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86-694: From the late 1920s, the Imperial Japanese Navy had developed a doctrine of operating floatplanes from submarines to search for targets. In December 1941, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto , proposed constructing a large fleet of submarine aircraft carriers (also designated STo or sen-toku — special submarine) whose purpose was to mount aerial attacks against American coastal cities. The submarines would surface to launch their aircraft by catapult , submerge to avoid detection, then surface again to retrieve

172-766: A naval attaché in Washington, D.C., where he learned to speak fluent English . Yamamoto traveled extensively in the United States during his tour of duty there, where he studied American customs and business practices. He was promoted to captain in 1923. On February 13, 1924, Captain Yamamoto was part of the Japanese delegation visiting the United States Naval War College . Later that year, he changed his specialty from gunnery to naval aviation . His first command

258-588: A preventive strike , while simultaneously thrusting into the oil- and rubber-rich areas of Southeast Asia, especially the Dutch East Indies , Borneo, and Malaya. In naval matters, Yamamoto opposed the building of the battleships Yamato and Musashi as an unwise investment of resources. Yamamoto was responsible for a number of innovations in Japanese naval aviation . Although remembered for his association with aircraft carriers, Yamamoto did more to influence

344-465: A 26 m (85 ft) compressed-air catapult mounted on the forward deck. A well-trained crew of four men could roll a Seiran out of its hangar on a collapsible catapult carriage, attach the plane's pontoons and have it readied for flight in approximately 7 minutes. In order to shorten the launching process and eliminate the need for time-consuming engine warm-ups, the Seirans were to be catapulted from

430-796: A circuit of the Pacific, striking American, Australian, Dutch, and British installations from Wake Island to Australia to Ceylon in the Indian Ocean. The 11th Air Fleet caught the United States Fifth Air Force on the ground in the Philippines hours after Pearl Harbor, and then sank the British Force Z's battleship HMS  Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS  Repulse at sea. Under Yamamoto's able subordinates, Vice Admirals Jisaburō Ozawa , Nobutake Kondō , and Ibō Takahashi ,

516-402: A cold start. This necessitated heating the engine oil for each plane to approximately 60 °C (140 °F) in a separate chamber and pumping it, as well as hot water, through the engine just prior to launch while the planes were still in the hangar. In this way, the aircraft's engine would be at or near normal operating temperature immediately upon getting airborne. The idea was borrowed from

602-457: A completely new design was initiated. Aichi's final design, designated AM-24 by Aichi and given the military designation M6A1, was a two-seat, low-winged monoplane powered by a 1,050 kW (1,410 hp) Aichi AE1P Atsuta 30 engine (a licence-built copy of the Daimler-Benz DB 601 liquid-cooled V12 engine ). The original specification dispensed with a traditional undercarriage but it

688-600: A decisive role in any future conflict. In 1936, Yamamoto was appointed navy vice minister, and opposed Japan's alliance with Germany in the Tripartite Pact of 1940. In 1939, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, and was tasked with creating a strategy for war with the U.S.; Yamamoto favored a surprise attack, which he carried out at the start of the war with an attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. In

774-627: A month later at Midway. Yamamoto's plan for Midway Island was an extension of his efforts to knock the American Pacific Fleet out of action long enough for Japan to fortify its defensive perimeter in the Pacific island chains. Yamamoto felt it necessary to seek an early, decisive offensive battle. This plan was long believed to have been to draw American attention—and possibly carrier forces—north from Pearl Harbor by sending his Fifth Fleet (one carrier, one light carrier, four battleships, eight cruisers, 25 destroyers, and four transports) against

860-542: A nuisance raid by Japanese flying boats in May, Nimitz dispatched a minesweeper to guard the intended refueling point for Operation K near French Frigate Shoals , causing the reconnaissance mission to be aborted and leaving Yamamoto ignorant of whether the Pacific Fleet carriers were still at Pearl Harbor. It remains unclear why Yamamoto permitted the earlier attack, and why his submarines did not sortie sooner, as reconnaissance

