Imperial Japanese Navy
At the end of the Second World War, numerous Special Attack Units (Japanese: 特別攻撃隊, tokubetsu kōgeki tai, also abbreviated to 特攻隊, tokkōtai) were developed for suicide missions, in a desperate move to compensate for the annihilation of the main fleet. These units included Kamikaze ("Divine Wind") bombers, Shinyo ("Sea Quake") suicide boats, Kairyu ("Sea Dragon") suicide midget submarines, Kaiten ("Turn of Heaven") suicide torpedoes, and Fukuryu ("Crouching Dragon") suicide scuba divers who would swim under boats and use explosives mounted on bamboo poles to destroy both the boat and themselves. Kamikaze planes were particularly effective during the defense of Okinawa, in which 1465 planes were expended to damage around 250 American warships.
A considerable number of Special Attack Units were built and stored in coastal hideouts for the desperate defense of the Home islands, with the potential to destroy or damage thousands of enemy warships.
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Imperial Japanese Navy Land Forces
Imperial Japanese Navy Land Forces of World War II originated with the Special Naval Landing Forces, and eventually consisted of the following:
- Special Naval Landing Force or Rikusentai or kaigun rikusentai or Tokubetsu Rikusentai: the Japanese Marines
- The Base Force or Tokubetsu Konkyochitai provided services, primarily security, to naval facilities
- Defence units or Bobitai or Boei-han: detachments of 200 to 400 men.
- Guard forces or Keibitai: detachments of 200–500 men who provide security to Imperial Japanese Navy facilities
- Pioneers or Setsueitai built naval facilities, including airstrips, on remote islands.
- Naval Civil Engineering and Construction Units, or Kaigun Kenchiku Shisetsu Butai
- The Naval Communications Units or Tsushintai of 600–1,000 men to provide basic naval communications and also handled encryption and decryption.
- The Tokeitai Navy military police units were part of the naval intelligence armed branch, with military police regular functions in naval installations and occupied territories; they also worked with the Imperial Japanese Army's Kempeitai military police, the Keishicho civil police and Tokko secret units in security and intelligence services.
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Self-Defense Forces
Following Japan's surrender to the Allies at the conclusion of World War II, and Japan's subsequent occupation, Japan's entire imperial military was dissolved in the new 1947 constitution which states, "The Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes." Japan's current navy falls under the umbrella of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) as the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
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References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
- Boxer, C.R. (1993) "The Christian Century in Japan 1549–1650", ISBN 1-85754-035-2
- D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 0-8159-5302-X.
- Delorme, Pierre, Les Grandes Batailles de l'Histoire, Port-Arthur 1904, Socomer Editions (French)
- Dull, Paul S. (1978) A Battle History of The Imperial Japanese Navy ISBN 0-85059-295-X
- Evans, David C & Peattie, Mark R. (1997) Kaigun: strategy, tactics, and technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887–1941 Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland ISBN 0-87021-192-7
- Gardiner, Robert (editor) (2001) Steam, Steel and Shellfire, The Steam Warship 1815–1905, ISBN 0-7858-1413-2
- Hara, Tameichi (1961). Japanese Destroyer Captain. New York & Toronto: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-27894-1.
- Howe, Christopher (1996) The origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy, Development and technology in Asia from 1540 to the Pacific War, The University of Chicago Press ISBN 0-226-35485-7
- Ireland, Bernard (1996) Jane's Battleships of the 20th Century ISBN 0-00-470997-7
- Lacroix, Eric; Linton Wells (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
- Lyon, D.J. (1976) World War II warships, Excalibur Books ISBN 0-85613-220-9
- Nagazumi, Yōko (永積洋子) Red Seal Ships (朱印船), ISBN 4-642-06659-4 (Japanese)
- Seki, Eiji. (2006). Mrs. Ferguson's Tea-Set, Japan and the Second World War: The Global Consequences Following Germany's Sinking of the SS Automedon in 1940. London: Global Oriental. 10-ISBN 1-905-24628-5; 13- ISBN 978-1-905-24628-1 (cloth) [reprinted by University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 2007 -- previously announced as Sinking of the SS Automedon and the Role of the Japanese Navy: A New Interpretation.]
