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was the second of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the Inland Sea of Japan and the Pacific coasts of southern Honshū from Wakayama to Yamaguchi prefectures, eastern and northern Kyūshū and Shikoku. The area of the Kure Naval District encompassed
Hashirajima is an island in southern Hiroshima Bay of the Inland Sea, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Located southeast of Iwakuni, it is part of the Kutsuna Islands within the Bōyo Islands group. The island covers and as of 2013 had a population of 184 r ...
Anchoring Area located at the south end of Hiroshima Bay, 30-40 kilometers southwest of Kure. When not in need of repairs ships usually anchored in this area to free up pier space at Kure. Hashirajima was also a major staging area for fleet operations. Tokuyama port, was also part of Kure Naval District, and had the largest fuel depot in the Japanese Navy.


History

The location of
Kure is a port and major shipbuilding city situated on the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. With a strong industrial and naval heritage, Kure hosts the second-oldest naval dockyard in Japan and remains an important base for the Japan ...
within the sheltered Inland Sea of Japan was recognized of strategic importance in controlling the
sea lanes A sea lane, sea road or shipping lane is a regularly used navigable route for large water vessels (ships) on wide waterways such as oceans and large lakes, and is preferably safe, direct and economic. During the Age of Sail, they were determined b ...
around western Japan by the
Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji oli ...
and early Imperial Japanese Navy. With the formation of the navy in 1886, Japan was divided into five naval districts for recruiting and supply. During the administrative re-organization of the Japanese Navy in 1889, Kure was designated as the "Second Naval District" (第二海軍区, ''dai-ni kaigunku''), and its harbor was dredged, a
breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * Br ...
constructed and docking facilities for warships were established. The following year, work began on the Kure Naval Arsenal, which would eventually expand to become one of the largest shipyards in Japan for the construction of large
capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. Strategic im ...
s. The facilities of Kure Naval District included armories, production factories for torpedoes, naval mines and naval artillery (and associated ammunition), and also a naval hospital and training centers. The Imperial Japanese Naval Academy and Naval Staff College were relocated from Tokyo to nearby Etajima, and thus also came within the borders of the Kure Naval District, but did not come under the command of Kure Naval District itself. In 1920, the Imperial Japanese Navy established its main
submarine base A submarine base is a military base that shelters submarines and their personnel. Examples of present-day submarine bases include HMNB Clyde, Île Longue (the base for France's Force océanique stratégique), Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay ...
and submarine warfare training school in Kure. An air wing was established in 1932, and a telecommunications center in 1937. At the time of the
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ju ...
in 1941, Kure Naval District encompassed the following2nd (Kure) Naval District, Imperial Japanese Navy, 7.12.1941
/ref> *Kure Naval District HQ **Kure Naval Base ***Kure Naval Guard Unit **** Destroyer ''Yakaze'' ****Submarines ''I-52'', ''Ro-30'', ''Ro-31'', ''Ro-32'' **** Minelayer ''Katsuriki'' **** Kaibokan ''Yakumo'' *** Kure Naval Arsenal ***Kure Naval Hospital ***Kure Naval Prison ***Kure Naval Fuel Deport ***Kure
Special Naval Landing Forces The Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF; ja, 海軍特別陸戦隊, Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai) were naval infantry units of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and were a part of the IJN Land Forces. They saw extensive service in the Second Sino ...
**Kure Submarine Base **Otake Naval Infantry Barracks **Tokuyama Naval Fuel Depot **Kure Security Squadron''Senshi Sōsho'' Vol. 80, Combined Fleet #2, "Until June 1942", ''Asagumo Shimbun'' (Tokyo, Japan), 1975. appendix table "Battle order of the Combined Fleet on 10 December 1941". *** C.M. cruiser ''Saigon Maru'', ''Bangkok Maru'' ***C.M. gunboat ''Hong Kong Maru'' **Kure Local Defence Squadron ***Destroyer Division 13 **** Destroyer ''Wakatake'', ''Kuretake'', ''Sanae'' *** No.13-class submarine chasers ''CH-19'', ''CH-20'', ''CH-21'' *** C.M. cruiser ''Kinjōsan Maru'' ***Minesweeper Division 31 ****C.M. minesweeper ''Takunan Maru No. 3'', ''Takunan Maru No. 8'', ''Tama Maru'', '' Tama Maru No. 6'', '' Tama Maru No. 7'', ''Ōi Maru'' ***Minesweeper Division 33 ****C.M. minesweeper ''Bizan Maru'', ''Meshima Maru'', ''Tokuhō Maru No. 5'', ''Dai-2-Gō Asahi Maru'', ''Kiri Maru No. 5'', ''Miyo Maru'' ***Saeki Defence Unit ***Shimonoseki Defence Unit **12th Combined Air Group (training) ***Ōita Naval Air Group ***Usa Naval Air Group ***Hakata Naval Air Group ***Ōmura Naval Air Group **Kure Naval Air Group **Saeki Naval Air Group **Submarine Division Six (training) *** Submarine ''Ro-57'' *** Submarine ''Ro-58'' *** Submarine ''Ro-59'' Kure was heavily bombed by United States Navy and United States Army Air Forces bombers in the final stages of the Pacific War, and many of its facilities were destroyed. The Kure area came under occupation by Australian and British forces during the
occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States w ...
, and was largely
demilitarized A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...
. A small portion of the area continued to be occupied by the modern post-war
Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...
, which has preserved a portion of the original red brick gates and couple of buildings as commemorative museums.


