[34] Captain Mitsumasa Yonai, later Prime Minister of Japan, assumed command on 10 November. 3 turret exploded, destroying the adjacent structure of the ship and cutting her in half. On Tuesday 8 June 1943 the Mutsu was moored at the Battleship Division 2 flagship buoy No.2 in the Hashirajima fleet anchorage approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) south-west of the island of Hashirajima and just to the west of Mitsuhima island in the Inland Sea, hosting 113 flying cadets and 40 instructors from the Tsuchiura Naval Air Group on a familiarization tour. [16], The 1.2-metre (3 ft 11 in) diameter chrysanthemum mon, symbol of the Imperial Throne, was raised in 1953 but lost or scrapped shortly thereafter. The ship exceeded her designed speed of 26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph) during her sea trials, reaching 26.7 knots (49.4 km/h; 30.7 mph) at 85,500 shp (63,800 kW). 1 turret. On 8 December 1941,[Note 3] she sortied for the Bonin Islands, along with Nagato, the battleships Hyūga, Yamashiro, Fusō, Ise of Battleship Division 2, and the light carrier Hōshō as distant support for the fleet attacking Pearl Harbor, and returned six days later. Mutsu was the second and last Nagato-class dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) at the end of World War I. Her number three turret had begun to smoke, and shortly thereafter a magazine detonated, cutting the ship in half. These two were the only Japanese battleships to be armed with 16 inch guns. While all of these accidents resulted in loss of life and a reduction of maritime power, they also had a deep impact on the national psyche. Hyuga was an Ise-class battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The French navy commissioned France in July 1914 so that she could deliver the President of France on a state visit to St. Petersburg, Russia. Both he and his second in command, Captain Koro Oono, were posthumously promoted to rear admiral, as was normal practice. The building time was approx 6 weeks. In 1923, a year after commissioning, she carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake. They did not merely represent national power; they were the physical manifestations of that power. Battleship Thoughts, Articles and Wrecks ... by World War Two, both Nagato, and her sister-ship Mutsu, had been “fully modernised”. She carried twelve 12-inch guns in six twin turrets on a twenty-five-thousand-ton hull and could make twenty-one knots. [16], On 4 September 1923, Mutsu loaded supplies at Uchinoura Bay, Kyushu, for the victims of the Great Kantō earthquake. To avert the potential damage to morale from the loss of a battleship coming so soon after the string of recent setbacks in the war effort, Mutsu ' s destruction was declared a state secret. The sole surviving battleship, Mutsu’s sister ship Nagato, was used as an atomic bomb target at Bikini Atoll in 1947. This increased her overall length by 1.59 metres (5 ft 3 in) to 217.39 metres (713 ft 3 in). There is still some mystery as to what caused the explosion. The main deck armour was 69 mm (2.7 in) while the lower deck was 75 mm (3 in) thick. The exact cause of the explosion was never determined, but was probably due to the accidental detonation of a cordite charge. Her number three turret had begun to smoke, and shortly thereafter a magazine detonated, cutting the ship in half. That June, one of her aft magazines detonated while she was at anchor, sinking the ship with the loss of 1,121 crew and visitors. At some point, she either picked up a magnetic mine, or an undiscovered mine in the harbor exploded against her hull. France had delayed building dreadnoughts because of a lack of yard space and because of doubts about the concept but changed its collective mind when other countries began leaping ahead. In 1995, the Mutsu Memorial Museum declared that no further salvage operations were planned. The Soviet battleship Novorossiysk began life as the Italian battleship Giulio Cesare (sister ship of Leonardo da Vinci). Mutsu history: (from Wikipedia) Mutsu (陸奥) named after Mutsu Province, was the Imperial Japanese Navy's second Nagato class battleship, laid down at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on June 1, 1918, launched on May 31, 1920, and completed on Nov 22, 1921. While the, Many artifacts are displayed at the Mutsu Memorial Museum in, The fully restored No. HIJMS Mustu, second ship of the Nagato class, was one of the world’s finest battleships when she entered service in the early 1920s. Mass cremations of recovered bodies began almost immediately after the sinking. Numbered one to four from front to rear, the hydraulically powered turrets gave the guns an elevation range of −2 to +35 degrees. [5], Mutsu was equipped with four Gihon geared steam turbines, each of which drove one propeller shaft. Other than participating in the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in 