Did a Japanese medieval castle withstand US battleship fire during the Pacific War?

score:30

This is probably a slightly garbled account of the destruction of Shuri Castle in Okinawa. During the Second World War's Battle of Okinawa, the battleship USS Mississippi shelled the historical Ryukyu palace for three days prior to its capture by US marines.

At 0718 on May 25, the Mississippi began a murderous onslaught with her 5 and 14-inch guns that would last for three solid days.

_{- Craddock, Stephen Culver. "'To the Honor and Credit of chte Country': A History of the Warships Mississippi."The Journal of Mississippi History 54 (1992): 128-147.}

In the end the castle was very much demolished, so it didn't exactly withstand battleship fire per se - at least, not for long.

But why did it take three days? Not to demolish the castle structure, but to bombard the entire extensive defensive position and the forces concentrated there. Shuri Castle is built on a hill dominating the center of town with high stone walls. The Imperial Japanese Army dug defensive earthworks on the castle grounds and built its headquarters under the ground, digging tunnels and expanding existing caves.

The Japanese forces defending Okinawa dug tunnels and expanded caves under Shuri Castle and its environs for their headquarters and command posts... The biggest tunnel served as headquarters for Mitsuru Ushijima, Commander of the Japanese 32d Army. This tunnel stretched some 390 meters north-south... The 62d Division expanded a natural cave under the Azana cliff as its headquarters. This installation ran under Shuri, Akata and the northeast corner of Shuri Castle... In summation, the ground beneath Shuri Castle was honeycombed with caves and tunnels.

Source: The Ordeals Of Shuri Castle

This is Shuri Castle today, rebuilt. The picture uses Google Maps 3D tilt view to give the scale of the complex and how the hill it stands on dominates the surrounding area.

The Shuri Castle after WW2.

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The Shuri Castle today, reconstructed during the 1990s from old photographs and records.

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Semaphore 97185

Upvote:7

I do not know of this incident. Check naval archives or with a librarian in naval archives. This does, however, seem highly likely. The castle itself would be a smoldering ruin (as it was almost entirely wood, designed in such a way to better absorb earthquakes). The stone/Earthwork, on the other hand, would be extremely resilient to artillery fire. Getting troops out of hastily dug positions using artillery fire alone is very difficult/in-effective. A modern position dug into pre-existing earthworks would be very difficult to shell and destroy.

Stuart Allan 522

Upvote:9

My father,BJ Lochridge, served as a Radioman on board the USS Mississippi during the Shuri Castle bombardment. He typed two originals of a dispatch from HDQTRS 77th INF.DIV. He gave one to the Capt. and kept one for his records. Here is the one he kept which clearly states that the castle did not withstand the bombardment.