The incident comes five years after a devastating blaze consumed the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego, injuring more than 60 sailors and civilians.

The Sasebo naval base is among the major facilities of the Japan-based U.S. Seventh Fleet, headquartered in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo at the mouth of Tokyo Bay. Yokosuka is also the home port of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington, the Navy's only permanently forward-deployed flattop.

The U.S. Navy reported a fire aboard amphibious docking ship USS New Orleans on Thursday. It was anchored near White Beach Naval Facility, in Okinawa, Japan.

A fire broke out Wednesday on the USS New Orleans warship off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, leaving two sailors with minor injuries.The fire on the amphibious transport dock ship has been extinguished and its cause is under investigation,