946-572: A number of technical problems along the way, including how to launch torpedoes in the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor and how to craft armor-piercing bombs by machining down battleship gun projectiles. The United States and Japan were officially at peace when the First Air Fleet of six carriers attacked on December 7, 1941. Three hundred and fifty three aircraft were launched against Pearl Harbor and other locations within Honolulu in two waves. The attack

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1032-639: A quick end. The Naval General Staff agreed to Yamamoto's Midway Island (MI) Operation, subsequent to the first phase of the operations against Australia's link with America, and concurrent with its plan to invade the Aleutian Islands . Yamamoto rushed planning for the Midway and Aleutians missions, while dispatching a force under Vice Admiral Takeo Takagi , including the Fifth Carrier Division (the large new carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku ), to support

1118-416: A relatively short time gap between them. The 1944 event, which ruptured the C & D segments was followed two years later by the 1946 Nankaidō earthquake , rupturing segments A & B. In addition to these two events, there were two similar earthquakes in 1854. In each case the northeastern segment ruptured before the southwestern segment. There was severe damage from the earthquake on the eastern side of

1204-567: A ruse by the Army to keep an eye on him. He was later reassigned from the naval ministry to sea as the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet on August 30, 1939. This was done as one of the last acts of acting Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yonai , under Baron Hiranuma Kiichirō 's short-lived administration. It was done partly to make it harder for assassins to target Yamamoto. Yonai was certain that if Yamamoto remained ashore, he would be killed before

1290-555: A speed of 555 km/h (300 kn). Aichi was already manufacturing under license, the D4Y1 Suisei (Judy), a relatively small single-engined carrier dive bomber with exceptionally clean lines and high performance. Detailed engineering studies commenced in an effort to modify the Suisei for use aboard the I-400 submarines but the difficulties in doing so were eventually judged insurmountable and

1376-450: A splay fault. The maximum recorded wave height was 10 meters on the Kumano coast. Run-ups in excess of 5 meters were also recorded at several locations along the coasts of Mie and Wakayama Prefectures . The tsunami was observed along the Pacific coast of Japan from Izu Peninsula to Kyushu , and recorded by tide gauges from Alaska to Hawaii. The segment of the megathrust to the east of

1462-459: A steady stream of hate mail and death threats from Japanese nationalists. His reaction to the prospect of death by assassination was passive and accepting. The admiral wrote: To die for Emperor and Nation is the highest hope of a military man. After a brave hard fight the blossoms are scattered on the fighting field. But if a person wants to take a life instead, still the fighting man will go to eternity for Emperor and country. One man's life or death

1548-625: A total of 28 completed (including the prototypes and the M6A1-Ks). The new submarines and aircraft were assigned to the 1st Submarine Flotilla , comprising the two STo submarines, the I-400 and the flagship I-401 , each carrying three Seirans together with two type AMs, the I-13 and I-14 . The 1st Submarine Flotilla commenced training with the Seirans in January 1945, the crews gradually learning how to handle

1634-465: Is a matter of no importance. All that matters is the Empire. As Confucius said, "They may crush cinnabar, yet they do not take away its color; one may burn a fragrant herb, yet it will not destroy the scent." They may destroy my body, yet they will not take away my will. The Japanese Army, annoyed at Yamamoto's unflinching opposition to a Rome-Berlin-Tokyo treaty, dispatched military police to "guard" him,

1720-474: The Battle of Tsushima . He later studied at Harvard University in the United States and was appointed naval attaché to the Japanese embassy in Washington. His experiences convinced him that naval power depended on access to oil and industrial capacity, and that Japan thus had no hope to defeat the U.S. in a war. He was one of the first naval leaders to conclude that naval aviation and aircraft carriers would play

1806-820: The Battle of the Coral Sea in early May. Although the Japanese sank the carrier USS  Lexington and damaged the USS ; Yorktown , the Americans damaged the carrier Shōkaku so badly that she required dockyard repairs, and the Japanese lost the light carrier Shoho . Just as importantly, Japanese operational mishaps and American fighters and anti-aircraft fire devastated the dive bomber and torpedo plane formations of both Shōkaku ' s and Zuikaku ' s air groups. These losses sidelined Zuikaku while she awaited replacement aircraft and aircrews, and saw to tactical integration and training. These two ships would be sorely missed

