was the third of five main administrative districts of the pre-war

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

. Its territory included the western and southern coastline of

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

, the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, as well as patrols in the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...

and the Pacific Sasebo also contained the

Sasebo Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. History The Sasebo Naval District was established at Sasebo, Nagasaki in 1886, as the third of the naval districts responsible for the defense of the ...

, specializing mostly in

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s and smaller warships; and its anchorage was one of the largest in Japan. The District encompassed anchorages at

Imari is a city located in Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. Imari is most notable because of Imari porcelain, which is the European collectors' name for Japanese porcelain wares made in the town of Arita, Saga Prefecture. The porcelain w ...

and

Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on Hirado Island. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyushu. The component ...

ports as well as the designated third echelon naval ports of Takeshiki ( Tsushima),

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

, Kuji ( Amami-Ōshima), and Wakamatsu (

Gotō Islands The are Japanese islands in the East China Sea, off the western coast of Kyūshū. They are part of Nagasaki Prefecture. Geography There are 140 islands, including five main ones: , , , , and . The group of islands runs approximately fr ...

)

History

The location of

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

facing China and

, and near the foreign

treaty port Treaty ports (; ja, 条約港) were the port cities in China and Japan that were opened to foreign trade mainly by the unequal treaties forced upon them by Western powers, as well as cities in Korea opened up similarly by the Japanese Empire. ...

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

was recognized of strategic importance by the leaders of the early

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 o ...

and early Imperial Japanese Navy. In 1883, the then

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

Tōgō Heihachirō Marshal-Admiral Marquis , served as a '' gensui'' or admiral of the fleet in the Imperial Japanese Navy and became one of Japan's greatest naval heroes. He claimed descent from Samurai Shijo Kingo, and he was an integral part of preserving ...

nominated what was a tiny fishing village as the ideal location for a naval base. With the formation of the navy in 1886, Japan was divided into five each with a headquarters . Sasebo was designated as the "Third Naval District" (第三海軍区, ''dai-san 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 Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...

constructed and docking, coaling and repair facilities for

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...

s were established, and the military base was officially opened in 1889. To stress the importance of the base,

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

made a personal inspection tour in 1890. The base was connected to the rest of Japan by rail in 1898, and the

, which would eventually expand to become one of the largest

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

s in Japan for the construction of smaller warships, began operation in 1903. As with the other Naval Districts, Sasebo was intended to operate as independently as possible, and facilities included armories, production factories for

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

es,

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...

s and

naval artillery Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for naval gunfire support, shore bombardment and anti-aircraft roles. The term generally refers to tube-launched projectile-firi ...

(and associated ammunition), and also a naval hospital and training centers. In concept, the Naval District was similar to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Sea Frontier Sea Frontiers were several, now disestablished, commands of the United States Navy as areas of defense against enemy vessels, especially submarines, along the U.S. coasts. They existed from 1 July 1941 until in some cases the 1970s. Sea Frontier ...

s concept. the Naval District maintained a small

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

force of ships and Naval Land Forces which reported directly to the Guard District commander, and hosted detachments of the numbered fleets on a temporary assignment basis. Sasebo was the closest ship repair facility for the Imperial Japanese Navy to the combat zones of the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

and saw considerable activity during that conflict. In 1920, the Japanese navy established an air wing and a wireless communications center in 1922. In 1934, the ''Tomozuru'' capsized off Sasebo with loss of most of its crew, and leaving behind serious questions about the basic design of many Japanese warships. In 1941, base facilities were expanded considerably for the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

. The base also hosted a major portion of the Japanese

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 ...

. The Imperial Japanese Navy had some 60,000 people working in the dock yard and associated naval stations at the peak of World War II, outfitting ships,

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s and aircraft. Most of the base was destroyed by American

air raids on Japan Air raids conducted by Allied forces on Japan during World War II caused extensive destruction to the country's cities and killed between 241,000 and 900,000 people. During the first years of the Pacific War these attacks were limited to the D ...

on June 28, 1945. After the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

, Sasebo was occupied by the U.S. Marine Corps' Fifth Division, and the Sasebo Naval District was formally abolished on November 30, 1945. Part of the former base facilities is still in use by the

as the

United States Fleet Activities Sasebo U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo is a United States Navy base, in Sasebo, Japan, on the island of Kyūshū. It provides facilities for the logistic support of forward-deployed units and visiting operating forces of the United States Pacific Fleet ...

and by the

Japan 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) ...

