This article contains 12 fires and explosions in the ammunition depot of the main battleship of the Old Japanese Navy from 1905 to 1945, involving nine ships, of which five sunk.
1. Battleship Mikasa (みかさ, Mikasa) , at midnight on September 11, 1905, in the Sasebo Port, the explosion sank, and the death toll was 339.
Togo Heihachiro’s flagship Mikasa
The Mikasa battleship was the seat of the Tsushima Sea battle in the Middle East Heihachiro. At that time, it was the flagship of the Japanese Navy's combined fleet with a displacement of 15,140 tons.
A celebration reception was held on the ship on the night of the incident, so the turret personnel also gave some drinks at their posts, which detonated the rear ammunition depot. At the time of the incident, Togo and other command personnel were not on board the ship in Tokyo, and the captain attempted to commit suicide by jumping from a building in the hospital.
At first, no evidence of man-made arson was found. It was not until seven years later that a retired paramedic met an officer in the countryside and mentioned the last words of the seriously wounded and dying soldier he cared for at the time. The officer later reported this.
That night the soldiers poured the industrial alcohol used for luminous signals at night into the washbasin, then ignited it to burn off the odor of industrial alcohol, and added water to drink. This method of stealing alcohol was once popular in the Japanese Navy and was called "Pika".
As a result, the burning alcohol accidentally spilled on the deck. When the group of people took off their shirts and started a fire, they knocked over the entire washbasin again, so the entire passage was all on fire......
2. Install Xunpan (いわて, Iwate) , November 2, 1906, attempted arson.
fell short, but it was a pity that the heroic spirit
Izumo-class armored cruiser is the second ship of the Izumo class, with a displacement of 9,750 tons.
A certain sailor used his brains on his companion’s money. Although he had surrendered to the owner after the incident, and the other party said that he would no longer pursue it, he had already reported the case before, so he decided to die.
This man is a 150mm gunner on the ship. He concealed a pack of explosives in advance and prepared to go to sea the next day for public trials. He started when the ammunition door opened. However, the captain who had learned of the incident secretly sent a sailor to follow up and monitor it, and with the cooperation of the ammunition depot personnel, he took it down just before the fire.
This person was later tried on charges of forging documents, fraudulently obtaining money, and attempted to burn a ship, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Third, the coastal defense ship Matsushima (まつしま, Matsushima) , in the early morning of April 30, 1908, in the early morning of April 30, 1908, there was an explosion in Magong Port, with 254 deaths.
Songdao Marine Promotion Note
The Songdao protective cruiser was one of the "Three View Ships" built before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 to deal with the Dingyuan-class iron-clad ships of the Beiyang Navy, with a displacement of 4217 tons. . A 320mm heavy gun with a limited shooting range and a slow rate of fire was installed on such a small hull, which in fact proved to be useless waste. After the Russo-Japanese War Matsushima was turned into a training ship, and it was reported that it sank almost instantly due to the sudden explosion of the ammunition depot.
The investigation found that someone was drinking in the turret. According to the memories of the survivors, the atmosphere on the ship was quite poor due to the announcement of the promotion list the next day. Many sailors who could not be promoted started drinking voluntarily and arguing all night. However, the specific reasons cannot be finalized.
Fourth, the battleship Mikasa (Mikasa, Mikasa) , in the evening of October 3, 1912, the fire in the ammunition warehouse
Dongxiang statue and the Mikasa memorial ship
is still the Mikasa, it has been picked up again. In fact, it has not sunk until now. Later, Mikasa was converted into a memorial ship, and it is still parked in Inaoka Town, Yokosuka City.
Because the smoke from the burning of gunpowder was discovered in time, it was too late to fill the ammunition depot with water to avoid the explosion accident. Found in the opened ammunition depot afterwardsThe body of the perpetrator, with an axe on hand. The door lock of the ammunition depot was split by an axe, and there were several gunpowder cans that had been split by the axe. In the end, it was verified that it was the guard of the ship’s ammunition depot. He had been punished for making a mistake before due to mental problems. This time he was suspected of being sick again? Anyway, the conclusion of the investigation is like this.
