Final Destruction | Nihon Kaigun
Final Destruction of the Imperial Japanese Navy
(July 24 & 28, 1945)

Well, you know what they say: "What Goes Around, Comes Around." By July, 1945, Nihon Kaigun had been reduced to such a state of impotence that American and British surface forces ranged at will off the coasts of the Home Islands. The pitiful remnants of the once-proud Japanese fleet were confined to harbor; damaged and bereft of fuel. In late July, Task Force 38, under Admiral Halsey, came to administer the coup de grace. The results were so one-sided as to be hardly worth being called a battle (most of the Japanese vessels couldn't even get under way). Still, for the US Navy, it was a fitting close to a war that had begun for them at Pearl Harbor. This was truly the end of the road for the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Final DestructionJapanAllied
Starting Forces Pretty much whatever had survived the fighting in the Phillipines. x very, very many
Losses July 24
x1 sunk (Amagi)
x1 damaged (Katsuragi)
x1 sunk (Kaiyo)
x1 sunk (Hyuga)
x1 sunk (Tone)
+ Other vessels damaged

July 28
x2 sunk (Haruna, Ise)
x1 sunk (Aoba)
x1 sunk (Oyodo)
+ Other vessels damaged

x? destroyed

Links From Related Partner Sites
WW2DB article on Preparations for Invasion of Japan


Map of the Philippine Sea from Japan to the CarolinesF4U-1D Corsair with Marine Squadron 216 aboard USS Wasp (Essex-class) being moved onto the deck-edge elevator on its way to the hangar deck following a strike against targets in and around Tokyo, Japan, Feb 17, 1945.Map of Taiwan (Formosa) indicating the locations of Prisoner-of-War facilities, 1945View from the island of USS Hornet (Essex-class) looking aft and leading the USS Bonne Homme Richard, USS Belleau Wood, and USS San Jacinto during gunnery exercises, 12 Jun 1945 off the Philippines.Ground crewmen arming an FG-1D Corsair of Marine Fighting Squadron 312, the “Checkerboarders,” at Kadena airfield, Okinawa, Japan, Apr-Aug 1945
Map of the Philippine Sea from Japan to the CarolinesF4U-1D Corsair with Marine Squadron 216 aboard USS Wasp (Essex-class) being moved onto the deck-edge elevator on its way to the hangar deck following a strike against targets in and around Tokyo, Japan, Feb 17, 1945.Map of Taiwan (Formosa) indicating the locations of Prisoner-of-War facilities, 1945View from the island of USS Hornet (Essex-class) looking aft and leading the USS Bonne Homme Richard, USS Belleau Wood, and USS San Jacinto during gunnery exercises, 12 Jun 1945 off the Philippines.Ground crewmen arming an FG-1D Corsair of Marine Fighting Squadron 312, the “Checkerboarders,” at Kadena airfield, Okinawa, Japan, Apr-Aug 1945
Strike photo taken by US carrier planes during an air attack on Kure Naval Arsenal, Hiroshima, Japan, Jul 1945. Note anti-aircraft bursts and screening smoke in addition to bomb impacts.TBM Avenger and SB2C Helldiver bombers dropped their load on the Japanese city of Hakodate, Jul 1945Estimated Japanese troop depositions in Kyushu, Japan, 9 Jul 1945Planes from USS Essex on a raid over Japan on 10 Jul 1945 with Mt Fuji in the background. Plane in foreground is a TBM Avenger and those beyond are SB2C Helldivers.Battleship Indiana, battleship Massachusetts, and cruiser Quincy bombarding Kamaishi, Iwate, Japan, 14 Jul 1945
Strike photo taken by US carrier planes during an air attack on Kure Naval Arsenal, Hiroshima, Japan, Jul 1945. Note anti-aircraft bursts and screening smoke in addition to bomb impacts.TBM Avenger and SB2C Helldiver bombers dropped their load on the Japanese city of Hakodate, Jul 1945Estimated Japanese troop depositions in Kyushu, Japan, 9 Jul 1945Planes from USS Essex on a raid over Japan on 10 Jul 1945 with Mt Fuji in the background. Plane in foreground is a TBM Avenger and those beyond are SB2C Helldivers.Battleship Indiana, battleship Massachusetts, and cruiser Quincy bombarding Kamaishi, Iwate, Japan, 14 Jul 1945

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