'' Mutsu ''

The Japanese battleship Mutsu was a Nagato Class battleship, the first class of dreadnoughts to mount 16-inch main guns. Mutsu was paid for by popular subscription, mostly by donations from schoolchildren. She survived the cuts imposed on the Japanese Navy by the Washington Treaty, and she and her sister Nagato remained the most powerful capital ships in the IJN until the completion of the gigantic Yamato Class battleships.

During WWII Mutsu took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, and the Solomons Campaign. Around noontime on June 8, 1943, while moored in Hiroshima Bay, Mutsu was suddenly rocked by a violent explosion, which blew the ship in two. The 535-foot forward section rolls over to starboard and sinks immediately, coming to rest upside down in 130 feet of water. The 147-foot aft section upends, and remains floating with the stern pointing up towards the sky. It finally sank 14 hours later at 33-58N, 132-24E, and no doubt many lives were saved by this delay in sinking. Boats from other ships came to the aid of the survivors, rescuing 353 crew members, while 1,121 men lost their lives. Japanese destroyers scoured the bay, but no evidence of Allies submarines or X-craft could be found. Nor do the Allies boast of a victory; loss to enemy action seems unlikely. Visibility at the time of the explosion was poor, but eyewitness accounts indicate a reddish-brown fireball, indicating a magazine explosion. Some claim to have seen smoke in the vicinity of the number three turret just before the explosion. Preliminary findings indicate that the ship was lost to an accident.

The wounded are sequestered in a local hospital, while the rest of the survivors are quickly shipped off to remote outposts across the empire. The Japanese have made a quick decision: the loss of the Mutsu will be covered up, the ship will be salvaged and returned to service as quickly as possible, and the enemy will never know.

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