He died before he was out of the army, which made the hero burst into tears.
V. Zhuang Xun Rijin (にっしん, Nisshin) , on the evening of November 18, 1912, a small explosion occurred in Qingshui Harbor.
fell short again.
The Nissin armored cruiser is the second Kasuga-class ship with a displacement of 7,700 tons.
Because the scale of the explosion was relatively small and the fire did not spread in time, the ship’s crew filled the ammunition depot with water to avoid the explosion.
After the investigation, the ammunition depot guard confirmed that no one had entered the ammunition depot within three and a half hours before the incident, and the two keys kept by the artillery chief and the mine chief were also in the same place. The final conclusion was gunpowder Spontaneous combustion caused an explosion.
Unexpectedly, a sailor was arrested for robbery and murder shortly after being discharged from the army. During the interrogation, he confessed that he did it. This person took advantage of the other soldiers to go in to observe the turret's work flow, and closed the door, then sneaked into the ammunition storehouse afterwards, using a longer match string as a timing device. Then this person came out casually, went ashore to find a tavern while drinking and waiting to watch the show.
The strong man was later sentenced to death.
Sixth, the battle cruise Tsukuba (つくば, Tsukuba) , in the afternoon of January 14, 1917, the Yokosuka Port exploded, killing 305 people.
is another big ship
The Tsukuba armored cruiser is the first ship of the Tsukuba class, with a displacement of 13,750 tons and equipped with 4 305mm guns. This class of ships was included as a battlecruiser in the Washington Naval Treaty negotiations and was abolished.
According to regulations, the key to the ammunition store must be kept by the officer in charge, and can only be handed over to the subordinate non-commissioned officer when in use, and must be returned immediately after leaving the ammunition store. However, during the investigation, it was found that the three sets of keys of the ship’s ammunition depot were usually placed in a box in the captain’s room, and the keys of the box were kept by the artillery chief and the mine chief. Both of them were held at 7:30 every morning. The keys were handed over to the commander of the artillery palm and the commander of mines, and he would take it back at 7:30 in the evening.
Because the relevant personnel died in the explosion, the specific cause of the accident could not be confirmed in the end, and the possible suspect could only be designated as a missing sailor with a history of theft.
Seven, the battleship Hanoi (かわち, Kawachi) , on the afternoon of July 12, 1918, Deshan Bay, an explosion, the death toll was 621.
Even the scapegoat was not found this time.
The Hanoi battleship was Japan’s first dreadnought, but due to the flooding of Togo Heihachiro’s brains, he was directly downgraded to a quasi-dreadnought. A typical example of outdated construction. It has a displacement of 20,800 tons and is equipped with six 305 mm guns of different specifications.
When the accident occurred, the ship was anchored. First, the No. 1 turret on the side caught fire. Three minutes later, there was a big explosion on the starboard side and the mast collapsed. After 4 minutes, the ship completely capsized and sank to a depth of 12 meters.
The post-incident investigation initially suspected that someone deliberately set fire, but the suspect was never found; later, it was suspected that the linear gunpowder ignited spontaneously, which also had no evidence and conflicted with the inspection records. In the end, we can only recommend strict gunpowder production and ammunition depot management systems.
8. Battleship Hyuga (ひうが, Hyūga) , October 24, 1919, near Boso Peninsula, the turret exploded, 11 people were killed and 25 people were injured.
Hyuga has 6 main turrets.
Hyuga is the No. 2 ship of the Ise class with a displacement of 29980 tons. It is a new ship that entered service on April 30, 1918. The ship’s No. 3 main turret suddenly exploded during the exerciseI have not found the details and reason of the accident.
