When I took today’s photo I didn’t realize its significance or rarity. I took it merely because the war ships were nicely framed by the Tower Bridge from my vantage point at the time (on a ferry boat moving in the middle of the Thames).

However, with a bit of research I realized that the Japanese navy warship, JDS Kashima, is not normally in the Thames. It squeezed under the Tower Bridge and moored alongside HMS Belfast (which is a museum in the Thames) for just a few days last summer.