Etajima base (JMSDF Etajima Naval Base) in

Etajima , also called , ''Nomijima'', ''Nomi Island'', or is an island in Hiroshima Bay located in southwestern Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The mess with island name originates from the ancient (and possibly legendary) strait at now town . Geography T ...

city, Hiroshima prefecture is in the Etajima-cho government building and is the base of the

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force The , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...

. Beside housing the 1st Technical School and the Officer Candidates School, it is home to the local

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 K ...

LCAC LCAC may refer to: Hovercraft * A generic term for an Air-cushioned landing craft, air cushioned landing craft, taken from US Navy designation "Landing Craft, Air Cushion". ** Landing Craft Air Cushion, a US Navy hull classification symbol for the ...

training facilities, and Self-Defense Force oil storage. In addition, the

Special Forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

of the Maritime Self Defense Force is here.

History

JMSDF-Officer-Candidate-School-Former-Japanese-Naval-Academy

The predecessor of the Etajima base was the branch officer training system of the

Imperial Japanese Naval Academy The was a school established to train line officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was originally located in Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo, in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima, in 1888. Students ...

. The Naval Academy moved to Etajima from

Tsukiji Tsukiji (築地) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. Literally meaning "reclaimed land", it lies near the Sumida River on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay in the 18th century during the Edo period. The eponymous Tsukiji fish market opened in 193 ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

in 1888. The current academy was re-established in 1956. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, also known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

and

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

were called the “worldwide 3 large service academies”. Many of the facilities of the former Naval Academy are now used by the 1st Technical School and the Officer Candidate School.

Agency unit arrangement

* The Maritime Self Defense Force 1st Technical School * The Maritime Self Defense Force Officer Candidate School * The 31st Fleet Air Wing * The target plane service area * The Special guard (Maritime Self Defense Force) * The Etajima police duty casual detachment * The Kure structure learning/repairing depot * The Hitonose oil storage branch * The Kure ammunition storehouse and maintenance depot * The 1st Technical School

sick bay A sick bay is a compartment in a ship, or a section of another organisation, such as a school or college, used for medical purposes. The sick bay contains the ship's medicine chest, which may be divided into separate cabinets, such as a refrige ...

The Naval History Museum

The Naval History Museum is a building of reinforced concrete that was constructed in 1936. It holds artifacts of Heihachiro Togo,

Horatio Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte ( – 21 October 1805) was a Royal Navy officer whose leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French ...

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

and

Isoroku Yamamoto was a Marshal Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II. He commanded the fleet from 1939 until his death in 1943, overseeing the start of the Pacific War in 1941 and J ...

, as well as a book of naval officers which holds more than 10,000 names. Inside the site is a

midget submarine A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, from which they are launched an ...

that was used in the

Pearl Harbor attack The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. At the ti ...

; artifacts from the

Japanese battleship Yamato was the lead ship of her class of battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before World War II. She and her sister ship, , were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing nearly a ...

and the

Japanese battleship Mutsu was the second and last 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 ...

are on display.

External links

Maritime Self Defense Force 1st Technical School

{{coord, 34, 14, 41.5, N, 132, 28, 26.1, E, region:JP_type:landmark_scale:200000, display=title Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Naval academies Military academies of Japan Universities and colleges in Hiroshima Prefecture Etajima, Hiroshima

History

Agency unit arrangement

The Naval History Museum

See also

External links