Thebombing ofHiratsuka (平塚大空襲,Hiratsuka dai-kūshū) was part of thestrategic bombingair raids on Japan campaign waged by the United States against military and civilian targets and population centers during theJapan home islands campaign in the closing stages of thePacific War.[1]
Although the city ofHiratsuka was not a major population center, it had two major targets of military significance: theHiratsuka Navy Ammunitions Arsenal (平塚海軍火薬廠) andJapan International Aircraft Industries (日本国際航空工業), aNissan group military aircraft production factory, both located to the north of the city center. TheTōkaidō Main Line railway connectingTokyo withOsaka also ran through the city, which was designated as one of the primary landing beaches in the projectedinvasion of the Japanese home islands byAllied ground forces.[2]
Despite its obvious military significance, Hiratsuka was not bombed until the very late stages of the war. The first major air raid occurred on the night of July 16, 1945.[3] During this attack, 138B-29 Superfortress bombers of theUSAAF20th Air Force,314th Bombardment Wing dropped a total of 1163 tonsincendiary bombs on the city, destroying most of the city center. However, only 5% of the capacity of the Imperial Japanese Navy Ammunition Arsenal was affected, and only 10% of the capacity of the Nissan aircraft factory, as the bombing was concentrated on Hiratsuka's civilian population center, rather than the military industries located on the outskirts of town.[4] The estimated civilian casualties were 228 people killed.
A year after the war, theUnited States Army Air Forces'sStrategic Bombing Survey (Pacific War) reported that 44.8 percent of the city had been totally destroyed.[5]
Following the July 16 air raid, theUnited States Navy launched another attack with 16SB2C Helldivers and 24F4U Corsairs launched from theUSSWasp,USSShangri La andUSSYorktown on July 30, 1945. This attack was directed specifically at the production facilities of Nissan aircraft. Eighteen 500 lb bombs were dropped on Buildings 2, 6 and 7 of the plant, killing 25 workers, mostly schoolchildren who had been conscripted as labor.
This raid was followed on August 13 by another attack involving 61 aircraft launched fromUSSHancock,USSBelleau Wood,USSBennington,USSLexington andUSSSan Jacinto. The primary target was again the Nissan aircraft production facilities, by this time virtually abandoned due to lack of materials and damage in the previous air raid.
Authority control databases: National |
|---|