IJN 5th Fleet
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The IJN 5th Fleet (第五艦隊 (日本海軍) Dai-go Kantai?) was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, active during the early portions of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and again in World War II, primarily in the Battle of the Aleutian Islands.
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[edit] History
[edit] China Expeditionary Fleet
The IJN 5th Fleet was initially formed on 1 February 1938 as part of the Japanese military emergency expansion program in the aftermath of the North China Incident of 1937. The initial plan was to construct 3rd, 4th and 5th China Area Fleets to cover the invasions of Japanese troops into the Chinese mainland, and to interdict and control commerce on the coasts. The IJN 4th and IJN 5th Fleets came under the operational control of the 2nd China Expeditionary Fleet. It participated in the Hainan Island Operation and other maritime interdiction operations off of the Chinese coast. The fleet was disbanded on 15 November 1939 when its operations were merged into the China Area Fleet.
[edit] North Pacific Fleet
The IJN 5th Fleet was resurrected on 25 July 1941, and tasked with patrols of northern Japanese waters from the northern portion of Honshū, through Hokkaidō, the Chishima Islands, and as far as the Bonin Islands to the east. With the threat of maritime invasion by the Soviet Union considered extremely remote, and with Japanese forces focused on attacking south (Nanshin-ron), the IJN 5th Fleet was considered of secondary importance and was only assigned a couple of light cruisers and smaller vessels. [1]
With the outbreak of World War II, and the Doolittle raid on Tokyo, the IJN 5th Fleet was reinforced by a large number of converted armed merchant vessels. The operational plan for the Battle of Midway called for a diversionary strike north towards the Aleutian Islands. The cruisers of the IJN 5th Fleet covered the landings of Japanese troops on Attu and Kiska on 6 June-7 1942, and were in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands against the United States Navy on 27 March 1943. [2]
However, the IJN 5th Fleet was unable to prevent the recapture of Attu by American forces in May 1943, and from 5 August 1943 – 5 December 1944, the IJN 5th Fleet was reorganized under the operational control of the Northeast Area Fleet, which oversaw the withdrawal of Japanese forces from Kiska and reinforcement of the northern approaches to Japan.
Following Japan's withdrawal from the Aleutians, the Northeast Area Fleet was reassigned directly to the Philippines in October 1944. It participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and surviving vessels were joined to the Southeast Area Fleet on 15 December 1944. On 5 February 1945, the Southeast Area Fleet became the IJN 10th Area Fleet, at which time the remnants of the IJN 5th Fleet's administrative structure were disbanded.
[edit] Structure
[edit] In Second Sino-Japanese War
- Cruiser Division 9
- Cruiser Division 10
- No.5 Torpedo Squadron
- Yubari
- 3 destroyer squadrons
- No.3 Aviation Squadron
- Seaplane tender Kamoi
- Seaplane tender Kagu-maru
- Seaplane tender Kamikawa-maru
- No.4 Aviation Squadron
- Seaplane tender Notoro
- Seaplane tender Kinugasa-maru
[edit] Order of Battle at time of Pearl Harbor
- Cruiser Division 21 (Based at Ominato)[3]
- Light cruiser Tama
- Light cruiser Kiso
- Seaplane tender Kimikawa maru (based at Paramushiro)
- Cruiser Division 22
- Converted MV Akagi maru
- Converted MV Asaka maru
- Converted MV Awata maru
- Minesweeper Division 17
- Gunboat Division 10
- Subchaser Division 66
- No.7 Base Force
- Chichijima Naval Air Group
[edit] Commanders of the IJN 5th Fleet
Commander in chief [4]
| Rank | Name | Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Admiral | Koichi Shiozawa | 1 Feb 1938 - 15 Dec 1938 | |
| 2 | Admiral | Nobutake Kondo | 15 Dec 1938 - 29 Sep 1939 | |
| 3 | Admiral | Shiro Takasu | 29 Sep 1939 - 15 Nov 1939 | |
| x | Disbanded | 15 Nov 1939 - 25 Jul 1941 | ||
| 4 | Vice-Admiral | Boshiro Hosogaya | 25 Jul 1941 - 31 Mar 1943 | |
| 5 | Vice-Admiral | Shiro Kawase | 31 Mar 1943 - 15 Feb 1944 | |
| 6 | Vice-Admiral | Kiyohide Shima | 15 Feb 1944 - 5 Feb 1945 |
Chief of Staff [5]
| Rank | Name | Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vice-Admiral | Minoru Tayui | 1 Feb 1938 - 15 Dec 1938 | |
| 2 | Vice-Admiral | Tamon Yamaguchi | 15 Dec 1938 - 15 Nov 1939 | |
| 3 | Vice-Admiral | Tasuku Nakazawa | 25 Jul 1941 - 6 Nov 1942 | |
| 4 | Rear-Admiral | Yoshiyuki Ichimiya | 6 Nov 1942 - 19 Mar 1943 | |
| 5 | Rear-Admiral | Noboru Owada | 10 Mar 1943 - 17 Nov 1943 | |
| 6 | Rear-Admiral | Takeshi Matsumoto | 17 Nov 1943 - 5 Feb 1945 |
[edit] References
[edit] Books
- D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 0-8159-5302-X.
- Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
- Garfield, Brian (1995). The Thousand Mile War. Aurum Press. ISBN 1-84513-019-7.
- Lacroix, Eric; Linton Wells (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
[edit] External links
- Nishida, Hiroshi. Imperial Japanese Navy. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
- Budge, Kent. Pacific War Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
- Wendel, Marcus. Axis History Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
[edit] Notes
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