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1892-512: The Kii Peninsula particularly in the cities of Shingū and Tsu . A total of 26,146 houses were destroyed by the shaking, including 11 that burned down and a further 3,059 houses were destroyed by the tsunami. Nearly 47,000 houses were seriously damaged by the combined effects of the earthquake and tsunami. A total of 1,223 people were killed and a further 2,135 were seriously injured. Felt intensities of greater than Shindo 5 were recorded along

1978-629: The Nankai Trough , which marks the subduction of the Philippine Sea plate beneath the Eurasian plate . Movement on this convergent plate boundary leads to many earthquakes, some of them of megathrust type . The Nankai megathrust has five distinct segments (A–E) that can rupture independently, the segments have ruptured either singly or together repeatedly over the last 1300 years. Megathrust earthquakes on this structure tend to occur in pairs, with

2064-538: The Panama Canal , to cut the main supply line for US forces in the Pacific. When the force was finally ready to set off on their mission against Panama, Japan's increasingly desperate situation led to a change in plan, with the target for the attack, called Operation Hikari (Splendour), being switched to the American base at Ulithi Atoll where forces, including aircraft carriers, were massing in preparation for attacks on

2150-475: The Pearl Harbor attack had passed through the crucible of the Japanese naval establishment, and after many expressed misgivings, his fellow admirals had realized that Yamamoto spoke no more than the truth when he said that Japan's hope for victory in this [upcoming] war was limited by time and oil. Every sensible officer of the navy was well aware of the perennial oil problems. Also, it had to be recognized that if

2236-540: The Philippines on the Bataan peninsula on April 9 and Corregidor Island on May 6. The Japanese had secured their oil- and rubber-rich "southern resources area". By late March, having achieved their initial aims with surprising speed and little loss, albeit against enemies ill-prepared to resist them, the Japanese paused to consider their next moves. Yamamoto and a few Japanese military leaders and officials waited, hoping that

2322-630: The Seiran , two examples of a land based trainer version fitted with a retractable undercarriage were built. These were given the designation M6A1-K Nanzan ("Southern Mountain"). Besides the difference in landing gear, the vertical stabilizer 's top portion, which was foldable on the Seiran , was removed. The first production examples of the Seiran were completed in October 1944. Deliveries were slowed by an earthquake near Nagoya on 7 December 1944, and by an American air-raid on 12 March 1945. Construction of

2408-666: The Solomon Islands designed to imperil Australia's lines of communication with the United States. Yamamoto argued for a decisive offensive strike in the east to finish off the American fleet, but the more conservative Naval General Staff officers were unwilling to risk it. On April 18, in the midst of these debates, the Doolittle Raid struck Tokyo and surrounding areas, demonstrating the threat posed by American aircraft carriers, and giving Yamamoto an event he could exploit to get his way, and further debate over military strategy came to

2494-587: The United States Army Air Forces to shoot down his aircraft . Yamamoto was born as Isoroku Takano ( 高野 五十六 , Takano Isoroku ) in Nagaoka , Niigata . His father, Sadayoshi Takano (高野 貞吉), had been an intermediate-rank samurai of the Nagaoka Domain . " Isoroku " is a Japanese term meaning "56"; the name referred to his father's age at Isoroku's birth. In 1916, Isoroku was adopted into

2580-599: The Yamamoto family (another family of former Nagaoka samurai) and took the Yamamoto name. It was a common practice for samurai families lacking sons to adopt suitable young men in this fashion to carry on the family name, the rank and the income that went with it. Isoroku married Reiko Mihashi in 1918; they had two sons and two daughters. Yamamoto graduated from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1904, ranking 11th in his class. He then subsequently served on

2666-673: The armored cruiser Nisshin during the Russo-Japanese War . He was wounded at the Battle of Tsushima , losing his index and middle fingers on his left hand, as the cruiser was hit repeatedly by the Russian battle line. He returned to the Naval Staff College in 1914, emerging as a lieutenant commander in 1916. In December 1919, he was promoted to commander. Yamamoto was part of the Japanese Navy establishment, who were rivals of

