The Woodspring Wrecks (1944) - The Sequel

 A couple of years ago I spent a fascinating few hours with three farming friends in the village of Kingston Seymour on the North Somerset coast. We were exploring the history of two Second World War era wrecks which had been deliberately sunk in Woodspring Bay by the so-called 'Wheezers and Dodgers', a group of scientists and Admiralty personnel based at Birnbeck Pier - which had been taken over by the Admralty from 1941 to 1945 and designated as HMS Birnbeck by the Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Developent (DMWD). I wrote about the history of the two ships - S.S. Staghound and S.S. Fernwood, on my blog at the time and made a number of observations about why the Navy might have taken the trouble to re-float these ships and bring them up into the Bristol Channel. The original post can be accessed on this link. 

The Woodspring Bay Wrecks - Curme Collection

Earlier this week I visited the National Archives in Kew and was pleased to find that the answers could be found within the meticulously kept DMWD files which sit within the ADM/277 papers deposited by the Admiralty in the 1970s. Amongst the papers one can find a report on what the DMWD scientists referred to as Project No. 86 - 'Wreck Dispersal'.

Birnbeck Pier - HMS Birnbeck (1941-45) - Curme Collection

To understand what Project 86 was all about, a little bit of context is required. In January 1944, an approach was made to the DMWD by planners working on 'Overlord', a large scale attack aimed at liberating Nazi occupied France (D-Day and the 1944 Normandy Campaign). It had come to their notice that the enemy had prepared a number of blockships filled with concrete in order to obstruct progress when a landing in Europe is attempted. (The idea of using blockships to protect harbours and ports or force ships to take a circuitous route was not new, indeed there are examples going back as far as the Viking era - click here for my post about the blockships of Roskilde, Denmark). What the D-Day planners were getting at, was that in order to supply a large scale army after an amphibious landing, port facilities needed to be made available without delay. So, the blockships in the Cherbourg Harbour needed to be cleared!

Beehive hollow charges - National Archives

The preferred solution that the 'boffins' at HMS Birnbeck came up with, was to break up the concrete using modified hollow charges - effectively bombs designed in such as a way to project the force of an explosion into concrete. At a meeting on the April 7th 1944, a decision was made to use two concrete filled blockships at Weston-super-Mare in order to test whether beehive charges could work as required. Subsequently, the two ships were towed to a coastal area north of the DMWD outpost at St Thomas's Head (now part of the National Trust owned Sandpoint scenic area), partially filled with concrete and weighted to the seabed. Like many other DMWD experiments run out of HMS Birnbeck, the nearby coastline was ideal because of the exceptionally high tidal range. The beehive mines could be ignited whilst the ships were under water and at low tide when the water receded the damage could be easily assessed without the need for diving equipment.

S.S. Staghound at Woodspring Bay - National Archives

The first trials took place between May and June 1944. Both Staghound and Fernwood were fitted out as blockships by W.P.S. Cardiff. In order that the ships could be manoeuvred into position the concrete filling was not to exceed their usual carrying capacity. In the case of the former 630 tons of concrete were poured, forming a large block extending from the floor of the hold to the main deck. The mix was one part cement, two parts sand and four of aggregate and the concrte block was 34 ft long, 26ft wide and just under 12ft deep. In conducting the first trial the Staghound's deck plating was removed and 12 'beehives' each containing a 70lb hollow charge and modified for use underwater, were fitted vertically on top of the concrete. The beehives would be fired together from the shore using an electronic detonator. 

Beehives in place on S.S. Staghound - National Archives

The approach taken for the test involving S.S. Fernwood  was deliberately different. The quality of concrete used by the German Kriegsmarine was unknown so it was decided to use a better quality mix for the S.S. Fernwood trial. in this case it was felt that the beehives would blow out cavities in the concrete and 'main charges' would need to be inserted to break up the block.

So, what happened in the tests? Well, the general effect in the case of Staghound was that the surface of the concrete was irregularly shattered and the structure was deeply cracked in places. The height was reduced in the centre by about eighteen inches and the ships sides were forced out by the force of the explosions. 