List of commanders


Commanding officers


Chief of Staff

* Rear-Admiral Shizuo Sato (1 April 1889 – 13 May 1890) * Fleet Admiral Marquis Heihachiro Togo (13 May 1890 – 14 December 1891) * Rear-Admiral Tokiyasu Yoshijima (14 December 1891 – 20 May 1893) * Rear-Admiral Fukusaburo Hirao (20 May 1893 – 11 May 1895) * Rear-Admiral Katsumi Miyoshi (11 May 1895 – 27 December 1897) * Vice-Admiral Baron Masamichi Togo (27 December 1897 – 23 March 1899) * Captain Isamu Yajima (23 March 1899 – 6 December 1900) * Rear-Admiral Hisamaro Oinoue (6 December 1900 – 3 February 1904) * Vice-Admiral Baron Tokutaro Nakamizo (3 February 1904 – 10 May 1905) * Rear-Admiral Ichiro Nijima (10 May 1905 – 2 February 1906) * Admiral Motaro Yoshimatsu (2 February 1906 – 22 November 1906) * Rear-Admiral Shinjiro Uehara (22 November 1906 – 27 December 1907) * Rear-Admiral Heitaro Takeuchi (27 December 1907 – 22 May 1910) * Admiral Matahichiro Nawa (22 May 1910 – 20 April 1912) * Admiral Kaneo Nomaguchi (20 April 1912 – 10 January 1913) * Rear-Admiral Kishichiro Osawa (10 January 1913 – 1 December 1913) * Vice-Admiral Naoe Nakano (1 December 1913 – 17 April 1914) * Admiral Kenji Ide (17 April 1914 – 13 December 1915) * Vice-Admiral Shibakichi Yamanaka (13 December 1915 – 13 July 1917) * Vice-Admiral Junichi Matsumura (18 July 1917 – 1 December 1918) * Vice-Admiral Shichigoro Saito (1 December 1918 – 1 December 1920) * Vice-Admiral Yoshimoto Masaki (1 December 1920 – 1 December 1922) * Vice-Admiral Naomoto Komatsu (1 December 1922 – 6 November 1923) * Vice-Admiral Naotaro Nagasawa (6 November 1923 – 1 December 1924) * Rear-Admiral Bekinari Kabayama (1 December 1924 – 16 December 1924) * Vice-Admiral Tokujiro Tateno (16 December 1924 – 1 December 1926) * Vice-Admiral Kiyohiro Ijichi (1 December 1926 – 10 December 1928) * Admiral
Koshirō Oikawa was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and Naval Minister during World War II. Biography Oikawa was born into a wealthy family in rural Koshi County, Niigata Prefecture, but was raised in Morioka city, Iwate prefecture in northern Ja ...
(10 December 1928 – 10 June 1930) * Vice-Admiral Giichi Suzuki (10 June 1930 – 1 December 1931) * Vice-Admiral Choji Inoue (1 December 1931 – 15 November 1932) * Vice-Admiral Tokutaro Sumiyama (15 November 1932 – 15 November 1934) * Vice-Admiral Umataro Tanimoto (15 November 1934 – 15 November 1935) * Vice-Admiral Masaichi Niimi (15 November 1935 – 1 April 1936) * Vice-Admiral Ichiro Sato (1 April 1936 – 1 December 1936) * Vice-Admiral Takamoto Togari (1 December 1936 – 15 December 1938) * Vice-Admiral Toshihisa Nakamura (15 December 1938 – 10 October 1939) * Vice-Admiral
Matome Ugaki was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, remembered for his extensive and revealing war diary, role at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and kamikaze suicide hours after the announced surrender of Japan at the end of the war ...
(10 October 1939 – 20 August 1941) * Vice-Admiral Torahiko Nakajima (20 August 1941 – 6 January 1943) * Vice-Admiral Kengo Kobayashi (6 January 1943 – 11 June 1943) * Vice-Admiral Shinzo Onishi (11 June 1943 – 9 September 1944) * Vice-Admiral Shozo Hashimoto (10 September 1944 – 15 October 1945) * Rear-Admiral Tametsugu Okada (15 October 1945 – 30 November 1945)


See also

*
Naval Academy Etajima Etajima base (JMSDF Etajima Naval Base) in Etajima city, Hiroshima prefecture is in the Etajima-cho government building and is the base of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. Beside housing the 1st Technical School and the Officer Candidates Sch ...
* Etajima *
Attack on Kure (March 1945) The attack on Kure was an air raid conducted during the Pacific War by the United States Navy on 19 March 1945. It targeted the remnants of the Japanese Combined Fleet located in and near the Japanese city of Kure. The attack by 321 aircraft was u ...
*
Attacks on Kure and the Inland Sea (July 1945) The attacks on Kure and the Inland Sea by United States and British naval aircraft in late July 1945 sank most of the surviving large warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The United States Third Fleet's attacks on Kure Naval Arsenal and ...


Notes


References

* {{Authority control Imperial Japanese Navy