Kure Naval District

The location of Kure within the sheltered Inland Sea of Japan was recognized of strategic importance in controlling the sea lanes around western Japan by the Meiji government 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 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 ships. 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 Japanese navy established its main submarine base 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 in 1941, Kure Naval District encompassed the following [1]

• Kure Naval District HQ
  • Kure Naval Base
    • Kure Naval Guard Unit
      • Destroyer Yakaze
      • Submarine 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
  • Kure Submarine Base
  • Otake Naval Infantry Barracks
  • Tokuyama Naval Fuel Depot
  • Kure Security Squadron[2]
    • C.M. cruiser Saigon Maru, Bangkok Maru
    • C.M. gunboat Hong Kong Maru
  • Kure Local Defence Squadron[2]
    • Destroyer Division 13
      • Destroyer Wakatake, Kuretake, Sanae
    • Submarine chaser No. 19, No. 20, No. 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)[2]
    • 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, and was largely demilitarized. A small portion of the area continued to be occupied by the modern post-war Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, which has preserved a portion of the original red brick gates and couple of buildings as commemorative museums.

• Naval Academy Etajima
• Etajima
• Attack on Kure (March 1945)
• Attacks on Kure and the Inland Sea (July 1945)

• Prados, John (1995). Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-460-02474-4.