Military campaigns of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces during WWII

[third eye]

Pearl Harbour was a great blunder done by the Japanese.

From a Military POV there is a lot to learn from it.

 

[Aepsilons]

Battle of Badung Strait
(February 19-20, 1942)​

The invasion of Bali was carried out by a relatively small advance force of Japanese warships covering a pair of transports. The transports successfully disgorged their troops in Sanur Roads, but were attacked during the day by Allied airpower. One of the transports was severely damaged. The Japanese withdrew the majority of their force to the north, detailing one pair of destroyers (Michishio and Arashio) to escort the cripple, and another pair (Oshio and Asashio) to bring up the rear with the undamaged Maru. Just as this latter pair was getting underway, the first of two Allied squadrons charged with breaking up the landings appeared. Composed of a Dutch and Australian light cruiser and three destroyers, it heavily outgunned the Japanese force. However, the Japanese bravely gave battle, first driving off the light cruisers through the channel northward, and then turning to attack the Allied destroyers. A successful torpedo attack resulted in the sinking of one of the Allied destroyers, which then shortly drew off to the south.
Shortly afterwards, however, the second Allied squadron of four U.S. destroyers and a Dutch light cruiser came up the Strait from the south as well. Oshio and Asashio again returned to defend the damaged transport against a second superior enemy force. In short order they had attacked the U.S. destroyers so fiercely as to force them to withdraw through the Strait to the north, leaving only the Dutch light cruiser Tromp to be dealt with. This they quickly did, hitting the cruiser eleven times in the superstructure in rapid succession. She, too, fled.

The final act was played out as some of the Allied warships retreating northward ran into Michishio and Arashio. A sharp fight developed, in which Michishio was heavily damaged. However, the Allied ships continued on their way without giving a serious fight.

The final result of this rather confusing action was that two superior Allied squadrons had been manhandled almost singlehandedly by a lone pair of audacious Japanese destroyers. It was a most embarrassing performance by the Allies, who were admittedly heavily fatigued, but who possessed more than enough firepower to deal handily with their Japanese adversaries. This was the first of the impressive night-fighting performances the Japanese Navy would turn in throughout the war.

 

[Aepsilons]

Battle of the Java Sea
(February 27-March 1, 1942)​

This large, multi-staged fight was the first major stand-up surface fight between the Allies and Nihon Kaigun. It's outcome sealed the grim fate of ABDA, and presaged the fall of the entire Malay barrier to the Japanese.
The battle began as a large Japanese invasion convoy approached the east end of Java and Surabaja. Thereupon ABDA mustered every warship available to them and sortied to intercept the transports. They were met by a large Japanese force, including two heavy cruisers who hustled in at the last minute (leading to questions afterwards as to what might have been if the Allies had reacted a little sooner). In the fight that followed, the Allies again suffered from both a lack of modern warships and (even more so) from a lack of training time together as unit. The Japanese immediately used their 24" torpedoes to effect (sinking a destroyer) and their gunfire was accurate as well (damaging the HMS Exeter). The Allies thereupon began to withdraw to cover the crippled Exeter, but were continually harried by Japanese long-range gunfire and torpedo attacks which gradually whittled away at their destroyer force. Further, they were forced to detach four of the older American destroyers to return to port to refuel.

In the failing light conditions of the late afternoon and evening, the ABDA force's Dutch commander, Admiral Doorman, tried on several occasions to double back and attack the Japanese transports. But he was intercepted each time, and lost another destroyer to an uncharted minefield. Finally, in a devastating torpedo attack from the Japanese heavy cruisers, both Dutch light cruisers were hit and sunk in a matter of minutes, taking Admiral Doorman to his death. At this point the remaining two Allied ships, the cruisers Perth and Houston, fled westward towards Batavia.

