2nd Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)

2nd Fleet
Active 27 October 1903 – 20 April 1945
Country Empire of Japan
Branch  Imperial Japanese Navy
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Soemu Toyoda

The 2nd Fleet (第二艦隊, Dai-ni Kantai) was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) created as a mobile strike force in response to hostilities with Russia, and saw action in every IJN military operation until the end of World War II.

History

Established on 27 October 1903, the 2nd Fleet was created by the Imperial General Headquarters as a mobile strike force of cruisers and destroyers to pursue the Imperial Russian Navy's Vladivostok-based cruiser squadron while the remaining bulk of the Japanese fleet (the IJN 1st Fleet) continued to blockade Port Arthur in hopes of luring the battleships of the Russian Pacific Fleet into an open sea classic line-of-battle confrontation.

Letter from Vice Admiral Ijuin Gorō to Italian Royal Navy Lieutenant Ernesto Burzagli thanking him for courtesies extended to the Imperial Japanese Navy Second Fleet which visited Italy in 1907.

As the main mobile force in the IJN, the 2nd Fleet saw the bulk of all future IJN combat operations from the time of its inception until IJN dissolution at the end of World War II.

Commanders of the IJN 2nd Fleet

Commander in chief [1]

RankNameDate
1AdmiralBaron Hikonojo Kamimura27 October 1903 – 20 December 1905
2AdmiralBaron Dewa Shigeto20 December 1905 – 22 November 1906
3Fleet AdmiralBaron Ijuin Gorō22 November 1906 – 26 May 1908
4AdmiralBaron Dewa Shigeto26 May 1908 – 1 December 1909
5Fleet AdmiralBaron Shimamura Hayao1 December 1909 – 1 December 1911
6AdmiralYoshimatsu Motaro1 December 1911 – 1 December 1912
7Vice AdmiralIjichi Suetaka1 December 1912 – 1 December 1913
8AdmiralBaron Kato Sadakichi1 December 1913 – 5 February 1915
9AdmiralNawa Matahachiro5 February 1915 – 13 December 1915
10AdmiralBaron Yashiro Rokuro13 December 1915 – 1 December 1917
11Fleet AdmiralPrince Higashifushimi Yorihito1 December 1917 – 13 June 1918
12AdmiralYamaya Tanin13 June 1918 – 1 December 1919
13Fleet AdmiralPrince Fushimi Hiroyasu1 December 1919 – 1 December 1920
14AdmiralBaron Suzuki Kantaro1 December 1920 – 1 December 1921
XXDisbanded1 December 1921 – 1 December 1922
15Vice AdmiralNaoe Nakano1 December 1922 – 1 June 1923
16AdmiralHiroharu Kato1 June 1923 – 1 December 1924
17Vice AdmiralHanroku Saito1 December 1924 – 16 September 1925
18AdmiralSaburo Hyakutake16 September 1925 – 10 December 1926
19Vice AdmiralYasuhira Yoshikawa10 December 1926 – 16 May 1928
20Vice AdmiralKoshiro Otani16 May 1928 – 10 December 1928
21AdmiralBaron Mineo Ōsumi10 December 1928 – 11 November 1929
22Vice AdmiralNobutaro Iida11 November 1929 – 1 December 1930
23AdmiralRyozo Nakamura1 December 1930 – 1 December 1931
24AdmiralNobumasa Suetsugu1 December 1931 – 15 November 1933
25AdmiralSankichi Takahashi15 November 1933 – 15 November 1934
26AdmiralMitsumasa Yonai15 November 1934 – 2 December 1935
26AdmiralTakayoshi Kato2 December 1935 – 1 December 1936
27AdmiralZengo Yoshida1 December 1936 – 1 December 1937
28AdmiralShigetarō Shimada1 December 1937 – 15 November 1938
29AdmiralSoemu Toyoda15 November 1938 – 21 October 1939
30Fleet AdmiralMineichi Koga21 October 1939 – 1 September 1941
31AdmiralNobutake Kondō1 September 1941 – 9 August 1943
32Vice AdmiralTakeo Kurita9 August 1943 – 23 December 1944
33AdmiralSeiichi Ito23 December 1944 – 7 April 1945
XXnot filled7 April 1945 – 20 April 1945

