Английская Википедия:4th Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Multiple issues

The 4th Fleet was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Fourth Fleet designation was used during three separate periods. The initial designation was for a group of ships that were assigned to work together during the Russo-Japanese conflict and the period of its immediate aftermath. The second time the designation was used was during the Sino-Japanese conflict, and the third time was as a South Pacific area of command during the middle of the Pacific War.

History

Russo-Japanese War

First established on June 14, 1905, the 4th Fleet was created after the Battle of Tsushima in the Russo-Japanese War specifically to support and cover the landings of Japanese forces in Sakhalin. Afterwards, it was sent to the United States with the Japanese delegation negotiating the Treaty of Portsmouth ending the war, and was disbanded on December 20, 1905.

The Fourth Fleet Incident

The Fourth Fleet was temporarily resurrected during a war game exercise executed in 1935, playing the role of the opposition force under the command of Hajime Matsushita. While participating in field manoeuvres, the Fourth Fleet became caught in extremely foul weather. The weather continued to deteriorate and by 26 September had reached typhoon status. Two of the newer, large Special Type destroyers, Hatsuyuki and Yūgiri, had their bows torn away by the heavy seas. A number of recently-built heavy cruisers also suffered significant structural damage. Myōkō, Mogami and the submarine tender Taigei developed serious cracks in their hulls, and the light aircraft-carriers Hōshō and Ryūjō suffered damage to their flight decks and superstructure, with Ryūjō also having her hangar section flooded. The minelayer Itsukushima suffered damage that required several months for extensive repairs, necessitating a near complete rebuild. Nearly all the fleet's destroyers suffered damage to their superstructures, and fifty-four crewmen were lost, swept overboard or killed outright.[1]

The Japanese Admiralty held a hearing on the damage suffered by Fourth Fleet in the storm, resulting in recommendations for changes on Japanese warship design and construction. A number of new designs that used heavier guns and taller superstructures were found to be top-heavy, and efforts were made to stabilize these ships by reducing weight above the waterline. In addition, cracks in the hulls of the new cruisers indicated the recently adopted practice of electric welding hull seams was suspect, and the practice was canceled on all new Japanese warship construction.[2] The event was kept a secret from the public.[2]

Second Sino-Japanese War

On October 20, 1937, the 4th Fleet was resurrected as part of the emergency reinforcement program for the China Area Fleet after the North China Incident of 1937. The new 4th fleet was based out of Qingdao and assigned to patrol the Bohai Sea and the East China Sea regions. However, unlike the IJN 5th Fleet, the 4th Fleet was never in actual combat. On November 15, 1939, the 4th Fleet was absorbed into the 3rd China Expeditionary Fleet under the overall aegis of the China Area Fleet. Although most of its ships were released for service with the Combined Fleet in the Pacific War a year later, most of the staff for the 4th Fleet remained in China, and were assigned to the Qingdao Base Force for the duration of the war.

Pacific War

On the same date that the 4th Fleet was absorbed into the China Area Fleet, a new 4th Fleet was created to provide administrative control over Japanese naval forces in the Japanese-held island territories of the South Pacific (Caroline Islands, Marshall Islands, Mariana Islands, Palau). This third IJN 4th Fleet came under the aegis of the Combined Fleet on November 15, 1940.[3] The operational name of this fleet was the Шаблон:Nihongo. With the start of hostilities against the United States, the 4th Fleet was based out of Truk,[4] with a secondary base at Kwajalein. After initial Japanese successes, additional bases were established in the southern Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, Gilbert Islands, eastern New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands.

After the Battle of the Coral Sea, the area covered by the 4th Fleet was reduced to an “inner core” of Japanese possessions, while the new IJN 8th Fleet was assigned to confront the advancing American forces in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. However, in November 1943, the Americans attacked the Gilbert Islands and captured the major naval base of Tarawa, which brought the 4th Fleet and its various garrison forces back into the front lines of combat.

The Americans continued to advance through the Marshall Islands in early 1944, neutralizing the Japanese bastion at Truk Atoll in the Carolines, headquarters of the IJN 4th Fleet, by means of powerful naval air strikes in February, and forcing the removal of Japan's major naval units to Palau, which also proved vulnerable to air attack.