The final grim phase of this battle was played out a day later, as the damaged Exeter and two destroyers tried to exit Surabaja to the north on the 28th and make a run for it. They were surrounded by several groups of patrolling Japanese cruisers and destroyers and summarily dispatched. Amazingly, the four older American destroyers who had exited the battle early on also departed Surabaja on the 28th. These refugees headed south through the Bali Strait and managed to give the Japanese squadron there the slip, and thereupon escaped to Australia.

The final result of this large and rather untidy action was the virtual elimination of ABDA as a naval threat to the Japanese advance. The invasion of western Java was delayed a mere twenty-four hours by the heroic sacrifices of the Allied forces.

 

[Aepsilons]

Raids into the Indian Ocean
(March 31 - April 9, 1942)
​

Having effectively put an end to Allied naval strength in the South Pacific with the annihilation of the ABDA forces around Java, Kido Butai (the Japanese carrier striking force) raided westward into the Indian Ocean so as to destroy the remnants of British naval power there. By attacking the main British fleet bases at Colombo and Trincomalee on Ceylon and driving the Royal Navy from the area, the westward flank of the Japanese defensive perimeter would be secure, and operations in Burma could continue unmolested. Starting on March 31, 1942, five Japanes carriers (Kaga had returned to Japan for engine work on March 2) began shooting up practically everything that moved in the Bay of Bengal. On April 5th, Nagumo hit Colombo and sank a number of ships. That afternoon the Japanese also caught two British heavy cruisers offshore and quickly sank them. On April 9th they attacked Trincomalee, and in the process discovered and sank the British light carrier Hermes, a destroyer, and some auxiliaries. Nagumo turned for home upon the conclusion of this raid.

During this entire episode, the bulk of the British Eastern Fleet had either kept out of the way, or had tried rather feebly to track and attack Kido Butai. Given that the British fast striking force had only two full-sized carriers (Indomitable and Formidable) and a single fast battleship (Warspite) to Japan's five and four, respectively, it is probably just as well that they never made contact. All other factors being equal, their only likely fate would have been to be whomped on.

British heavy cruisers HMS Dorsetshire and Cornwall under Japanese air attack and heavily damaged on 5 April 1942.

HMS Colombo burning and sinking, 1942

HMS Hermes sinking , 1942

 

[Military fancier]

My personal favourite was pearl harbour attack just stunned Yankees I don't think they will ever forget it. great planning and maintenance of operational secrecy I ever seen in any stealthy stike mission.

In recent years, a series of behaviors of denying war crime of japanesegovernment explains the inveteracy of japanese militarism.

 

[Aepsilons]

Japanese people are very brave. The Japanese defense of Iwo Jima is truly inspiring. Those brave soldiers fought to defend every inch of that Godforsaken Island just so the American's wouldn't have it easy in bombing their homeland!

Roosevelt was actually aware of the attack beforehand but he did not order any preventive measures because he viewed it as an opportunity to enter the war.

Thanks for your post, friend. Yes, indeed, the movie 'Letters of Iwo Jima' gave a neutral perspective of the war, in fact it gave a human side of the Japanese forces, as compared to what most people are usually used to read about.

日本への栄光

 

[Aepsilons]

A Japanese navy pilot that took part in the sinking of the HMS Hermes.

 

[Aepsilons]

The Java Campaign

January, February and March 1942 was a disastrous period for the Allied cause in south-east Asia as the Japanese rapidly seized territory in the island archipelago to Australia's north. Tarakan in Borneo was occupied on 11 January; Rabaul, New Guinea, fell on 23 January and Balikpapan in Borneo on the 24th; on the night of 30-31 January, Japanese landings were made on Ambon and by 3 February Australian and Dutch forces there were forced to surrender; Singapore fell on 15 February; and by 23 February the island of Timor was virtually in enemy hands. At the end of February, only Java remained unoccupied.