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2752-535: The atoll from the United States Marines . The seizure of Midway was expected to draw the American carriers west into a trap where the First Mobile Force would engage and destroy them. Afterwards, First Fleet (one light carrier, three battleships, one light cruiser and nine destroyers), in conjunction with elements of Second Fleet, would mop up remaining US surface forces and complete the destruction of

2838-889: The doctrine of Captain Alfred T. Mahan , the Naval General Staff had planned in terms of Japanese light surface forces, submarines , and land-based air units whittling down the American fleet as it advanced across the Pacific until the Japanese Navy engaged it in a climactic Kantai Kessen ("decisive battle") in the northern Philippine Sea (between the Ryukyu Islands and the Marianas ), with battleships fighting in traditional battle lines . Correctly pointing out this plan had never worked even in Japanese war games, and painfully aware of American strategic advantages in military production capacity, Yamamoto proposed instead to seek parity with

2924-522: The moment magnitude scale (making it the strongest known earthquake of 1944) and a maximum felt intensity of greater than 5 Shindo (about VIII ( Severe ) on the Mercalli intensity scale ). It triggered a large tsunami that caused serious damage along the coast of Wakayama Prefecture and the Tōkai region . Together, the earthquake and tsunami caused 3,358 casualties. The southern coast of Honshū runs parallel to

3010-627: The A6M's high casualty rates as the war progressed. As Japan moved toward war during 1940, Yamamoto gradually moved toward strategic as well as tactical innovation, again with mixed results. Prompted by talented young officers such as Lieutenant Commander Minoru Genda , Yamamoto approved the reorganization of Japanese carrier forces into the First Air Fleet , a consolidated striking force that gathered Japan's six largest carriers into one unit. This innovation gave great striking capacity, but also concentrated

3096-531: The Aeronautics Department, before accepting a post as commander of the First Carrier Division . Yamamoto opposed the Japanese invasion of northeast China in 1931, the subsequent full-scale land war with China in 1937, and the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in 1940. As Deputy Navy Minister, he apologized to United States Ambassador Joseph C. Grew for the bombing of

3182-508: The Aleutians, raiding Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island and invading the more distant islands of Kiska and Attu . While Fifth Fleet attacked the Aleutians, First Mobile Force (four carriers, two battleships, three cruisers, and 12 destroyers) would attack Midway and destroy its air force. Once this was neutralized, Second Fleet (one light carrier, two battleships, 10 cruisers, 21 destroyers, and 11 transports) would land 5,000 troops to seize

3268-414: The American Pacific Fleet. To guard against failure, Yamamoto initiated two security measures. The first was an aerial reconnaissance mission ( Operation K ) over Pearl Harbor to ascertain if the American carriers were there. The second was a picket line of submarines to detect the movement of enemy carriers toward Midway in time for First Mobile Force, First Fleet, and Second Fleet to combine against it. In

3354-532: The American carriers were, and remaining on station while his forces looked for them ran the risk of his own forces being found first and attacked while his aircraft were absent searching. In any case, insufficient daylight remained after recovering the aircraft from the first two waves for the carriers to launch and recover a third before dark, and Nagumo's escorting destroyers lacked the fuel capacity to loiter long. Much has been made of Yamamoto's hindsight, but in keeping with Japanese military tradition to not criticize

3440-486: The American cryptanalytic success and the unexpected appearance of the American carriers could have been irrelevant. The Battle of Midway checked Japanese momentum, but the Japanese Navy was still a powerful force, capable of regaining the initiative. It planned to resume the thrust with Operation FS , aimed at eventually taking Fiji and Samoa to cut the American lifeline to Australia. Yamamoto remained as commander-in-chief, retained at least partly to avoid diminishing

3526-401: The Americans by first reducing their forces with a preventive strike, then following up with a "decisive battle" fought offensively, rather than defensively. Yamamoto hoped, but probably did not believe, that if the Americans could be dealt terrific blows early in the war, they might be willing to negotiate an end to the conflict. The Naval General Staff proved reluctant to go along, and Yamamoto

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3612-467: The Americans had learned of Japanese plans thanks to the code breaking of Japanese naval code D (known to the US as JN-25 ). As a result, Admiral Chester Nimitz , the Pacific Fleet commander, was able to place his outnumbered forces in a position to conduct their own ambush. By Nimitz's calculation, his three available carrier decks, plus Midway, gave him rough parity with Nagumo's First Mobile Force. Following