. One of the former base structures is now a museum.

Order of Battle at time of the attack on Pearl Harbor

* Third Naval District (Admiral Tanimoto) **AO ''Sata'' **Sasebo Naval Base ***Base HQ ***Communications ***Supply ***Accounting ***Construction ***Ports & Docks ***Navy Yard ***Navy Hospital ***Navy Prison ***Naval Fuel Depot ***Base Garrison ***Special Naval Landing Forces **Sasebo Submarine Base **Sasebo Air Group ***16x

Mitsubishi A5M The Mitsubishi A5M, formal Japanese Navy designation , experimental Navy designation Mitsubishi Navy Experimental 9-''Shi'' Carrier Fighter, company designation Mitsubishi ''Ka''-14, was a Japanese carrier-based fighter aircraft. It was the worl ...

Claude ***6 x

Aichi E13A The Aichi E13A ( Allied reporting name: "Jake") was a long-range reconnaissance seaplane used by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) from 1941 to 1945. Numerically the most important floatplane of the IJN, it could carry a crew of three and a bomblo ...

Jake ***15 x

Kawanishi H6K The Kawanishi H6K was an Imperial Japanese Navy flying boat produced by the Kawanishi Aircraft Company and used during World War II for maritime patrol duties. The Allied reporting name for the type was Mavis; the Navy designation was . Desig ...

Mavis **Sasebo Guard Force ***Sasebo Coastal Defense Squadron ****PM ''Kozan Maru'' *** Sasebo Local Defense Squadron ****PG ''Shinkyo Maru'' (2672 tons) **** PG ''Shinkyo Maru #5'' *** Minesweeper Division 42 **** AMc ''Seki Maru'' (297 tons) **** AMc ''Toshi Maru #7'' (297 tons) **Oshima Guard Force (based at Naze, Oshima Island) ***AMc ''Chuon Maru'' #8 ***AMc ''Hakata Maru #7'' (257 tons) ***AMc ''Himejima Maru'' ***Minesweeper Division 41 ****AMc ''Kyo Maru #1'' ****AMc ''Kyo Maru #3'' ****AMc ''Kyo Maru #5''

List of commanders

Commanding officers

Chief of Staff

*Captain Tameo Nakamizo (April 25, 1889 – May 15, 1890) *Rear-Admiral Koreyoshi Ogata (May 15, 1890 – February 18, 1891) *Rear-Admiral Masanaga Matsumura (February 18, 1891 – July 23, 1891) *Rear-Admiral Tadashi Nomura (July 23, 1891 – May 20, 1893) *Vice-Admiral Nagataka Uemura (May 20, 1893 – December 5, 1894) *Vice-Admiral Tomomichi Onomoto (December 5, 1894 – December 27, 1897) *Vice-Admiral Yoshitomo Inoue (December 27, 1897 – May 23, 1898) *Captain Masaki Hashimoto (May 23, 1898 – March 22, 1899) *Rear-Admiral Ichiro Nijima (March 22, 1899 – June 19, 1900) *Rear-Admiral Tasuku Serata (June 19, 1900 – July 4, 1900) *Admiral Motaro Yoshimatsu (July 4, 1900 – July 6, 1901) *Vice-Admiral

Hikohachi Yamada was a Japanese Vice Admiral of the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War. He was known for being the commander of the Seventh Division of the Third Fleet during the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Battle of Tsushima. Biography H ...

