Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff (軍令部 Gunreibu?) was the highest organ within the Imperial Japanese Navy.　In charge of planning and operations, it was headed by an Admiral headquartered in Tokyo.

Contents

[edit] History

Created in 1893, the Navy General Staff took over operational (as opposed to administrative) authority over the Imperial Japanese Navy from the Navy Ministry. It was responsible for the planning and execution of national defense strategy, and reported directly to the Emperor, and not to the Prime Minister, Diet of Japan or even the Navy Ministry. It was always headed by an admiral on active duty, and was based in Tokyo.

"The ministry was responsible for the naval budget, ship construction, weapons procurement, personnel, relations with the Diet and the cabinet and broad matters of naval policy. The General Staff directed the operations of the fleet and the preparation of war plans" [1].

After the Washington Naval Conference of 1921-22, where Japan agreed to keeping the size of its fleet smaller than that of the United Kingdom and the United States, the Imperial Japanese Navy became divided into mutually hostile into Fleet Faction and Treaty Faction political cliques. The Navy Ministry tended to be pro-Treaty Faction and was anxious to maintain the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. However the Navy General Staff came to be dominated by the Fleet faction, and gradually gained ascendancy in the 1930s with increasing Japanese militarism.The Navy General Staff pushed through the attack on Pearl Harbor against the wishes of the more diplomatic Navy Ministry.

After 1937, both the Navy Minister and the Chief of the Navy General Staff were members of the Imperial General Headquarters.

With the defeat of the Empire of Japan in World War II, the Navy General Staff was abolished together with the Imperial Japanese Navy by the American occupation authorities in November 1945 and was not revived by the post-war Constitution of Japan.

[edit] Organization

The General Staff was organized as follows:

  • 1st Section: Operations Bureau
  • 2nd Section: Weapons and Mobilization Bureau
  • 3rd Section: Intelligence Bureau
  • 4th Section: Communications Bureau

[edit] Chiefs of the Naval General Staff

Date Rank Name Notes
1 Mar 8, 1889 Rear Admiral Ito Toshiyoshi
2 May 17, 1889 Rear Admiral Arichi Shinanojo
3 Jun 17, 1891 Rear Admiral Inoue Yoshika
4 Dec 12, 1892 Vice Admiral Nakamuta Kuranosuke
5 Jul 18, 1894 Vice Admiral Kabayama Sukenori Admiral from May 10, 1895
6 May 11, 1895 Vice Admiral Ito Sukeyuki Admiral from Sep 28, 1898
7 Dec 20, 1905 Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō
8 Dec 1, 1909 Vice Admiral Ijuin Gorō Admiral from Dec 1, 1910
9 Apr 22, 1914 Vice Admiral Shimamura Hayao Admiral from Aug 28, 1915
10 Dec 1, 1920 Admiral Yamashita Gentarō
11 Apr 15, 1925 Admiral Suzuki Kantarō
12 Jan 22, 1929 Admiral Kato Hiroharu
13 Jun 11, 1930 Vice Admiral Taniguchi Naomi Admiral from May 10, 1895
14 Feb 2, 1932 Admiral Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu Fleet Admiral from May 27, 1932
15 Apr 9, 1941 Admiral Nagano Osami Fleet Admiral from June 21, 1943
16 Feb 21, 1944 Admiral Shimada Shigetarō
17 Aug 2, 1944 Admiral Oikawa Koshirō
18 May 29, 1945 Admiral Toyoda Soemu
Oct 15, 1945 Office abolished

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Spector
v • d • e
Imperial Japanese Navy

[edit] References

[edit] Books

  • Asada, Sadao (2006). From Mahan to Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1557500428. 
  • Schencking, J. Charles (2005). Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804749779. 
  • Spector, Ronald (1985). Eagle Against the Sun. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0394741013. 

[edit] External links

Languages