Java was defended by an assortment of Dutch colonial, British, Australian and American forces. On 25 February 1942, two Japanese invasion convoys were spotted making for the eastern and western ends of the island. Attempts were made by Allied aircraft, including Hudson bombers of 1 Squadron RAAF, to bomb the convoys but despite some hits they failed to stop them. On the afternoon of 27 February, an Allied naval group, which included the cruiser HMAS Perth, attacked the enemy's eastern convoy. In the ensuing battle two Dutch cruisers and four destroyers were sunk. On the night of 28 February-1 March, the enemy's western convoy sailed through Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, anchored and began landing troops. HMAS Perth and the American cruiser USS Houston came upon the convoy and a fierce engagement ensued. In this Battle of the Sunda Strait Perth and Houston were sunk; about half of Perth's crew went down with the ship and the remainder became prisoners of war. Yet another Australian ship, the sloop HMAS Yarra, was sunk on 4 March as it escorted a convoy south of Java.

Once ashore, the western Japanese force advanced towards the towns of Batavia and Buitenzorg. Opposing them near Buitenzorg was 'Blackforce', named after its commander, Brigadier Arthur Blackburn VC, consisting mainly of non-infantry units of the 7th Division AIF. These men had been landed in Java from the Middle East just days before, some of them without their weapons or equipment. For a few days Blackburn, with some awareness of Japanese tactics, mounted a successful holding operation. However, on other battlefronts Allied troops fell back before the Japanese and by 11 March 'Blackforce' was obliged to surrender after Dutch forces capitulated. Its losses numbered about 100 killed or wounded and over 2,700 became prisoners of war.

With the Allied surrender in Java the Japanese had attained, in just over three months, an empire in the Pacific and south-east Asia.


Japanese military operations in the Dutch East Indies,

The Surrender of the Dutch,

Imperial Army assaulting Batavia

 

[Echo_419]

Top Japanese Weapons of WWII – Machine Guns and Pistols


Machine Guns

Type 100 Sub-Machine Gun (1940) – Though slow in adopting a weapon they could use in jungle combat, the Japanese eventually developed the Type 100 sub-machine gun. Production on the Type 100 only lasted about three years, as it was never viewed as a successful weapon. It did, however, serve as a prototype for the future development of a similar weapon of a more simple design with a greater rate of fire (1944 model).







T-99 Machine Gun – Invented in 1939, the T-99 fed into the chamber from the top. Its design was based on an earlier machine gun – the T-96. Because of the backup in Japan’s war industry, the T-99 came forth too late, making little impact on the war. Still, it was a huge improvement over previous Japanese weapons.





T-11 Machine Gun – This light machine gun was the first one the Japanese invented themselves. It was an unusual gun and far from perfect. Like many of the Japanese machine guns, it was only capable of automatic fire.



Pistols/Revolvers

Nambu Pistol – First produced in 1925, the purpose of this pistol was to supply the Japanese army with a cheap, easily-produced pistol. The major problem with this WWII weapon was, in order to remove the magazine, the gun had to be well-maintained and the individual’s hands had to be dry. This downfall is believed to have resulted in the death of many Japanese officers.





Type 94 Pistol – The Type 94 pistol was developed prior to WWII when the Japanese began seeking an even cheaper (than the Nambu) pistol. However, the Type 94 actually wound up being more expensive. First put into production in 1935, and despite being one of the worse pistols ever produced, close to 70,000 of them were produced.







Nambu Revolver – The first Nambu revolver dates back to 1893. Many of the features of this revolver were designed after western revolvers. Though well-built, this self-cocking revolver was incapable of single-action.



Top Japanese Weapons of WWII – Rifles


Type 99 – The Type 99 rifle was first introduced in 1939, though it was basically a modified (re-chambered) version of the 1938 rifle. It was fitted with a special sight that allowed a soldier to sight and hit an incoming airplane.





Arisaka - Because the Arisaka was designed in the 30th year of the Emporer Meiji (1897), it is more commonly known as the “30th Year Rifle”. The Arisaka was a much longer than average rifle – 50.25” and though its length exceeded the height of the majority of Japanese soldiers, it was a standard issue for Japan’s infantrymen. It remained in production until the end of WWII in 1945.