The Fernwood explosion - National Archives

The Staghound aftermath - National Archives

Taking learnings from the Staghound trial, modifications were made in blowing up S.S. Fernwood  on the 12th October. Fernwood was not a complete ship in that after it had been sunk by the Luftwaffe in September 1942, the damage was so extensive that the ship was cut in two. It was the mid-section and fore part of the vessel which was towed to Woodspring Bay via Cardiff Docks. Having said this, the fact that the Fernwood was not a complete ship did not effect the efficacy of the trials.

Prior to the trial, in order to make the demolition more effective, vertical cuts were made in the Fernwood's structure and line-charges were attached by magnets across the roots of the ship's frame outside of the hull-plating. The hull was also cut vertically. Two holds were filled with high-grade concrete and the number of Beehives attached was greater than had been the case with Staghound. Thirty were fixed onto the top face of the main concrete block and twenty four on the smaller one.

The Fernwood Trial - National Archives

At high water with a minimum depth of 12ft of water above the tallest part of the ship, the initiating chargeswere fired. Examination at low water showed that the forward part of the concrete was entirely dispersed, almost to the keel of the vessel. The reinforced portion was found to be reduced in height by from two to six feet. The ship's sides were thrown outwards, but were not laid flat. They were, however, sufficiently weakened to become detached in the tideway.

The trials had been very successful and the 'beehive' method of wreck dispersal worked. In a final report published in 1946 (ADM 277/1), the DMWD reported that the Beehive wreck dispersal technique had proved successful when 'in service' during the Second World War and remained effective in clearing access to ports in the post conflict clean-up.

Note: Where indicated images are sourced from The National Archives (UK), ADM 277. Reproduced under the Open Government License.

For Part One of the Woodspring Wrecks (1944) story click here.

To view the wrecks in Woodspring Bay walk my Clevedon Military History Trail at low tide.

Divine Wind - the Chiran Kamikaze Army Base, Japan (1945)

 Last month my wife and I spent a week in Japan, and one of our ports-of-call was Kigoshima on the island of Kyushu. I took the opportunity to visit the site of the Chran airbase which was the primary land based launching point for Kamikaze attacks on the U.S. Navy during the Battle of Okinawa (1st April to 22nd June 1945). It is easy to describe what I found, but less easy to interpret or understand what I saw. I will elucidate later, but first a brief history of the Japanese Imperial Army's base at Chiran. 

Kamikaze mural at the Chiran Peace Museum

The Chiran Branch of Japan's Army Flight Training School opened in December 1941 around about the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor (a topic I covered in a previous post - here). It was a large scale operation covering over 500 acres, approximately 20% larger than the modern day civilian Kigoshima Airport. Nowadays the airfield has been lost to development aside from a parcel of land on the periphery of the old site which is now given over to the Chiran Peace Museum which was set up in 1987.

By late 1944, Japan had suffered huge losses in both aircraft and experienced pilots. The fall of Saipan and the advance of American forces exposed the strategically important island of Okinawa to the threat of attack and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) adopted the concept of tokko or 'special attack'. Pilots would crash their explosive laden aircraft into American warships and aircraft carriers. In the words of the custodian at Chiran the Battle of Okinawa was to become a fight between the material strength of the U.S. and the spiritual strength of Japan. 

Training aircraft and statue of pilot, Chiran Peace Museum

In March 1945, the Imperial Japanese Army followed the IJN's example in anticipation of an attack on Okinawa. Several dedicated Kamikaze (Divine Wind) bases were set up -  three on the island of Taiwan, and one at Chiran. Chiran being closest to Okinawa, was the take-off point for 439 Kamikaze pilots over the period 26th March to 19th July 1945. All in all, 1036 Imperial Army (as opposed to IJN) Kamikaze pilots were killed in action - all highly motivated volunteers with an average age of just 21 years. 