- Tōgō Shrine and Tōgō Association (東郷神社・東郷会), Togo Heihachiro in images, illustrated Meiji Navy (図説東郷平八郎、目で見る明治の海軍), (Japanese)
- Japanese submarines 潜水艦大作戦, Jinbutsu publishing (新人物従来社) (Japanese)
- The Imperial Japanese Navy (The History Channel, 2004), a 120 minutes documentary, is occasionally repeated on The History Channel - see [4]
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See also
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- Naval history of Japan
- Imperial Japanese Navy Aviation Bureau
- Giretsu special forces operations
- Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces
- Imperial Japanese Navy Land Forces
- Imperial Japanese Navy Armor Units
- Tokeitai-Navy Military Police
- Imperial Japanese Navy fuel
- List of Japanese Navy ships and warvessels in World War II
- "Strike South" Group
- Nanshin-ron Doctrine (Japanese Navy s conquest policy)
- Fleet Faction — Navy political group
- Treaty Faction — Navy political group
- May 15 Incident — coup d'état with Navy support
- Imperial Way Faction
- Japanese nationalism
- The Japanese Navy Taiwan and South Pacific Mandate political project
- Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors
- Imperial Japanese Naval Academy
- Admiral of the Fleet (Japan)
- Marshal (Japan)
- List of Japanese Navy officers (World War II)
| INITIAL COMPOSITION OF THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY (July 1869-February 1871) |
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| ORIGIN: | WARSHIPS: | ORIGIN: | WARSHIPS: | |||||||||||
| Former Shogunal Navy |
Kōtetsu | 甲鉄 |  |
Chōshū | Daiichi Teibō | 第一丁卯 |  |
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| Chiyodagata | 千代田形 |  |
Daini Teibō | 第二丁卯 |  |
|||||||||
| Fujisan | 富士山 |  |
Unyō | 雲揚 |  |
|||||||||
| Transports: Hijun Hiryū Kaifū Chōgei |
飛隼 飛竜 快風 長鯨 |
 |
Hōshō | 鳳翔 |  |
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| Satsuma | Kasuga | 春日 |  |
Higo | Ryūjō | りゅうじょう |  |
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| Kenkō | 乾行 |  |
Others | Transports: 2 units |
||||||||||
| Saga | Nisshin | 日進 |  |
Later acquisitions (before 1871) |
Tsukuba | 筑波 |  |
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| Mōshun | 孟春 |  |
Transports: 3 units |
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| Source: "Togo Heihachiro and the Meiji Navy" | ||||||||||||||
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Notes
- ^ Evans, Kaigun
- ^ THE FIRST IRONCLADS In Japanese: [1], [2]. Also in English: [3]: "Iron clad ships, however, were not new to Japan and Hideyoshi; Oda Nobunaga, in fact, had many iron clad ships in his fleet." (referring to the anteriority of Japanese ironclads (1578) to the Korean Turtle ships (1592)). In Western sources, Japanese ironclads are described in CR Boxer "The Christian Century in Japan 1549–1650", p122, quoting the account of the Italian Jesuit Organtino visiting Japan in 1578. Nobunaga's ironclad fleet is also described in "A History of Japan, 1334–1615", Georges Samson, p309 ISBN 0-8047-0525-9. Korea's "ironclad Turtle ships" were invented by Admiral Yi Sun-sin, and are first documented in 1592. Incidentally, Korea's iron plates only covered the roof (to prevent intrusion), and not the sides of their ships. The first Western ironclads date to 1859 with the French Gloire ("Steam, Steel and Shellfire").
- ^ Source
- ^ Described in "Soie et Lumiere", in a parallel to the French Military Mission to Japan (1867-1868) for the Army.
- ^ "Togo Heihachiro", II
- ^ "Togo Heiachiro", I7
- ^ "Togo Heihachiro", II
- ^ "Togo Heihachiro", II
- ^ Source
- ^ Howe, p.281
- ^ Peattie & Evans, Kaigun, p.17
- ^ ibid.
- ^ Chiyoda (II): First Armoured Cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Kathrin Milanovich, Warship 2006, Conway Maritime Press, 2006, ISBN 1-01844-86030-2
- ^ Source
- ^ Video footage of the Sino-Japanese war: Video (external link).
-
- Problems seeing the videos? See media help.
-
- ^ Evans Kaigun, p.60–61
- ^ Corbett Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War, 2:333
- ^ Howe, p.284
- ^ Howe, p.268
- ^ Evans and Peattie, Kaigun, p.150-1
- ^ Evans, Kaigun, p.84
- ^ Jane's Battleships of the 20th Century, p.68
- ^ Wakamiya is "credited with conducting the first successful carrier air raid in history"Source:GlobalSecurity.org
- ^ "Sabre et pinceau", Christian Polak, p92
- ^ IJN Wakamiya Aircraft Carrier
- ^ Peattie and Evans, Kaigun, p.161
- ^ Evans, Kaigun, p212
- ^ Lyon World War II warships p34
- ^ Peattie & Evans, Kaigun.
- ^ Miller, Edward S. War Plan Orange. Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute Press, 1991.
- ^ Mahan, Alfred T. Influence of Seapower on History, 1660–1783. Boston: Little, Brown.
- ^ Miller, op. cit.
- ^ Peattie & Evans, op. cit., and Willmott, H. P.,The Barrier and the Javelin. Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute Press, 1983.
- ^ "The Imperial Japanese Navy was a pioneer in naval aviation, having commissioned the world's first built-from-the-keel-up carrier, the Hosho." Source.
- ^ The British had used 18-inch guns during the First World War as experiments and then to arm monitors.
- ^ Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volum3 10, p.1041, "Fubuki".
- ^ Westwood, Fighting Ships
- ^ globalsecurity.org
- ^ Lyon World War II warships p.35
- ^ Howe, p286
- ^ Parillo, Mark. Japanese Merchant Marine in World War II. Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute Press, 1993.
- ^ "In many ways the Japanese were in the forefront of carrier design, and in 1941, the two Shōkakus — the culmination of prewar Japanese design — were superior to any carrier in the world then in commission" Evans, Kaigun p323
- ^ "For speed and maneuverability, for example the Zero was matchless; for range and speed few bombers surpassed the Mitsubishi G3M, and in the Kawanishi H8K, the Japanese navy had the world's best flying boat" Evans, Kaigun, p312
- ^ "by 1941, by training and experience, Japan's naval aviators were undoubtedly the best among the world's three carrier forces" Evans, Kaigun, p325
- ^ Japanese submarines, p70
- ^ Tonnage Sunk, Pacific 1941 - 1945
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External links
- Nobunaga's ironclad navy
- Hiroshi Nishida's IJN site
- Imperial Japanese Navy Page
- Etajima Museum of Naval History
- JSDF video commercial
- Fading Victory: The Diary of Admiral Matome Ugaki, 1941-1945 - book review
- Imperial Japanese Navy Awards of the Golden Kite in World War 2, a Note
- Imperial Japanese Navy in World War 1, 1914-18 including warship losses
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