1942, where she did not see any significant combat, Mutsu spent most of the first year of the Pacific War in training. [13] The ship was also fitted with eight 533-millimetre (21 in) torpedo tubes, four on each broadside, two above water and two submerged. [16], During the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 27 August, Mutsu, assigned to the support force,[39] fired four shells at enemy reconnaissance aircraft, the first and only time her guns were fired in anger during the war. [8] Additional fuel oil was stored in the bottoms of the newly added torpedo bulges, which increased her capacity to 5,560 t (5,470 long tons) and thus her range to 8,560 nmi (15,850 km; 9,850 mi) at 16 knots. Another 150 were sent to Saipan in the Mariana Islands, where most were killed in 1944 during the battle for the island. [48], Divers were brought into the area to retrieve bodies and to assess the damage to the ship. [43] Some of the survivors were sent to Truk in the Caroline Islands and assigned to the 41st Guard Force. Nagato (長門), named for Nagato Province, was a super-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). As it turned out, the ship took on water unevenly and capsized. The forward section capsized almost immediately, but the rear section remained afloat until the early morning of the next day. [14], Around 1926, the four above-water torpedo tubes were removed and the ship received three additional 76 mm AA guns that were situated around the base of the foremast. [17] When firing at surface targets, the guns had a range of 14,700 metres (16,100 yd); they had a maximum ceiling of 9,440 metres (30,970 ft) at their maximum elevation of +90 degrees. Description. As part of the investigation, Dive-boat No. [16] Her seaplanes bombed targets in Shanghai on 24 August before she returned to Sasebo the following day. [16], In June 1942 Mutsu, commanded by Rear Admiral Gunji Kogure, was assigned to the Main Body of the 1st Fleet during the Battle of Midway, together with Yamato, Nagato, Hōshō, the light cruiser Sendai, nine destroyers and four auxiliary ships. The highest portion of the ship is 12 metres (39 ft 4 in) below the surface.[52]. Mass cremations of recovered bodies began almost immediately after the sinking. She was transferred to the Soviet Union in 1948, and attached to the Black Sea Fleet. [38] She arrived at Hashirajima on 14 June. Second World War 1939-1945, ship wreck, battleship The Mutsu was the sister ship of the battleship Nagato. [10] The turrets aboard the Nagato-class ships were replaced in the mid-1930s using those stored from the unfinished Tosa-class battleships. On the 8th of June 1943 the Mutsu exploded while moored Hiroshima bay. The survivors of Mutsu were dispersed across the fleet and sworn to secrecy; some of the families of the dead were not informed of the cause of the loss until after the war. She quickly capsized, taking 248 officers and men with her. The ship was modernized in 1934–1936 with improvements to her armour and machinery, and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. The manually operated guns had a maximum range of 20,500 metres (22,400 yd) and fired at a rate of six to ten rounds per minute. Additional six-metre (19 ft 8 in) and three-metre (9 ft 10 in) anti-aircraft rangefinders were also fitted, although the date is unknown. [25] The armour over the machinery and magazines was increased by 38 mm on the upper deck and 25 mm on the upper armoured deck. Robert Farley, a frequent contributor to TNI, is a Visiting Professor at the United States Army War College. Mutsu had a length of 201.17 metres (660 ft) between perpendiculars and 215.8 metres (708 ft) overall. [1] The ship displaced 32,720 tonnes (32,200 long tons) at standard load and 39,116 tonnes (38,498 long tons) at full load. The 25 mm AA guns were controlled by a Type 95 director that was also introduced in 1937. The Washington Naval Conferenceconvened on 12 Novembe… [21], The two-pounders were replaced by 1941 by 20 licence-built Hotchkiss 25 mm (1 in) Type 96 light AA guns in five twin-gun mounts. She was refitted in early 1941 in preparation for war; as part of this work, she was fitted with external degaussing coils and additional armour for her barbettes. Despite the fact that the salvaged components were remarkably preserved, in particular the two gun turrets, bow (including chrysanthemum mount) and stern (with every propeller, and intact rudders and steering gear), the entirety of the ship was broken up to farm low-radiation steel and sold to an anonymous "research institute. [23] These 25-millimetre (0.98 in) guns had an effective range of 1,500–3,000 metres (1,600–3,300 yd), and an effective ceiling of 5,500 metres (18,000 ft) at an elevation of 85 degrees. [47] Historian Mike Williams put forward an alternative theory of fire: A number of observers noted smoke coming from the vicinity