Many types of aircraft were used on Kamikaze missions out of Chiran but the main types were the Nakajima Ki-27 and the Nakajma Ki-84. The former accounted for 40% of the missions flown and carried a 550 pound (250kg) bomb under their right wing and a fuel tank of almost the same weight under the other wing. The flight time between Chiran and Okinawa was approximately two and half hours. Each plane carried enough fuel to cover the return journey of 800 miles. Why return? Well, if the pilots encountered bad weather or couldn't find an appropriate target then they were instructed to return to base and feel no shame in doing so. 

Reconstructed hut - Kamikaze pilot accommodation at Chiran

Many Kamikaze aircraft were shot down before they got to Okinawa - the corps made up of Ki-27s and training models were easy pickings for interceptor aircraft from the U.S. Navy. Of the approximately 50% that got through to their targets between 10 and 15% were successful in their mission.

The Peace Museum serves as a place of memorialisation for the pilots as well as a repository for documents and archives. Much of the exhibition space is given over to last letters home and family photographs - many pertaining to the 'Young Boy Pilots' and recently graduated civilian trainees. This group of very young men accounted for approximately 60% of the 1036 Army Kamikaze pilots who were killed and their personal messages and few belongings give the museum visitors a profound reason to pause and reflect.

Individual memorials to Kamikaze pilots

The so called 'Young Boy Pilots' had joined the Air Force Training Corps at the age of 14 and had trained for three or four years. According to the Chiran peace Museum guide book they were unskilled pilots who never experienced aerial combat, and they did not know that they were going to be Kamikaze pilots. However, once they knew their fate they did not hesitate to accept their duty. These pilots understood and appreciated the importance of their responsibilities and their morale was high. They believed that it would be worth dying for their country and for their parents. Clearly, the Bushido mindset was strong and the Samurai code was writ large in their lives!

The photograph shown here, by Asahi Shimbun, shows five 'Young Boy Pilots' of the 72nd Shinbu Unit. The two pilots standing at the back and the one holding the puppy in the front row were just 17 years old. the young man on the right was 18 and the one on the left, 19 years old. The picture was taken on the 26th May 1945. They all died as Kamikaze pilots at Okinawa just one day later. 

Standing in one of the accommodation huts pictured above, it was obviously impossible to comprehend the feelings of young men such as those referenced above, who faced certain death, as they spent their final night together in this enclosed space. Around the airbase, the nearby villages accommodated guest houses for parents who wished to visit their sons at the base. Some pilots kept their participation secret but for others it was very much a family affair.

Chiran mural showing a pilot ascending in the arms of maidens

Recovered Navy Zero at the Chiran Peace Museum

It was not possible to take photos or use a mobile phone inside the museum aside from the entrance hall and an annexe where a Zero recovered off the coast of Koshikishima island in 1985 is on display, so I was unable to run a translation app to  engage with most of the stories and labels that were presented. So what to make of the rows of photographs, the letters from parents and the artefacts on show? Similarly the rows and rows of individual shrines outside and the imposing statue of a Kamikaze pilot nearby? Were these young pilots being presented as victims or heroes?

The Yasakuni Shrine, Tokyo

The nearest I was going to get an answer, came during a visit to the controversial Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo a few days after leaving Kagoshima. My wife and wandered amongst the quasi-religious structures and blooming Cherry trees in the heart of the bustling city. It seemed to me that those who were visiting (aside from the occasional tourist such as ourselves) were on a spiritual journey. They approached the central shrine quietly and deferentially - young and old pausing at the central point before bending at the waist to pay their respects to the Japanese war dead. The nearby War Museum offered even more ambiguity, but I will cover that in a separate post.

I will leave the last words to 23 year old Kamikaze pilot Captain Toshio Anazawa who wrote to his wife to be, Chieko, just before his final (probably only!) mission.

The magnificent day of my attack sortie has arrived. Take courage, forget the past, and find a new way to be happy in the future. I, Anazawa, no longer exist in the world of reality. Here the cherry blossoms have already fallen, the young green leaves you love so much will soon come to usher in a new season of spring. From here on in, please go forward cheerfully and brightly. I too, do my best not to trip over my feelings, but will head out to battle, smiling.

My Flickr portfolio of photos from the Chiran peace Museum - here.

My Flickr portfolio of photos from the Yasukuni Shrine and Museum - here.