Slide 1

Why Japan Lost the Pacific Naval War Thomas H. Cox University of Kansas Slide 2 Japan Seclusion Japan choose seclusion in 1640 Forbid all ocean going vessels/travel For 200 years rest of world advances, Japan does not Slide 3 Japans Build Up After 200 years, Japan decides to start rebuilding navy (1855) Sends citizens to Europe to study building, navigating, warfare, etc. Starts buying ships from foreign countries First domestically built warship in 1863 Largest Asian navy by 1867 Slide 4 Continued Build Up China starts advancing navy in 1870 China working England, Japan with France Japan adopts Jeune Ecole doctrine (small, fast warships) By 1888 Japans navy looked like this: 3 cruisers 3 coastal warships of 4,278 tons. 2 small cruisers 1 frigate 1 destroyer 16 torpedo boats Slide 5 Japan Becomes Independent Starts Sino-Japanese in 1894 Japan victorious, but hardly damaged large German built warships change in Japanese strategy to combination of small and big warships By early 1900s Japan is independent of foreign aid to build and train navy By the early 1900s Japans navy now consisted of: 6 battleships 8 armored cruisers 9 cruisers 24 destroyers 63 torpedo boats Slide 6 Russo-Japanese War Russia sends 38 ship fleet to fight Japan Japan sinks 21 ships, captures 7 and disarms 6 Japan loses only 3 torpedo boats Japan also starts development of submarines around this time Slide 7 Sunk Russian Ship Slide 8 Japan Becomes World Leader By 1920 Japan has worlds 3 rd largest navy In 1921 32% of Japans national budget was spent on navy In 1921 Japan builds the first ever aircraft carrier Washington conference creates 5:5:3 agreement, forcing Japan to innovate a new navy Slide 9 Japan Starts 2 nd Sino-Japanese War Japan wants to continue to expand, but is limited by resources (oil, iron, coal, etc) Japan starts to invade neighbors to acquire those resources mostly owned by England, France, Netherlands Japan is 3 rd largest navy (1 st Great Britain, 2 nd, United States) and most technologically advanced Slide 10 Japanese Navy WWII At the start of the war Japans navy consisted of: 10 battleships 13 aircraft carriers 18 heavy cruisers 20 light cruisers 108 destroyers 68 fleet submarines 50 midget submarines 90 patrol ships, gunboats, armed merchant ships and submarine chasers 100 minelayers, minesweepers and auxiliaries Slide 11 Pre-Pearl Harbor US Fleet US Pacific Fleet Only (US divided fleet between coasts) 9 battleships 3 aircraft carriers 12 heavy cruisers 8 light cruisers 50 destroyers 33 submarines 100 patrol bombers Slide 12 Japanese Battleship Slide 13 US Battleship Slide 14 Japan Aircraft Carrier Slide 15 US Aircraft Carrier Slide 16 Ship Sizes Slide 17 Slide 18 Slide 19 Japans Loss Attacking Pearl Harbor Americans didnt want to enter war, Pearl Harbor made them want to Mobilized Americas industrial might Forced US to build new larger, more advance navy Slide 20 2 nd Reason Value of Aircraft carriers US Battleship fleet destroyed, carriers untouched US forced to use aircraft carriers more in early war US learned new tactics of value of carriers before Japan US invested heavier into carriers for rest of the war Slide 21 3 rd Reason Submarine Warfare Japan had limited resources and had to import US submarines attacked supply lines, destroying merchant ships, cutting off resources to Japan Of merchant ships sunk, submarines sunk 55% Slide 22 4 th Reason Battle of Midway Turning point of the war Admiral Yamamoto split fleet, leaving carriers exposed (a failed trick) US forces didnt fall for trick, unified their fleet US forces destroyed carrier fleet, then moved to main Japanese fleet now with larger numbers US heavily damaged Japanese fleet giving them for the first time the naval advantage Japan never recovered from this loss Slide 23 Questions? Questions about the two navies? The war? Any points I made? Other factors? Anything at all? Thank you!