In March 1944, the IJN 4th Fleet came under operational control of the Central Pacific Area Fleet based in Saipan. It effectively ceased to exist with the fall of Saipan to American forces.[5]

Structure

Russo-Japanese War

Second Sino-Japanese War

  • Flagship: Ashigara
  • Cruiser Division 9: Myōkō, Nagara
  • Cruiser Division 14: Tenryū, Tatsuta
  • No.4 Torpedo Squadron: Kiso,
    • Destroyer Division 6
    • Destroyer Division 10
    • Destroyer Division 11
  • No.5 Torpedo Squadron: Natori
    • Destroyer Division 5
    • Destroyer Division 22

Order of Battle at time of Pearl Harbor

Commanders of the 4th Fleet

1st Creation (Russo-Japanese War)

Commander-in-Chief Dates Previous Post Next Post Notes
1 Файл:Dewa Shigeto.jpg Vice-Admiral
Dewa Shigetō
出羽重遠		 14 June
1905		 20 December
1905		 Commander-in-chief
2nd Fleet
Chief of Staff Dates Previous Post Next Post Notes
1 Файл:Yamaya Tanin.jpg Captain
Yamaya Tanin
山屋他人		 14 June
1905		 20 December
1905

2nd Creation (2nd Sino-Japanese War)

Commander-in-Chief Dates Previous Post Next Post Notes
1 Файл:Toyoda Soemu.JPG Vice-Admiral
Toyoda Soemu
豊田副武		 20 October
1937		 15 November
1938		 Commander-in-chief
2nd Fleet
2 Файл:Hibino.JPG Vice-Admiral
Hibino Masaharu
日比野正治		 15 November
1938		 15 November
1939
Chief of Staff Dates Previous Post Next Post Notes
1 Файл:Kobayashi Masami.jpg Captain
Kobayashi Masami
小林仁		 20 October
1937		 1 September
1938		 Promoted to rear admiral
1 December
1937
2 Файл:Arata Oka.jpg Captain
Oka Arata
岡新		 1 September
1938		 15 November
1939		 Promoted to rear admiral
15 November
1938

On 15 November 1939 the 4th Fleet was reorganized into the 3rd China Expeditionary Fleet. Command History continues there.

3rd Creation (Pacific War)

Commander in chief [7]
Rank Name Date
Vice-Admiral Eikichi Katagiri 15 Nov 1939 – 15 Nov 1940
Admiral Shiro Takasu 15 Nov 1940 – 11 Aug 1941
Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue 11 Aug 1941 – 26 Oct 1942
Vice-Admiral Baron Tomoshige Samejima 26 Oct 1942 – 1 Apr 1943
Vice-Admiral Masami Kobayashi 1 Apr 1943 – 19 Feb 1944
Vice-Admiral Chuichi Hara 19 Feb 1944 – 2 Sep 1945
Chief of Staff
Rank Name Date
Vice-Admiral Fukuji Kishi 15 Nov 1939 – 10 Oct 1941
Vice-Admiral Shikazo Yano 10 Oct 1941 – 1 Nov 1942
Rear-Admiral Shunsaku Nabeshima 1 Nov 1942 – 6 Jan 1944
Rear-Admiral Michio Sumikawa 6 Jan 1944 – 30 Mar 1944
Vice-Admiral Kaoru Arima 30 Mar 1944 – 12 Aug 1944
Rear-Admiral Michio Sumikawa 12 Aug 1944 – 2 Sep 1945

References

Шаблон:Reflist

Bibliography

Шаблон:Refbegin

Шаблон:Refend

External links

Шаблон:IJN Шаблон:Imperial Japanese Navy warship units

Партнерские ресурсы
Криптовалюты
Магазины
Хостинг
Разное

  1. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  2. ↑ 2,0 2,1 Шаблон:Cite web
  3. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  4. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  5. ↑ D'Albas 1965, p. ?.
  6. ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
  7. ↑ Wendel, Axis History Database retrieved 25 August 2007.
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