of No. A mild mutiny broke out, and France returned to France in mid-1919. In 1970, the Fukada Salvage Company began salvage operations that lasted until 1978 and scrapped about 75% of the ship. Mutsu met a very undignified fate, being destroyed by a massive explosion in 1943 after a fire, which was believed to have been caused deliberately by a disaffected crewman, who was among the 1200 or so of her complement who lost their… On August 26, 1922 France struck an uncharted rock reef in Quiberon Bay and quickly began to sink. Battleship Mutsu Mutsu was the second and last Nagato-class dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) at the end of World War I. Civilians look at a turret salvaged from the wreck of the battleship Mutsu, early 1970's. 1200 lives where lost on that day in 1943. The ships name comes from the … "[50] The salvagers retrieved 849 bodies of crewmen lost during the explosion. Sinking History On June 8, 1943 Mutsu suffered an internal magazine explosion and sank off Hashirajima in Hiroshima Bay. Edit: Did a little revisiting of the museum site and wanted to revise some of my statements. In August 1937, she transported 2,000 men of the 11th Infantry Division to Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Consequently, evacuation lagged. On the night of August 2, 1916, Leonardo da Vinci exploded and sank during ammunition loading operations. 4 turret is on display on the grounds of the former, One 410 mm gun from No. Mutsu, named after Mutsu Province, was a dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) at the end of World War I. In addition to the 140 mm gun donated to the Yasukuni Shrine, now on display at the Yasukuni Museum,[53] the following items recovered over the years can be viewed at various museums and memorials in Japan: According to Skwiot, two single mounts were added in 1932–1934 and another pair, mounted near the aft funnel, were added in 1934. Other than participating in the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Eastern Sol… [2] Her crew consisted of 1,333 officers and enlisted men as built and 1,368 in 1935. In 1943, Hyuga was converted into a hybrid battleship/ aircraft carrier. During World War I she conducted limited operations in the Mediterranean before being transferred to the Black Sea to intervene in the Russian Civil War. 3 turret and the aircraft area just forward of it, just before the explosion. [15] In 1933 a catapult was fitted between the mainmast and Turret No. [7] When Mutsu conducted her post-reconstruction trials, she reached a speed of 24.98 knots (46.3 km/h; 28.7 mph) with 82,300 shp (61,400 kW). Upon completion, she was assigned to Battleship Division 1 of the 1st Fleet, and again served as the Emperor's flagship during the annual maneuvers and fleet review in 1933. Mutsu, named for Mutsu Province, was laid down at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 1 June 1918 and launched on 31 May 1920. Given the heavy security at the anchorage and lack of claims of responsibility by the Allies, this could be discounted. The IJN investigation into the cause of her loss concluded that it was the work of a disgruntled crew member. Completed in 1920 as the lead ship of her class, she carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. [16][Note 2] These guns had a maximum elevation of +80 degrees, which gave them a ceiling of 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). On 8 June 1943, Mutsu was moored at Hashirajima when the magazine of her No. These changes increased her overall length to 224.94 m (738 ft), her beam to 34.6 m (113 ft 6 in) and her draught to 9.49 metres (31 ft 2 in). Nagato-class Battleship (Model kits manufactured by Aoshima) These are two of my favorites, particularly the ill-fated Mutsu (which blew up at anchor near Hiroshima on the afternoon of June 6, 1943, probably as the result of faulty 16 inch ammunition -- bummer). [7] In early 1941, in preparation for war,[16] Mutsu's barbette armour was reinforced with 100 mm (3.9 in) armour plates above the main deck and 215 mm (8.5 in) plates below it. [1200x825] Mutsu displaced 32,720 metric tons (32,200 long tons) at standard load and 39,116 metric tons (38,498 long tons) at full load. The Mutsu's Hull is largely still intact just off the coast. [40] Following her return to Truk on 2 September, a group of skilled AA gunnery officers and men were detached to serve as instructors to ground-based naval anti-aircraft gunners stationed in Rabaul. [42], After the explosion, as the rescue operations commenced, the fleet was alerted and the area was searched for Allied submarines, but no traces were found. [20] They had a maximum rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute. [26], Mutsu had an additional boom added to the mainmast in 1926 to handle the Yokosuka E1Y floatplane recently assigned to the ship. 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