3698-590: The Army could not spare enough troops from China for the first two, which would require a minimum of 250,000 men, nor shipping to support the latter two (transports were allocated separately to the Navy and Army, and jealously guarded). Instead, the Imperial General Staff supported an army thrust into Burma in hopes of linking up with Indian nationalists revolting against British rule, and attacks in New Guinea and

3784-590: The G4M the sardonic nickname the "flying cigarette lighter". Yamamoto would eventually die in one of these aircraft. The range of the G3M and G4M contributed to a demand for great range in a fighter aircraft. This partly drove the requirements for the A6M Zero , which was as noteworthy for its range as for its maneuverability. Both qualities were again purchased at the expense of light construction and flammability that later contributed to

3870-572: The Germans who planned on using a similar launch method for the aircraft of their unfinished carrier Graf Zeppelin . The first of eight prototype Seirans was completed in October 1943, commencing flight testing in November that year. A problem with overbalance of the auxiliary wings was eventually solved by raising the height of the tail fin. Further testing was sufficiently successful for production to start in early 1944. In order to aid pilot conversion to

3956-796: The Imperial Japanese Navy, who ferried it from Fukuyama to Yokosuka . The US Navy donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in November 1962. Restoration work on the Seiran began in June 1989 and was completed in February 2000. Data from Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, and Aichi M6A1 Seiran General characteristics Performance Armament Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Isoroku Yamamoto Isoroku Yamamoto ( 山本 五十六 , Yamamoto Isoroku , April 4, 1884 – April 18, 1943)

4042-479: The Japanese Home Islands. The flotilla departed Japan on 23 July 1945 and proceeded towards Ulithi. On 16 August, the flagship I-401 received a radio message from headquarters, informing them of Japan's surrender and ordering them to return to Japan. All six Seirans on board the two submarines, having been disguised for the operation as American planes in violation of the laws of war, were catapulted into

4128-542: The Japanese swept the inadequate remaining American, British, Dutch and Australian naval assets from the Dutch East Indies in a series of amphibious landings and surface naval battles culminating in the Battle of the Java Sea on February 27, 1942. Along with the occupation of the Dutch East Indies came the fall of Singapore on February 15, and the eventual reduction of the remaining American-Filipino defensive positions in

4214-572: The Midway operation, American carrier-based aircraft destroyed the four carriers of the Kidō Butai , catching the Japanese carriers at especially vulnerable times. With his air power destroyed and his forces not yet concentrated for a fleet battle, Yamamoto maneuvered his remaining forces, still strong on paper, to trap the American forces. He was unable to do so because his initial dispositions had placed his surface combatants too far from Midway, and because Admiral Raymond Spruance prudently withdrew to

4300-516: The Pacific for the first six months of the war, before suffering a major defeat at the Battle of Midway on June 4–7, 1942, which ultimately tilted the balance of power in the Pacific toward the United States. With the American fleet largely neutralized at Pearl Harbor, Yamamoto's Combined Fleet turned to the task of executing the larger Japanese war plan devised by the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy General Staff. The First Air Fleet made

4386-504: The STo submarines was stopped in March 1945, after two submarine aircraft carriers had been completed and a third finished as a fuel tanker. These were supplemented by two smaller Type AM submarines , originally designed as command submarines carrying reconnaissance floatplanes, but capable of carrying two Seirans . Owing to the reduced carrier submarine force, production of the Seiran was halted, with

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4472-457: The United States or Great Britain would negotiate an armistice or a peace treaty to end the war. But when the British, as well as the Americans, expressed no interest in negotiating, Japanese thoughts turned to securing their newly seized territory and acquiring more with an eye to driving one or more of their enemies out of the war. Competing plans were developed at this stage, including thrusts to

4558-474: The United States, it would not be enough that we take Guam and the Philippines , nor even Hawaii and San Francisco. To make victory certain, we would have to march into Washington and dictate the terms of peace in the White House . I wonder if our politicians [who speak so lightly of a Japanese-American war] have confidence as to the final outcome and are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices. This quote

