Kure Naval District

Kure Naval District 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 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 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", 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 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 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

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
*Kure Submarine Base
*Otake Naval Infantry Barracks
*Tokuyama Naval Fuel Depot
*Kure Security Squadron
**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
**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
**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.

List of commanders

Chief of Staff

Rear-Admiral Shizuo Sato
Fleet Admiral Marquis Heihachiro Togo
Rear-Admiral Tokiyasu Yoshijima
Rear-Admiral Fukusaburo Hirao
Rear-Admiral Katsumi Miyoshi
Vice-Admiral Baron Masamichi Togo
Captain Isamu Yajima
Rear-Admiral Hisamaro Oinoue
Vice-Admiral Baron Tokutaro Nakamizo
Rear-Admiral Ichiro Nijima
Admiral Motaro Yoshimatsu
Rear-Admiral Shinjiro Uehara
Rear-Admiral Heitaro Takeuchi
Admiral Matahichiro Nawa
Admiral Kaneo Nomaguchi　
Rear-Admiral Kishichiro Osawa
Vice-Admiral Naoe Nakano
Admiral Kenji Ide
Vice-Admiral Shibakichi Yamanaka
Vice-Admiral Junichi Matsumura
Vice-Admiral Shichigoro Saito
Vice-Admiral Yoshimoto Masaki
Vice-Admiral Naomoto Komatsu
Vice-Admiral Naotaro Nagasawa
Rear-Admiral Bekinari Kabayama
Vice-Admiral Tokujiro Tateno
Vice-Admiral Kiyohiro Ijichi
Admiral Koshirō Oikawa
Vice-Admiral Giichi Suzuki
Vice-Admiral Choji Inoue
Vice-Admiral Tokutaro Sumiyama
Vice-Admiral Umataro Tanimoto
Vice-Admiral Masaichi Niimi
Vice-Admiral Ichiro Sato
Vice-Admiral Takamoto Togari
Vice-Admiral Toshihisa Nakamura
Vice-Admiral Matome Ugaki
Vice-Admiral Torahiko Nakajima
Vice-Admiral Kengo Kobayashi
Vice-Admiral Shinzo Onishi
Vice-Admiral Shozo Hashimoto
Rear-Admiral Tametsugu Okada