Hiratsuka Navy Ammunitions Arsenal

The Hiratsuka Naval Ammunitions Arsenal was initially established as a private joint venture enterprise by the foreign firms of Armstrong Whitworth, Nobel, and Vickers in September 1905.

The facilities consisted of seven plants: On the night of July 16, 1945, the facilities were attacked by 138 B-29 Superfortress bombers of the USAAF 20th Air Force, 314th Bombardment Wing which dropped a total of 1163 tons of incendiary bombs on the city, destroying most of the city center.

Only 5% of the capacity of the Imperial Japanese Navy Ammunition Arsenal was affected, as the bombing was concentrated on Hiratsuka's civilian population center, rather than the military industries located on the outskirts of town.

At present, on the site of the former Hiratsuka Naval Ammunitions Arsenal is a large factory operated by Yokohama Rubber Company.

The company has preserved a western-style building dating from 1912 as the "Yokohama Rubber Memorial Hall of Hiratsuka" (旧横浜ゴム平塚製造所記念館).