Battle of Amami-Ōshima

Action of 22 December 2001
North Korean Spy Ship (Center). Sunken North Korean ship being raised by Japanese forces
Date 22 December, 2001 Location off Amami-Ōshima, in the East China Sea Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
North Korea	Japan
Strength
1 armed trawler	several Japan Coast Guard vessels
Casualties and losses
1 armed trawler sunk approx. 15 killed	3 wounded

The naval action of 22 December 2001 was a confrontation between the Japan Coast Guard and an armed North Korean vessel, taking place near the island of Amami-Ōshima, in the East China Sea. The encounter ended in the sinking of the North Korean vessel, which the Japanese authorities later announced was determined to have been a spy craft.

The as-yet unidentified ship was first seen in Japanese waters on Friday 21 December 2001. A North Korean vessel encountered by the Japanese Coast Guard in 1999 was claimed by Japan to have been an spy craft, though North Korea denied it; other incidents have occurred involving illegal fishing and drug trafficking.

Early the following morning, the ship was chased by twenty Japan Coast Guard vessels, who ordered it to halt, and fired warning shots upon the ship when those orders were ignored. A six-hour firefight ensued, in which over 1000 machine gun rounds were fired by both sides; the Korean crew were said to have wielded shoulder-held rocket launchers, representing the first time such a weapon was ever used against a Japanese force. Several explosions not directly related to Japanese attacks rocked the ship before it was sunk, most of its fifteen crew members being missing and presumed dead as of several days later. This could be seen as the first sinking of a foreign ship by Japanese forces since the end of World War II, though some sources argue that the ship was scuttled by its crew.

Sources

Japan fires on 'intruding' boat. BBC Online. 21 December 2001. Accessed 17 December 2007. Japan says 'spy ship' fired rockets. BBC Online. 25 December 2001. Accessed 17 December 2007. Japan announces sunken boat was N. Korean spy ship. Japan Policy & Politics. 7 October 2002. Accessed 17 Decmber 2007. Brooke, James. Japan Says a Mystery Boat Fired Rockets at Its Ships. New York Times. 25 December 2001. Accessed 17 December 2007.