IJN 8th Fleet

The nihongo|IJN 8th Fleet|第八艦隊 (日本海軍)|Dai-hachi Kantai was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy established during World War II.

History

Established on 14 July 1942, the IJN 8th Fleet was a headquarters unit established to direct Japanese naval operations in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. The warship forces assigned to the 8th Fleet were known as the Outer South Seas Force and Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa was assigned as the first commander. [Coombe, "Derailing the Tokyo Express", p. 20, Evans, "Japanese Navy", p. 159.]

The first warships assigned to the 8th included the heavy cruiser "Chokai", Cruiser Division 6 (CruDiv6) which included the heavy cruisers "Aoba", "Kinugasa", "Kako", and "Futuraka", light cruisers "Tenryu" and "Yubari", and four destroyers. On July 26, Mikawa, on "Chokai" led his force from Truk to Rabaul, New Britain where he established his headquarters. He detached CruDiv6 to Kavieng, New Ireland. [Coombe, "Derailing the Tokyo Express", p. 20–21.]

The IJN 8th Fleet under Mikawa engaged United States Navy forces in the Battle of Savo Island on August 8 – August 9, 1942. In the battle, 8th Fleet commander in chief Admiral Gunichi Mikawa defeated a superior American force, sinking four of eight cruisers, but failed to follow through and destroy the lightly-protected American transports that had just landed troops on the island, initiating the Guadalcanal Campaign. [Dull, A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy]

The IJN 8th Fleet also played a major role in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal from November 12-18 1942, during which the Japanese won a tactical victory, but suffered a strategic defeat due to large losses of irreplaceable ships and an inability to enable the delivery of sufficient army troops to retake Guadalcanal from Allied forces. The 8th Fleet subsequently played a major role in Operation Ke, the successful withdrawal of army forces from Guadalcanal the first week of February, 1943 that conceded victory to the Allies in the hard fought campaign.

From 20 December 1942 until the end of the war, the IJN 8th Fleet came under the operational authority of the Southeast Area Fleet. It headquarters staff was later isolated on Bougainville Island with remnants of Imperial Japanese Army forces at the end of the war.

Commanders of the IJN 8th Fleet

Commander in chief [Wendel, Axis History Database]

Chief of staff

References

Books

*cite book
last = Coombe
first = Jack D.
authorlink =
year = 1991
title = Derailing the Tokyo Express
publisher = Stackpole
location = Harrisburg, PA
id = ISBN 0-8117-3030-1
*cite book
last = D'Albas
first = Andrieu
authorlink =
year = 1965
title = Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II
publisher = Devin-Adair Pub
location =
id = ISBN 0-8159-5302-X
*cite book
last = Dull
first = Paul S.
authorlink =
year = 1978
title = A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-87021-097-1
*cite book
last = Evans
first = David C.
authorlink =
year = 1986 (2nd Edition)
chapter = The Struggle for Guadalcanal
title = The Japanese Navy in World War II: In the Words of Former Japanese Naval Officers
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location = Annapolis, Maryland
id = ISBN 0-87021-316-4

External links

*cite web
last = Nishida
first = Hiroshi
url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/ja03.htm#8F
title = Imperial Japanese Navy
accessdate = 2007-02-25
*cite web
last = Wendel
first = Marcus
url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=7826
title = Axis History Database
accessdate = 2007-02-25

Notes