amphibious Warship USS New Orleans Arrives in Japan

Sam LaGrone – August 29, 2025 2:55 PM

The amphibious warship that suffered a 12-hour fire last week arrived at its homeport in Japan on Friday, U.S. 7th Fleet officials confirmed to USNI News.

USS New Orleans (LPD-18) arrived at Fleet Activities Sasebo on its own power after suffering a fire in the forward part of the ship off the coast of Okinawa.

“The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD-18) arrived at commander, Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan, Aug. 29, for further assessments and repairs,” reads a statement from 7th Fleet.

Now in Japan, the service will continue to assess the damage from Aug. 20.

Based on footage from local Japanese television, the fire was located forward of the superstructure and aft of the fo’c’sle. The San Antonio-class has a three-deck high void in the same general area, originally designed to host a 16-cell MK 41 vertical launch system, but is now mostly used for storage.

A few crew members suffered minor injuries and were able to remain aboard the ship, the Navy said.

New Orleans is part of the U.S. forward-deployed amphibious force to Sasebo, Japan.