Memoirs of crew aboard sunken WWII warship Musashi released

When U.S. forces sank the Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Musashi off the Philippines in World War II, about 1,000 of its 2,399 crew members lost their lives.

Now, the accounts of 183 of those who survived, as well as 32 bereaved family members, are being made available for public viewing for the first time.

Chuokoron-Shinsha Inc. published a single-volume book titled “A Senkan Musashi” (Oh battleship Musashi) on Jan. 30.

Japan’s second Yamato-class battleship fell under siege and went down during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea on Oct. 24, 1944, about two years after it was commissioned.

Nonfiction writer Masami Tezuka, who played a central role in the editorial work, said the crew members’ stories would be lost to history unless they were reprinted now.

“These first-person accounts of scenes written by soldiers who saw them represent first-rate materials for reflecting on that war,” said Tezuka, 76. “They would soon go out of existence unless they were reprinted now.”

The memoirs were originally compiled into two collections by an association of former Musashi crew members decades ago. But only about 500 copies of each were printed for circulation within the group, and the collections were not available even in libraries.

“(U.S. military aircraft) nosedived toward the Musashi and dropped torpedoes and bombs before they flew off to the other side of the horizon,” a seaman first class in gunnery wrote in his account. “As I watched my comrades fall dead one after another, I realized that death was soon coming to myself as well.”

A higher petty officer who served as signalman at the first bridge “jumped off the very end of the stern in my combat uniform” when the retreat order was finally given.

“Everyone was black all over from the thick fuel oil that had spilled out and covered the entire sea surface,” he wrote. “Only their eyes, mouths and teeth could be seen, shining white, which was so strange to look at.”

He continued: “A chorus of ‘Kimigayo’ (Japan’s national anthem) arose. War songs were also chanted. But the singing voices grew intermittent as time elapsed.”

For reprinting, Tezuka and others proofread the two collections issued by the association of Battleship Musashi comrades: “A Senkan Musashi” of 1977 and “Zoku!! A Senkan Musashi” (Part two!! Oh battleship Musashi) of 1982.

Tezuka, an adviser to the association, and his colleagues studied the texts, annotated unfamiliar Navy terms and appended notes on discrepancies with historical facts for about three years.

Many associations of World War II veterans have disbanded as their members have aged and passed on. But the association of former Musashi crew members has continued holding spirit-consoling services every year in October, the month the warship sank.

Last year, the association met at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo’s Kudan district for an annual memorial service, with two surviving crew members attending.

The 784-page book “A Senkan Musashi” is available for 12,100 yen ($93).