4644-406: The United States. Two of the main reasons for Yamamoto's political survival were his immense popularity within the fleet, where he commanded the respect of his men and officers, and his close relations with the imperial family. He also had the acceptance of Japan's naval hierarchy: There was no officer more competent to lead the Combined Fleet to victory than Admiral Yamamoto. His daring plan for

4730-517: The aircraft's fuselage (with the tail also folding down) to allow for storage within the submarine's 3.5 m (11 ft) diameter cylindrical hangar. Armament was a single 850 kg (1,870 lb) torpedo or an equivalent weight in bombs. One 13 mm (0.51 in) Type 2 machine gun was mounted on a flexible mounting for use by the observer. As finalized, each I-400 class submarine had an enlarged watertight hangar capable of accommodating up to three M6A1s. The Seirans were to be launched from

4816-488: The aircrews who would ditch their planes nearby. By June 1942, the plan was to build a fleet of eighteen such submarines. This was later cut to nine, then five and finally just three as Japan's wartime fortunes declined. To equip the submarine aircraft carriers, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service requested that Aichi design a folding attack aircraft with a range of 1,500 km (810 nmi) and

4902-411: The area of the main battle, the United States could field only three carriers, eight cruisers, and 15 destroyers. The disparity appeared crushing. Only in numbers of carrier decks, available aircraft, and submarines was there near parity between the two sides. Despite various mishaps developed in the execution, it appeared that—barring something unforeseen—Yamamoto held all the cards. Unknown to Yamamoto,

4988-442: The attack. When asked by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe in mid-1941 about the outcome of a possible war with the United States, Yamamoto made a well-known and prophetic statement: If ordered to fight, he said, "I shall run wild considerably for the first six months or a year, but I have utterly no confidence for the second and third years." His prediction would be validated, as Japan easily conquered territories and islands in Asia and

5074-415: The commander on the spot, he did not punish Nagumo for his withdrawal. On the strategic, moral, and political level, the attack was a disaster for Japan, rousing Americans' thirst for revenge due to what is famously called a "sneak attack". The shock of the attack, coming in an unexpected place with devastating results and without a declaration of war , galvanized the American public's determination to avenge

5160-491: The development of land-based naval aviation, particularly the Mitsubishi G3M and G4M medium bombers . His demand for great range and the ability to carry a torpedo was intended to conform to Japanese conceptions of bleeding the American fleet as it advanced across the Pacific. The planes did achieve long range, but long-range fighter escorts were not available. These planes were lightly constructed and when fully fueled, they were especially vulnerable to enemy fire. This earned

5246-433: The early months of the war, the Japanese fleet scored a series of decisive naval victories. These gains were halted at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, in which four Japanese carriers were sunk. Yamamoto committed to the defense of the Solomon Islands in the Guadalcanal campaign , but was unable to prevent their capture. In April 1943, Yamamoto was killed after American code breakers intercepted his flight plans, enabling

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5332-543: The east to further defend Midway Island, believing (based on a mistaken submarine report ) the Japanese still intended to invade. Not knowing several battleships, including the powerful Yamato , were in the Japanese order of battle , he did not comprehend the severe risk of a night surface battle, in which his carriers and cruisers would be at a disadvantage. However, his move to the east avoided that possibility. Correctly perceiving he had lost and could not bring surface forces into action, Yamamoto withdrew. The defeat marked

5418-404: The effort to seize the islands of Tulagi and Guadalcanal for seaplane and airplane bases, and the town of Port Moresby on Papua New Guinea's south coast facing Australia. The Port Moresby (MO) Operation proved an unwelcome setback. Although Tulagi and Guadalcanal were taken, the Port Moresby invasion fleet was compelled to turn back when Takagi clashed with an American carrier task force in

5504-405: The enemy could seriously disturb Japanese merchant shipping, then the fleet would be endangered even more. Consequently, Yamamoto stayed in his post. With Tojo now in charge of Japan's highest political office, it became clear the Army would lead the Navy into a war about which Yamamoto had serious reservations. He wrote to an ultranationalist: Should hostilities once break out between Japan and

