Imperial Japanese Navy of World War II

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)

The Imperial Japanese Navy of World War II was one of the most powerful navies in the Pacific War in World War II. It was the third largest navy in the world. During the first years of the war the Imperial Japanese Navy ruled the Pacific, however, it lost control and collapsed by the end of the war. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff and the Navy Ministry. The naval air service was one of the most potent air forces and ruled the skies over Asia and the Pacific during the early years of World War II.

Contents 1 Personnel Strength 2 Order of battle 2.1 Warships 2.1.1 Battleships 2.1.2 Aircraft Carriers 2.1.3 Heavy cruisers 2.1.4 Light cruisers (by class) 2.1.5 Destroyers 2.1.6 Submarines 2.1.7 Others 2.2 Merchant Ships 3 Aircraft 4 See also

[edit] Personnel Strength

• December 1941 — 291,359 including 1,500 pilots
• July 1945 — 1,663,223

[edit] Order of battle

[edit] Warships

IJN at time of Pearl Harbor Attack in December 1941:

[edit] Battleships

• 10 (plus 3 building)(1)
  • 4 Kongō class — converted from battlecruisers. Built in 1913-1915.
    • Kongō — †November, 1944
    • Hiei — †November, 1942
    • Kirishima — †November, 1942
    • Haruna — †July, 1945
  • 2 Fusō class — built 1915-1917
    • Fusō — †October, 1944
    • Yamashiro — †October, 1944
  • 2 Ise class — built 1917-1918
    • Ise — †July, 1945
    • Hyūga — run aground in July, 1945
  • 2 Nagato class — built 1920-1921
    • Nagato
    • Mutsu — †June, 1943

(1)4 Yamato class (3 building(1 Shinano converted to an aircraft carrier) and 1 cancelled later in 1941)

• Yamato — commissioned 1941, † 1945
• Musashi — commissioned 1942, † 1944

Hull Number 111 was scrapped in 1943 when only 30% complete, and a proposed fifth hull, Number 797, proposed in the 1942 5th Supplementary Program, was never ordered

[edit] Aircraft Carriers

• 6 heavy and 4 light (plus 6 building)(1)
  • Hōshō built in 1922
  • Akagi (2)(ex-battlecruiser converted by 1927) — †1942
  • Kaga (ex-battleship converted in 1928) — †1942
  • Ryūjō completed 1933 — †1942
  • 2 Sōryū class built 1937-1939
    • Sōryū — †1942
    • Hiryū — †1942
  • 2 Shoho class commissioned as aircraft carriers 1940-1941
    • Shoho - †1942
    • Zuiho - †1944
  • 2 Shōkaku class built 1941-still on trials and workup.
    • Shōkaku — †1944
    • Zuikaku — †1944

(1)Does not include Imperial Japanese Army built aircraft transports.

(2)Amagi — sistership to Akagi both as a battlecruiser and as a conversion to an aircraft carrier, was destroyed during construction by an earthquake and replaced with the Kaga.

[edit] Heavy cruisers

• 18 (plus 1 building)(1)
  • 2 Furutaka built 1926-1927
  • 2 Aoba built 1926-1927
  • 4 Myōkō built 1928-1929
  • 4 Takao built 1932
  • 4 Mogami built 1935-1937(2)
  • 2 Tone built 1941

(1) Ibuki ordered but not laid down. (2) Mogamis designated light cruisers but were built to be up-gunned as heavies once the London Naval Treaty was broken.

[edit] Light cruisers (by class)

• 20 (plus 9 building)(1) (This is not consistent with the following list.)
  • 2 Tenryū built 1919
  • 5 Kuma built 1920-1921
  • 1 Yubari built 1923
  • 3 Sendai built 1924-1925
  • 6 Nagara built 1922-1925
  • 4 Agano built 1942-1943

(1)3 Katori (1 cancelled), 4 Agano and 2 Ōyodo

[edit] Destroyers

• 108 (plus 43 building)(1)
  • 3 Momi (2) built 1920-1922
  • 13 Minekaze built 1920-1922
  • 7 Wakatake built 1922-1923
  • 4 Kamikaze built 1922-1924
  • 12 Mutsuki built 1925-1927
  • 20 Fubuki built 1918-1931
  • 4 Akatsuki built 1932-1933
  • 6 Hatsuharu built 1933-1935
  • 10 Shiratsuyu built 1936-1937
  • 10 Aseshio built 1937-1938
  • 18 Kagero built 1939-1941
  • 1 Yugumo built 1941

(1)27 Yugumo class and 16 Akitsuki class building (2)Others of class re-rated as patrol vessels (3)2 others of class converted to patrol vessels.

[edit] Submarines

• 68 Fleet submarines
• 50 Ko-hyoteki class midget submarines

[edit] Others

• 90 patrol ships, gunboats, armed merchantships, and submarine chasers
• 6 minelayers
  • Itsukushima
• 42 minesweepers
• 55 auxiliaries

[edit] Merchant Ships

Many under direct navy control as armed merchantmen.

• 1939 - 2,337 with 5,629,845 tons
• WWII construction of 4,250,000 tons
• 2,346 sunk

[edit] Aircraft

• Total 1750 first line with 370 trainers
  • 660 Fighters
  • 330 Carrier based strike aircraft
  • 240 land based twin engine bombers
  • 520 Seaplanes and flying boats.

[edit] See also

• List of Japanese Navy ships and war vessels in World War II

v • d • e Imperial Japanese Navy Admirals · Aircraft · Battles · Ships · Weapons