The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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Hitachi (140.65E 36.6N) is a city and major industrial center on the east coast of Honshu north of the Tokyo area. Industrialization was driven by copper mining at the nearby Akasawa Mine (23,000 tons per year), established in 1905, and by the rise of the Hitachi electronics firm.
The city was bombed by B-29s in June 1945. Six of the plants were bombarded on the night of 17-18 July 1945 by a force of five fast battleships, two light cruisers, and eight destroyers under Oscar C. Badger. A total of 1238 16" (406mm) shells were fired. Badger's force was joined by a British force composed of King George V
and two destroyers which bombarded targets north of the city. On 19
July the city was again raided by B-29s. The combined effect of the
surface and aerial bombardments was to cut the rail lines and reduce
production practically to zero.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2011 by Kent G. Budge. Index