When docking repairs after the explosion, the Japanese Navy took the opportunity to increase the elevation angle of the ship’s main turret to 30 degrees.
Nine, Battle Cruiser Hazel Name (はるな, Haruna) , September 12, 1920, near Hokkaido, a turret exploded, 7 people were killed and 8 people were injured.
Early battle cruiser Hazel name
Hazel name is the second ship of the King Kong class, a new ship that entered service in April 1915. The ship was undergoing a firing exercise. The right gun of the No. 1 turret exploded, causing 15 casualties and damage to some of the hull structure. The investigation result of
believed that the charged propellant package was accidentally ignited and caused the grenade in the barrel to explode. After the accident, the ship returned to Yokosuka for repair.
was later converted into a high-speed battleship and was very active in the Pacific War.
X. Battleship Hyuga (ひうが, Hyūga) , September 17, 1924, fire in the ammunition depot.
is still Hyuga, the ammunition depot of the No. 4 main turret caught fire. I have not found the details and damage.
11. Battleship Hyuga (ひうが, Hyūga) , at 4 pm on May 5, 1942, the turret exploded in Iyotan, 55 people were killed and 8 people were seriously injured.
Hyuga is simply a professional blew up.
At that time, the ship was conducting shooting exercises with Ise, Fuso, and Shancheng. During the seventh salvo, the No. 5 main turret exploded. There was no obvious abnormality in the appearance of the turret when the explosion occurred. The captain and artillery section members observed on the bridge only found that the shell fell into the sea 50 meters away, and the smoke was abnormal. After the main gun fired the fire report of No. 5 turret and immediately filled the ammunition depot with water to avoid further accidents. The investigation result of
was that after the main gun was loaded, the electric fire tube automatically ignited when the breech block was not closed, and the tail flame fired by the 356 mm recoilless gun poured into the turret and caused an accident. It is said that self-ignition is a chronic disease of the fifth turret.
After this incident, the No. 5 turret was demolished. After the Midway Sea Battle, the No. 6 turret was further dismantled and the flight deck was installed and transformed into an aviation battleship.
12. Battleship Mutsu (むつ, Mutsu) , at 12 noon on June 8, 1943, the anchorage of Zhudao collapsed, killing 1121 people.
Mutsu’s self-detonation was ultimately due to ambiguous
Nagato class 2 ship, with a displacement of 39,120 tons, equipped with 8 410mm main guns, and was the Japanese Navy before the Yamato class. The most powerful battleship.
At 12:13 that day, an explosion occurred near the Mutsu No. 3 main turret anchored at the Hiroshima Wanzhu Island anchorage. The 360-ton No. 3 turret almost flew to the height of the bridge, and the people on nearby ships changed from the color of the flames. It was immediately determined that the ammunition depot had exploded. The ship was blasted into two pieces on the spot. The first half of the 150-meter-long section sank within 30 seconds, and the second half was erected in the sea. It sank on June 9.
At first, the Japanese Navy thought it was attacked by an American submarine, but after careful searching, it found that no submarine had sneaked in. There are many hypotheses about the cause of Mutsu’s accident, including spy sabotage, triple bomb explosion, spontaneous combustion of propellant, and destruction by depth charges dropped by the destroyer Shio. In the end, the Japanese Navy reported that an unknown sailor on the No. 3 turret was punished for theft and detonated the turret under dissatisfaction (is it similar to the previous plot?).
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After reading the above text, you may find that many accidents with extremely heavy losses are caused by personal trivial matters. People often say that the century-old navy. Hundreds of thousands of people work on a boat and are exposed to hazardous materials every day. Both the management of people and matters require a high level, and various regulations and traditions also take time to accumulate. At that time, the Japanese Navy obviously had a big problem in management. On the one hand, the daily implementation of the system was lax. On the other hand, the Japanese Navy’s club education and predecessor oppression also caused some people to lose balance under pressure.
These accidents of the Japanese Navy can still serve as a warning to us.
