Mutsu was the second and last Nagato-class dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy at the end of World War I. Other than participating in the Battle of Midway, Mutsu did not see any significant combat. She returned to Japan in early 1943 and was sunk in June with the loss of 1,121 crew and visitors. IJN investigation into the cause of her loss concluded that it was the work of a disgruntled crew member.
About Japanese battleship Mutsu in brief
Mutsu was the second and last Nagato-class dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy at the end of World War I. In 1923 she carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake. The ship was modernized in 1934–1936 with improvements to her armour and machinery, and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Other than participating in the Battle of Midway, Mutsu did not see any significant combat. She returned to Japan in early 1943 and was sunk in June with the loss of 1,121 crew and visitors. The IJN investigation into the cause of her loss concluded that it was the work of a disgruntled crew member. The navy dispersed the survivors in an attempt to conceal the sinking in the interest of morale in Japan. Much of the wreck was scrapped after the war, but some artefacts and relics are on display in Japan and a small portion of the ship remains where it was sunk. Mutsu was equipped with four Gihon geared steam turbines, each of which drove one propeller shaft. The guns were mounted in two pairs of twin-gun, 41-centimetre Nulul Nul turrets. The fire rate for the guns was around two rounds per minute. A special Type 3 Saidan shankan incendiary shank was developed in the 1930s for anti-aircraft use aboard the Nagato class battleships. The ships were replaced in the mid-1930s using those stored from the unfinished Tosa-class battleships in storage.
The battleships were later replaced by the Tosa Tosa battleships, which were built in the 1940s and 1950s. The Tosa class were the last battleships built by the Imperial Japan Navy before they were scrapped in the 1970s and 1980s. They were the first Japanese battleships to be named after a single province, the city of Tosa, in the island of Honshu, Japan, and the last Japanese battleship to be built in World War II. The name “Mutsu” means “the mountain” in Japanese, referring to the mountain in which the city is located. The battle ship was named after Mutsu Province, which was the largest city in Japan at the time of its founding in 16th century. She was the first of the Japanese Battleships to bear the name “Nagato” meaning “mountain” or “dreadnought” The ship had a maximum speed of 26.5 knots and a range of 5,500 nautical miles at a speed of 16 knots. In 1927, her bow was remodelled to reduce the amount of spray produced when steaming into a head sea. This increased her overall length by 1.59 metres to 217. 39 metres. In 1934, the ship’s stern was lengthened by 7. 55 metres and her forward superstructure was rebuilt into a pagodamast. Her displacement increased over 7,000 tonnes to 46,690 tonnes at deep load.
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