5590-478: The event, the first measure was aborted and the second delayed until after the American carriers had already sortied. The plan was a compromise and hastily prepared, apparently so it could be launched in time for the anniversary of the Battle of Tsushima , but appeared well thought out, well organized, and finely timed when viewed from a Japanese viewpoint. Against four fleet carriers, two light carriers, seven battleships, 14 cruisers and 42 destroyers likely to be in

5676-495: The ground. The damaged aircraft were disproportionately dive and torpedo bombers , seriously reducing the ability to exploit the first two waves' success, so the commander of the First Air Fleet, Naval Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo , withdrew. Yamamoto later lamented Nagumo's failure to seize the initiative to seek out and destroy the American carriers or further bombard various strategically important facilities on Oahu , such as Pearl's oil tanks. Nagumo had absolutely no idea where

5762-477: The gunboat USS Panay in December 1937. These issues made him a target of assassination threats by pro-war militarists. Throughout 1938, many young army and naval officers began to speak publicly against Yamamoto and certain other Japanese admirals, such as Mitsumasa Yonai and Shigeyoshi Inoue , for their strong opposition to a tripartite pact with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, which the admirals saw as inimical to "Japan's natural interests". Yamamoto received

5848-488: The high tide of Japanese expansion. Yamamoto's plan has been the subject of much criticism. Some historians state it violated the principle of concentration of force and was overly complex. Others point to similarly complex Allied operations, such as Operation MB8 , that were successful, and note the extent to which the American intelligence coup derailed the operation before it began. Had Yamamoto's dispositions not denied Nagumo adequate pre-attack reconnaissance assets, both

5934-451: The morale of the Combined Fleet. However, he had lost face as a result of the Midway defeat, and the Naval General Staff were disinclined to indulge in further gambles. This reduced Yamamoto to pursuing the classic defensive "decisive battle strategy" he had attempted to avoid. 1944 T%C5%8Dnankai earthquake The 1944 Tōnankai earthquake occurred at 13:35 local time (04:35 UTC ) on 7 December. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.1 on

6020-501: The more aggressive Army establishment, especially the officers of the Kwantung Army . He promoted a policy of a strong fleet to project force through gunboat diplomacy , rather than a fleet used primarily for the transport of invasion land forces, as some of his political opponents in the Army wanted. This stance led him to oppose the invasion of China . He also opposed war against the United States, partly because of his studies at Harvard University (1919–1921) and his two postings as

6106-426: The next months. On November 5, 1941, Yamamoto in his "Top Secret Operation Order no. 1" issued to the Combined Fleet, the Empire of Japan must drive out Britain and America from Greater East Asia and hasten the settlement of China, whereas, in the event that Britain and America were driven out from the Philippines and Dutch East Indies, an independent, self-supporting economic entity will be firmly established—mirroring

6192-536: The principle of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in another personification. Two days later, he set the date for the intended surprise attack in Pearl Harbor and that would be on December 7 for one simple reason: it was a Sunday, the day that American military personnel would be least alert to an attack. The First Air Fleet commenced preparations for the Pearl Harbor raid, solving

6278-708: The sea with their wings and stabilizers folded (for the I-401 ) or pushed overboard (for the I-400) to prevent capture. A single M6A1 has been preserved and resides in the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum . It is located in the Washington, DC suburb of Chantilly, Virginia near Dulles International Airport . The Seiran was surrendered to an American occupation contingent by Lt Kazuo Akatsuka of

6364-520: The southern coast of Honshū, with Shindo 3–4 in Tokyo. The observed teleseismic response and tsunami records have been matched using a rupture area of 220 x 140 km and a maximum displacement of 2.3 m. It has been suggested that splay faults, linking back into the plate interface, had an important role in generating large tsunamigenic earthquakes along the Nankai trough. The 1944 event could have occurred on such

6450-526: The submarines and aircraft. Launching all three Seirans took longer than expected: 30 minutes if floats were fitted, although this could be reduced to 14.5 minutes if the floats were not used. The first mission of the Seiran squadron, which was named the Shinryuu Tokubetsukougeki-tai ( 神龍特別攻撃隊 , meaning "God-Dragon Special Attack Squad") was to be a surprise air strike on the Gatun locks of

