Challenge Coin Magazine

Yokosuka, Japan, Chief Petty Officer Challenge Coin

Written by Administrator Monday, 05 April 2010 08:02

Chief Petty Officer refers to two ranks in the Canadian Navy. Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class (CPO2) is equivalent to a Master Warrant Officer, and Chief Petty Officer 1st Class (CPO1) (Premier maître de première classe or pm1) is equivalent to a Chief elements, Chief Petty Officers are never addressed as Warrant Officer.

The first Chief Petty Officers Club on Yokosuka Naval Base was in Building H-83 located in the area of the new Middle School.  It had been used by the Imperial Japanese Navy as a gymnasium for Judo and Fencing, it remained the CPO Club from 1945 until it was destroyed by fire in 1949.  Three months later H-43, (where JRNOC is currently located) which previously had been a galley and dining area for the Imperial Japanese Navy shipyard workers, was remodeled into a CPO Club.  It remained so until 1978 when it was also gutted by fire. The Chiefs Club then moved to the old Seaside Club Building J-201 and utilized the Bar Area as the CPO Club until the completion of the Arleigh Burke Officers Club when they moved into the Chain Locker.  The current CPO Club, Building B-39, was completed sometime in 1937 in which the Japanese Imperial Navy used first for offices of the Shipyard Superintendent and later as a Supply Office.  At the end of World War Two, the Occupation Forces continued to use it as Supply Offices until 1949 when it was renovated and remodeled into a recreation facility for Petty Officers below the grade of Chief Petty Officer.  The Petty Officers Club closed in 1982 with the opening of the new Club Alliance at the Main Gate. In 1982, CNFJ Force Master Chief, SKCM Jim Berry, realized that the Chain Locker in the Officers Club was not working out and convinced CNFJ and CFAY to relocate the CPO Club to B-39.  The inside was renovated and the current CPO Club opened for business in 1983.