戰艦武藏：46厘米大炮噴火, 發射中的照片被發現

A few weeks ago the Mainichi News on-line reported the following:

戦艦武蔵:火を噴く４６センチ砲　射撃中の写真発見

毎日新聞　2015年05月06日　12時00分（最終更新　05月07日　00時17分）

　第二次世界大戦で日本海軍連合艦隊の旗艦を務めた巨大戦艦「武蔵」が主砲を発射した瞬間を捉えた写真を、同艦幹部の遺族が保管していることが分かった。姉妹艦「大和」を含め、世界最大の４６センチ砲を撃つ写真が見つかったのは初めて。専門家は「『大和』型の詳細を伝える貴重な資料」と話している。

　写真は横１０・５センチ、縦７・５センチの白黒で、発砲する様子を艦尾側から撮影。「武蔵」は最大幅が４０メートル弱あるが砲煙はその倍近くに及び、射程約４０キロの砲の威力を示す。撮影場所や時期は不明。

　保管していたのは、１９４２年８月５日の「武蔵」完成と同時に、主砲の射撃を指揮する砲術長に就任した永橋爲茂（ためしげ）大佐の遺族。映像制作会社「セレブロ」（東京都）の本多敬さん（７２）が、海軍の歴史を紹介するＤＶＤを制作する過程で発見した。

　永橋さんの遺族によると「父は『武蔵の写真』と言っていた。主砲発射の爆風の強さを調べる実験でウサギやアヒルを甲板に置くと、内臓が飛び出したとも聞いた」という。

　海軍史研究家で、広島県呉市にある呉市海事歴史科学館（大和ミュージアム）の戸高一成（とだかかずしげ）館長は「間違いなく『大和』型で、発見の経緯からみて『武蔵』だろう。落ち着いた撮影状況に見え、完成直後の射撃訓練ではないか。航空機が主力になった太平洋戦争で敵艦に主砲を撃つ機会がなかった『武蔵』の実像が分かる」と話す。写真はこの夏、同ミュージアムで公開する予定だ。

　「武蔵」は４４年１０月の「レイテ沖海戦」に参加。米軍の空襲を受けてフィリピン中部シブヤン海に沈み、乗員約２４００人のうち約１０００人が死んだ。今年３月、米国の資産家が無人潜水機器で撮った海底の「武蔵」の映像を公開し、話題になった。【鶴谷真】

(試譯文)

It was made clear that a picture, which caught the moment when the huge battleship “Musashi" was launching its main battery during the Second World War while serving as a flagship of the Japan Navy Combined Fleet, had been kept by the family of a deceased executive of the same ship. This was the first time to discover a photo of the 46 centimeter gun, the biggest in the world including its sister ship "Yamato", firing a shot. A specialist said that "valuable material on details of the “Yamato” class is being handed down".

  The picture was in black and white with 10.5 centimeters in width and 7.5 centimeters in length taken from the stern side in a state of firing. While the width of "Musashi" was slightly less than 40 meters, the smoke of artillery was almost its double, showing the power of a gun that had a range of about 40 kilometers. The place and time of the photo were not clear.

  The photo was kept by the family of the deceased captain Nagahashi Tameshige, the gunnery chief who commanded the main battery's shooting at the time when "Musashi" was completed on August 5, 1942. Mr. Takashi Honda (72) of the picture production company "Sereburo" (Tokyo-to) found this photo during the process of producing a DVD which introduced the history of navy.

  According to the family of the deceased Mr. Nagahashi, it was said that "my father said it was a "picture of Musashi". Rabbits and a ducks were put on the deck for an experiment to check the strength of the blast of main batteries when launched, and also heard that their internal organs jumped out".

  A navy history scholar Todaka Kazushige, also the director in the Kure Maritime history Science Museum (Yamato museum) in Kure city of Hiroshima said that "based on the background of the discovery certainly it is judged to be the ‘Yamato’ type, it would be the ‘Musashi’. It is seen in a quiet photography situation and probably it is just after the completion of a shooting practice. We now know the reality that "Musashi" had no chance to shoot its main battery at an enemy warship when airplane war becoming the key force in the Pacific War". In this summer an exhibition of this picture at the said museum was expected.

  "Musashi" participated in the "Battle of Leyte Gulf” in October, 1944. Among the about 2,400 crew some 1,000 people died when it sank in the Philippines Chubu Sibuyan Sea under an air-raid by the U.S. forces. In March this year, when an American wealthy man took photos of "Musashi" using un-manned diving equipment and exhibited the under water pictures, it became a topic of conversation.

It is amazing to note Japan’s high level of technology in weapon making during WWII.