Chief of Staff [1]

RankNameDate
1Fleet AdmiralViscount Tomazaburo Kato28 December 1903 – 12 January 1905
2AdmiralKoichi Fujii12 January 1905 – 20 December 1905
3AdmiralTanin Yamaya20 December 1905 – 14 January 1907
XXnot filled14 January 1907 – 28 September 1907
4AdmiralIsamu Takeshita28 September 1907 – 17 December 1907
5AdmiralRyokitsu Arima17 December 1907 – 20 November 1908
6Vice-AdmiralTatsuo Matsumura20 November 1908 – 1 February 1909
XXnot filled1 February 1908 – 1 December 1909
7Rear AdmiralShichitaro Takagi1 December 1909 – 22 January 1911
8Vice-AdmiralKiyokaze Yoshida22 January 1911 – 1 December 1911
9AdmiralBaron Kiyokazu Abo5 December 1911 – 1 December 1912
10Vice-AdmiralKiyokaze Yoshida1 December 1912 – 1 February 1915
11AdmiralHiroharu Kato1 February 1915 – 13 December 1915
12Vice-AdmiralYasujiro Nagata13 December 1915 – 1 December 1916
13Vice-AdmiralNobutaro Shimamura1 December 1916 – 15 September 1917
14AdmiralSaburo Hyakutake15 September 1917 – 10 November 1918
15Rear AdmiralShigeushi Nakagawa10 November 1918 – 1 December 1919
16Vice AdmiralYasuhira Yoshikawa1 December 1919 – 1 December 1920
17Vice AdmiralKikuo Matsumura1 December 1920 – 1 December 1921
18AdmiralRyozo Nakamura1 December 1922 – 6 November 1923
19Vice AdmiralMasataka Ando6 November 1923 – 1 December 1924
20Vice AdmiralYukichi Shima1 December 1924 – 1 December 1925
21AdmiralMitsumasa Yonai1 December 1925 – 1 December 1926
22Vice AdmiralShigeru Matsuyama1 December 1926 – 1 December 1927
23Vice AdmiralKen Terajima1 December 1927 – 10 December 1928
24Vice AdmiralTeikichi Hori10 December 1928 – 6 September 1929
25AdmiralKoichi Shiozawa6 September 1929 – 1 December 1929
26AdmiralShigetarō Shimada1 December 1929 – 1 December 1930
26Rear AdmiralWasuke Komaki1 December 1930 – 10 October 1931
27Vice AdmiralKamezaburo Nakamura10 October 1931 – 15 November 1933
28Vice AdmiralJugoro Arichi15 November 1933 – 15 November 1934
29Rear AdmiralTaichi Miki15 November 1934 – 15 November 1935
30Vice AdmiralShunzo Mito15 November 1935 – 1 April 1936
31Vice AdmiralMasaichi Niimi1 April 1936 – 1 December 1936
32Vice AdmiralGunichi Mikawa1 December 1936 – 15 November 1937
33AdmiralSeiichi Ito15 November 1937 – 15 November 1938
34AdmiralTakeo Takagi15 November 1938 – 1 November 1939
35Vice AdmiralYoshio Suzuki1 November 1939 – 30 August 1941
36Vice AdmiralKazutaka Shiraishi30 August 1941 – 2 July 1943
37Vice AdmiralTomiji Koyanagi2 July 1943 – 25 November 1944
38Rear AdmiralNobuei Morishita25 November 1944 – 20 April 1945

References

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.
  • Lacroix, Eric; Linton Wells (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
  • Nishida, Hiroshi. "Imperial Japanese Navy". Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2007.
  • Wendel. "Axis History Database". Retrieved 25 August 2007.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Wendel, Axis History Database
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