Several other variants of the Arisaka were used by the Japanese including the 38th Year Sniper and the 44 year Carbine. The 44 year carbine actually had a folding bayonet up under the muzzle.



Type 97 – Anti-tank Rifle – Weighing in at 152 lbs, the Type 97 was the heaviest of all anti-tank rifles. It took a crew of four to fire this fully-automatic rifle, which also capable of shooting high explosive rounds. The Japanese Navy used the Type 97 as an anti-aircraft gun.





The Japanese produced large quantities of the above weapons and used them extensively throughout WWII.

• Type 38 – over 3 million
• Type 99 – 3.5 million
• Type 30 rifles – 554,000

Nambu pistol is Ugly as hell

 

[Echo_419]

The Java Campaign

January, February and March 1942 was a disastrous period for the Allied cause in south-east Asia as the Japanese rapidly seized territory in the island archipelago to Australia's north. Tarakan in Borneo was occupied on 11 January; Rabaul, New Guinea, fell on 23 January and Balikpapan in Borneo on the 24th; on the night of 30-31 January, Japanese landings were made on Ambon and by 3 February Australian and Dutch forces there were forced to surrender; Singapore fell on 15 February; and by 23 February the island of Timor was virtually in enemy hands. At the end of February, only Java remained unoccupied.

Java was defended by an assortment of Dutch colonial, British, Australian and American forces. On 25 February 1942, two Japanese invasion convoys were spotted making for the eastern and western ends of the island. Attempts were made by Allied aircraft, including Hudson bombers of 1 Squadron RAAF, to bomb the convoys but despite some hits they failed to stop them. On the afternoon of 27 February, an Allied naval group, which included the cruiser HMAS Perth, attacked the enemy's eastern convoy. In the ensuing battle two Dutch cruisers and four destroyers were sunk. On the night of 28 February-1 March, the enemy's western convoy sailed through Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, anchored and began landing troops. HMAS Perth and the American cruiser USS Houston came upon the convoy and a fierce engagement ensued. In this Battle of the Sunda Strait Perth and Houston were sunk; about half of Perth's crew went down with the ship and the remainder became prisoners of war. Yet another Australian ship, the sloop HMAS Yarra, was sunk on 4 March as it escorted a convoy south of Java.

Once ashore, the western Japanese force advanced towards the towns of Batavia and Buitenzorg. Opposing them near Buitenzorg was 'Blackforce', named after its commander, Brigadier Arthur Blackburn VC, consisting mainly of non-infantry units of the 7th Division AIF. These men had been landed in Java from the Middle East just days before, some of them without their weapons or equipment. For a few days Blackburn, with some awareness of Japanese tactics, mounted a successful holding operation. However, on other battlefronts Allied troops fell back before the Japanese and by 11 March 'Blackforce' was obliged to surrender after Dutch forces capitulated. Its losses numbered about 100 killed or wounded and over 2,700 became prisoners of war.

With the Allied surrender in Java the Japanese had attained, in just over three months, an empire in the Pacific and south-east Asia.


Japanese military operations in the Dutch East Indies,

The Surrender of the Dutch,

Imperial Army assaulting Batavia

One of the things that i love about the Japanese is that how they crushed the Europeans in East & South East Asia

 

[atatwolf]

US shouldn't have used nukes against non nuclear power.Thanks to US we have violent and oppressive tumor in east Asia called China who commits horrible crimes against humanity.

The only reason they intervened is because Japan would become world power if they controlled all the territory that belongs to them.

I have great respect for Abe and his gorvernment for the quest they are on. Restoring equalibrium in east Asia. In Japan's Asia there will be peace, human rights will be respected and crimes that were committed against Uighur and Tibetians punished. I have no doubt Abe will reach his goals with the blessing of tengri.

 

[Aepsilons]

One of the things that i love about the Japanese is that how they crushed the Europeans in East & South East Asia