6536-472: The vulnerable carriers into a compact target. Yamamoto also oversaw the organization of a similar large land-based organization in the 11th Air Fleet, which would later use the G3M and G4M to neutralize American air forces in the Philippines and sink the British Force Z . In January 1941, Yamamoto went even further and proposed a radical revision of Japanese naval strategy. For two decades, in keeping with

6622-446: The west against British India , south against Australia , and east against the United States. Yamamoto was involved in this debate, supporting different plans at different times with varying degrees of enthusiasm and for varying purposes, including "horse-trading" for support of his own objectives. Plans included ideas as ambitious as invading India or Australia, or seizing Hawaii. These grandiose ventures were inevitably set aside, as

6708-446: The year [1939] ended. Yamamoto was promoted to admiral on November 15, 1940. This was in spite of the fact that when Hideki Tojo was appointed prime minister on October 18, 1941, many political observers thought that Yamamoto's career was essentially over. Tojo had been Yamamoto's old opponent from the time when the latter served as Japan's deputy naval minister and Tojo was the prime mover behind Japan's takeover of Manchuria . It

6794-577: Was a Marshal Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II . He commanded the fleet during the first months of Pacific War starting in 1941, and oversaw initial successes and reversals before his plane was shot down by enemy fire in 1943. Yamamoto graduated from the Imperial Naval Academy in 1904 and served in the Russo-Japanese War , where he lost two fingers at

6880-750: Was a success according to the parameters of the mission, which sought to sink at least four American battleships and prevent the United States from interfering in Japan's southward advance for at least six months. Three American aircraft carriers were also considered a choice target, but these were at sea at the time. In the end, four American battleships were sunk, four were damaged, and eleven other cruisers , destroyers , and auxiliaries were sunk or seriously damaged, 188 American aircraft were destroyed and 159 others damaged, and 2,403 people were killed and 1,178 others wounded. The Japanese lost 64 servicemen and only 29 aircraft, with 74 others damaged by anti-aircraft fire from

6966-522: Was believed that Yamamoto would be appointed to command the Yokosuka Naval Base , "a nice safe demotion with a big house and no power at all". However, after a brief stint in the post, a new Japanese cabinet was announced, and Yamamoto found himself returned to his position of power despite his open conflict with Tojo and other members of the Army's oligarchy who favored war with the European powers and

7052-505: Was essential to success at Midway. Nimitz also dispatched his carriers toward Midway early, and they passed the Japanese submarines en route to their picket line positions. Nimitz's carriers positioned themselves to ambush the Kidō Butai (striking force) when it struck Midway. A token cruiser and destroyer force was sent toward the Aleutians, but otherwise Nimitz ignored them. On June 4, 1942, days before Yamamoto expected them to interfere in

7138-466: Was eventually driven to capitalize on his popularity in the fleet by threatening to resign to get his way. Admiral Osami Nagano and the Naval General Staff eventually caved in to this pressure, but only insofar as approving the attack on Pearl Harbor. In January 1941 Yamamoto began developing a plan to attack the American base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which the Japanese continued to refine during

7224-404: Was later decided to fit the aircraft with detachable twin floats to increase its versatility. If conditions permitted, these would allow the aircraft to land next to the submarine, be recovered by crane and then re-used. The floats could be jettisoned in flight to increase performance or left off altogether for one-way missions. The Seiran's wings rotated 90 degrees and folded hydraulically against

7310-546: Was spread by the militarists, minus the last sentence, so it was interpreted in America as a boast that Japan would conquer the entire continental United States. The omitted sentence showed Yamamoto's counsel of caution towards a war that could cost Japan dearly. Nevertheless, Yamamoto accepted the reality of impending war and planned for a quick victory by destroying the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in

7396-519: Was the cruiser Isuzu in 1928, followed by the aircraft carrier Akagi . He participated in the London Naval Conference 1930 as a rear admiral and the London Naval Conference 1935 as a vice admiral, as the growing military influence on the government at the time deemed that a career military specialist needed to accompany the diplomats to the arms limitations talks. Yamamoto was a strong proponent of naval aviation and served as head of

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