Japanese battleship Mutsu

Mutsu around 1922
History
Empire of Japan
NameMutsu
NamesakeMutsu Province
BuilderYokosuka Naval Arsenal
Laid down1 June 1918
Launched31 May 1920
Commissioned24 October 1921
Stricken1 September 1943
FateSunk by internal explosion, 8 June 1943
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeNagato-class battleship
Displacement32,720 t (32,200 long tons) (standard)
Length215.8 m (708 ft) (o/a)
Beam28.96 m (95 ft)
Draft9 m (29 ft 6 in)
Installed power
Propulsion4 shafts; 4 × steam turbines
Speed26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph)
Range5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement
  • 1,333 (1921)
  • 1,475 (1942)
Armament
Armour
General characteristics (1943)
Displacement39,050 tonnes (38,430 long tons) (standard)
Length224.94 m (738 ft)
Beam34.6 m (113 ft 6 in)
Draft9.46 m (31 ft)
Installed power
  • 10 × water-tube boilers
  • 82,578 shp (61,578 kW)
Speed25.28 knots (46.8 km/h; 29.1 mph)
Range8,650 nmi (16,020 km; 9,950 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement1,475
Armament
Armour
  • Deck: 69 mm (2.7 in) + 100 mm (3.9 in) + 38 mm (1.5 in)
  • Gun turrets: 508–190 mm (20.0–7.5 in)
  • Barbettes: 457 mm (18.0 in)
Aircraft carried3 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities1 × catapult

Mutsu (Japanese: 陸奥, named after the ancient Mutsu Province) was the second and last Nagato-class dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) 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 and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in 1942, where she did not see any significant combat, Mutsu spent most of the first year of the Pacific War in training. She returned to Japan in early 1943. That June, one of her aft magazines detonated while she was at anchor, sinking the ship 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 she was sunk.