The Imperial Japanese Navy Battleship Ise 1915 - 1945

Music: Battlestations Pacific - Underwater Theme

The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) (Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun or Nippon Kaigun), officially Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire, also known as the Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes. It was the third largest navy in the world by 1920 behind the United States Navy and Royal Navy. It was supported by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service for aircraft and airstrike operation from the fleet.

The Imperial Japanese Navy's fleet of battleships had proven highly successful in 1905—the last year of the Russo-Japanese War—culminating in the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet at the Battle of Tsushima. In the aftermath, the Japanese Empire immediately turned her focus to the two remaining rivals for imperial dominance in the Pacific Ocean: Britain and the United States. Satō Tetsutarō, a Japanese Navy admiral and military theorist, speculated that conflict would inevitably arise between Japan and at least one of their two main rivals. To that end, he called for the Japanese Navy to maintain a fleet with at least 70% as many capital ships as the US Navy. This ratio, Sato- theorized, would enable the Imperial Japanese Navy to defeat the US Navy in a decisive battle in Japanese waters in any eventual conflict. To that end, the 1907 Imperial Defense Policy called for the ...

In contrast to the Germans—and to the Americans— the Japanese adhered to an inflexible submarine warfare doctrine that targeted warships rather than merchant vessels. This limited their effectiveness. Japanese submarines ranged widely in size, from very large vessels to medium vessels, to small craft—and even midget submarines.

I-15 Class. These boats were typical of the large oceangoing Japanese submarines. They displaced 2,590 tons surfaced and 3,655 tons submerged. They were 356 feet long, with a 30.5-inch beam and a draft of 16 feet 9 inches. Diesels made 12,400 bhp on the surface, and electric motors delivered 2,000 hp submerged. Surfaced, the boats moved swiftly at 23.5 knots, but were fairly slow underwater at eight knots maximum. They were capable of a range of 16,155 miles. The I-15 boats were armed with a single 5.5-inch gun, two 25-mm AA guns, and ...

Type 150 Battleship [below] a Yamato.

Class overview
Name:	Design A-150
Operators:	Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by:	Yamato class
Planned:	2
Completed:	0
Cancelled:	2
General characteristics
Type:	Battleship
Displacement:	Approximately 70,000 long tons (78,000 ST; 71,000 t)
Length:	263.0 m (863 ft) (est.)
Beam:	38.9 m (128 ft) (est.)
Propulsion:	Unknown
Armament:	6 × 510 mm (20.1 in)/45 caliber guns (2×3) "Many" 100 mm (3.9 in)/65 caliber guns
Armor:	Possibly a 460 mm (18 in) side belt; nothing more is given in sources

Design A-150, also known as the Super Yamato class,[A 1] was a Japanese plan for a class of battleships. Begun in 1938–39, the design was mostly complete by 1941. However, so that a demand for other types of warships could be met, all work on Design A-150 was halted and no keels were laid. Authors ...

Many submarines were modified to carry and launch three to six kaitens. The pilots entered the weapons while submerged through a connecting hatch. The ideal scenario would be for the mother sub to launch the weapons 7-8,000 meters from target. He would be on compass heading only and would risk use of the periscope only to acquire the target about 1-1,500 meters out.

The few successful contacts resulted in thunderous destruction but the vast majority of missions led to nothing at all. Kaitens must have missed entirely and ran out of power or were sunk by either enemy or mechanical failures. At any rate the successes did not justify the expenditure of lives.

Regarding the Kaiten carried by I-58 during the patrol, which resulted in the loss of the USS Indianapolis, the following details emerge. I-58 departed Kure on July 16, 1945 and immediately returned to repair Kaiten ...

At the beginning of World War II, the Japanese had 11 submarines capable of carrying submarine-borne aircraft; by mid-1945, that number had increased to 27. Among those was a great secret project — a giant submarine that was kept so well hidden that the United States did not discover it until after the Japanese had surrendered. Described as the I-400 class, it was an undersea aircraft carrier with hangar space for three aircraft. It was 400 feet long, displaced 3,900 short tons on the surface, and was capable of cruising 37,500 miles without refueling. Originally 18 of the subs were planned, but because of material shortages that number was later decreased to five. By 1945, three of the I-400-class subs had been nearly finished. Of the three completed — I-400, I-401 and I-402 — two were outfitted as aircraft carriers and one was turned into a supply ship.

The Japanese ...

All Imperial Navy submarines were originally painted in a dark gray, typically with several markings. The hull number was carried on both sides of the conning tower, either painted on or placed on a canvas marker that could be removed to obscure the boat's identity. This was often accompanied by a representation of the Japanese national ensign. On May 6, 1942, 1-8 was mistakenly bombed by a Japanese aircraft off Kwajalein Island. After this, double white bands were painted on the decks of Japanese submarines as a recognition symbol.

The Imperial Navy did not utilize a well-developed system of warship camouflage during the Pacific War, but some submarines did carry camouflage measures. The Japanese believed that darker colors were harder to spot underwater and in lower visibility; accordingly, many boats were painted in an overall black scheme at the start of the war. A variation was to paint the ...