(July 6, 1901 – October 19, 1903) *Rear-Admiral Shinjiro Uehara (November 21, 1903 – June 6, 1904) *Vice-Admiral Baron Toshiatsu Sakamoto (June 6, 1904 – November 2, 1905) *Admiral Motaro Yoshimatsu (November 2, 1905 – February 2, 1906) *Rear-Admiral Ichiro Nijima (February 2, 1906 – April 7, 1906) *Vice-Admiral Koshi Saito (April 7, 1906 – October 21, 1907) *Rear-Admiral Genzaburo Ogi (October 21, 1907 – May 15, 1908) *Vice-Admiral Baron Shinrokuro Nishi (May 15, 1908 – May 26, 1908) *Vice-Admiral Tamotsu Tsuchiya (May 26, 1908 – December 10, 1908) *Admiral Baron Gentaro Yamashita (December 10, 1908 – March 4, 1909) *Rear-Admiral Genzaburo Ogi (March 4, 1909 – December 1, 1909) *Vice-Admiral Yasutaro Egashira (December 1, 1909 – March 11, 1911) *Admiral Kaneo Nomaguchi (March 11, 1911 – September 21, 1911) *Vice-Admiral Rinroku Eguchi (September 21, 1911 – April 20, 1912) *Vice-Admiral Otojiro Ito (April 20, 1912 – December 1, 1913) *Rear-Admiral Ichitaro Nakajima (December 1, 1913 – March 25, 1914) *Vice-Admiral Tomojiro Chisaka (March 25, 1914 – December 1, 1914) *Vice-Admiral Hiromi Tadakoro (December 1, 1914 – December 1, 1916) *Vice-Admiral Hanroku Saito (December 1, 1916 – December 1, 1917) *Vice-Admiral Nobutaro Shimomura (December 1, 1917 – November 10, 1918) *Admiral Saburo Hyakutake (November 10, 1918 – December 1, 1919) *Vice-Admiral Kenzo Kobayashi (December 1, 1919 – May 1, 1922) *Rear-Admiral Kametaro Muta (May 1, 1922 – December 1, 1923) *Vice-Admiral Shiro Furukawa (December 1, 1923 – December 1, 1925) *Vice-Admiral Yukichi Shima (December 1, 1925 – December 1, 1927) *Vice-Admiral Togo Kawano (December 1, 1927 – December 10, 1928) *Vice-Admiral Akira Fujiyoshi (December 10, 1928 – December 1, 1930) *Vice-Admiral Giichiro Kawamura (December 1, 1930 – December 1, 1931) *Vice-Admiral Yoshiyuki Niiyama (December 1, 1931 – November 15, 1933) *Vice-Admiral Eikichi Katagiri (November 15, 1933 – November 15, 1934) *Rear-Admiral Hiroyoshi Tabata (November 15, 1934 – March 1, 1935) *Vice-Admiral

Ibō Takahashi was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Biography Takahashi was a native of Fukushima prefecture, born in a family of Eastern Orthodox faithful. His name "Ibō" was Chinese transliteration of "John". His father was a ...

(March 1, 1935 – October 31, 1935) *Vice-Admiral

Mitsumi Shimizu was a vice admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. Biography Shimizu was a native of Nagano prefecture. He graduated 24th out of 191 cadets from the 36th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, in November 1908. His classmat ...

(October 31, 1935 – November 16, 1936) *Vice-Admiral Hidesaburo Koori (November 16, 1936 – September 1, 1938) *Vice-Admiral Masami Kobayashi (September 1, 1938 – November 15, 1939) *Vice-Admiral

Kakuji Kakuta , was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. He is noted for his role in commanding Japanese naval aviation units in the Pacific War. Biography Kakuta was a native of rural Minamikanbara, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. He gra ...

(November 15, 1939 – October 15, 1940) *Vice-Admiral Shigenori Horiuchi (October 15, 1940 – October 10, 1941) *Vice-Admiral Gisaburo Yamaguchi (October 10, 1941 – December 2, 1942) *Vice-Admiral Masaki Ogata (December 2, 1942 – November 15, 1943) *Vice-Admiral Shigeji Kaneko (November 15, 1943 – January 29, 1945) *Rear-Admiral Keishi Ishii (January 29, 1945 – November 30, 1945)

References

*
Order of Battle at start of Pacific War
{{Japanese Naval Districts Imperial Japanese Navy Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force bases