Cargo for Midway invasion

[john whitman]

To all:

I have been working on the units and equipment carried by marus for the invasion of Midway.

Can anyone add details to what I have here?

Sources and abbreviations are:
+ = combinedfleet.com TROM
^ = Noma, Japanese Merchant Ships at War
@ = tokusetsukansen web site
NCU = Naval Construction Unit
SNLF = Special naval landing force

@^Argentina Maru 12,759 tons, Kure 5th SNLF 816 men aboard (of 1,100 in the unit) unknown number of Toku Daihatsus and 14m Daihatsu landing craft, ammo, food

@+Kamikawa Maru 6,860 tons, operates as a seaplane carrier, 14 F1N2 and 4 E8N2 aircraft, tokusetsukansen says 8 and 4

@^Brazil Maru 12,752 tons, Headquarters, 2nd Combined SNLF, elements Yokosuka 5th SNLF (1,450 men in the unit), elements 11th NCU with equipment (1,595 men in the unit)

@+Goshu Maru 8,592 tons, Imieji Seaplane Unit (picked up from Marshall I.), Third Air (3rd Air Base Unit?) base equipment, air hose equipment, munitions, ground crews, aviation fuel, all picked up at Marshall I., unknown SNLF men

@+Zenyo Maru 6,442 tons, Main body, Ichiki Detachment w Colonel Ichiki aboard, 4 rifle companies, 1 machine gun company, 1 infantry gun platoon, 1 engineer company, 1 antitank company, 1 non-organic antitank company, approx. 2,507 men in
Nankai Maru and Zenyo Maru

@^+Nankai Maru 8,416 tons, elements, Ichiki Detachment

@+Kano Maru 6,940 tons, 12th NCU 650 men aboard (of 1,200 men in the unit), gravel, other construction materials

@^+Hokuroku Maru 8,360 tons, elements, 11th NCU and 12th NCU

@+Meiyo Maru 5,627 tons, elements, 11th NCU

^+Kiyosumi Maru 6,991 tons, elements, Kure 5th SNLF, unknown type of heavy equipment

@+Azuma Maru 6,646 tons, elements, 11th NCU

+Toa Maru No. 2 6,732 tons, because she departed from Kure, one could assume she had elements and supplies of NCUs aboard

@+Kirishima Maru 5,480 tons, elements, 12th NCU

@+Keiyo Maru 6,442 tons, elements, 11th NCU, equipment

+Akebono Maru 10,108, oil

Somewhere in the convoy was the Navy's 4th Survey Party

John

[Carl Schwamberger]

In terms of bodies that looks like a huge force for such small islands. Even were the Ichiki Det withdrawn after the capture the place is going to demand a fair amount of supply.

[LineDoggie]

In terms of bodies that looks like a huge force for such small islands. Even were the Ichiki Det withdrawn after the capture the place is going to demand a fair amount of supply.

Well, it's possible the Japanese Staff were giving the invasion force an overstrength in anticipation of heavy casualties in taking Midway itself (ala Wake).

[wdgysin]

I would like to continue this thread that John started. I am looking for information on the IJA & IJN ground units involved in the aborted Midway invasion. I would like to see if one of our Japanese members could tell me if Senshi Sōsho lists a breakdown of units and strengths including small detachments. Also if they have anything further than what John has already listed above regarding the loading of the units and stores and what transports they were in. I have been researching the Ichiki Detachment and I have a pretty good breakdown of it's composition from Bartsch's Victory Fever on Guadalcanal. There are a few questions I have regarding the detachment.

1. If the detachment was formed from the II Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, shouldn't the companies be numbered 5,6,7 & 8?

2. Where and when was the detachment mobilized and was the whole 28th Infantry Regiment mobilized at the same time?

3. If the Regimental HQ and Regimental Gun and AT Companies were taken with the detachment, what was left behind with the 7th Division? Did the I and III Battalions then fall directly under 7th Division HQ?

4. When I look at the commanders of the 28th Infantry Regiment, the next one doesn't appear until January 21, 1943 long after Col Ichiki's demise in August 1942. Were the missing units of the 28th Infantry Regiment not reformed until that time?

As for the IJN forces:

5. Was there a Special Base Force assigned to the Midway invasion, or would it have been formed from the CSNLF troops after occupation of Midway?

[Akira Takizawa]

1. If the detachment was formed from the II Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, shouldn't the companies be numbered 5,6,7 & 8?

It was not 2nd Battalion, but 1st Battalion. So, the companies' numbers were 1st to 4th.

2. Where and when was the detachment mobilized

It was formed at Asahikawa, Hokkaido on May 5th, 1942.

> and was the whole 28th Infantry Regiment mobilized at the same time?

28th Infantry Regiment was mobilized for Ichiki Detachment. But, it was reduced formation and had only one battalion.

3. If the Regimental HQ and Regimental Gun and AT Companies were taken with the detachment, what was left behind with the 7th Division? Did the I and III Battalions then fall directly under 7th Division HQ?

As I said, 28th Infantry Regiment was mobilized in reduced formation. 2nd and 3rd Battalions were not mobilized.

4. When I look at the commanders of the 28th Infantry Regiment, the next one doesn't appear until January 21, 1943 long after Col Ichiki's demise in August 1942. Were the missing units of the 28th Infantry Regiment not reformed until that time?

28th Infantry Regiment on Guadalcanal was commanded by acting commander between Col. Ichiki and the next commander.

As for the IJN forces:

5. Was there a Special Base Force assigned to the Midway invasion, or would it have been formed from the CSNLF troops after occupation of Midway?

No Special Base Force was assigned. It was usual that Special Base Force was formed from units on occupied place. So, it would have been formed from Navy occupation units of Midway, if Midway had been occupied.

Taki

[hisashi]

>3. If the Regimental HQ and Regimental Gun and AT Companies were taken with the detachment, what was left behind with the 7th Division? Did the I and III Battalions then fall directly under 7th Division HQ?

In general, one major was 'attached' to each infantry regiment HQ, in addition to adjutant. According to an officer attached to an engineer regiment, attached officer supervised training plan and inspected war accounting records on behalf of regimental leader. His seniority varied; in one case a just-promoted major occupied that slot, and in another a lieutenant colonel was attached to the HQ. Because 7th division was a 'reserved' division for the defense of Hokkaido, the system would work as long as attached major operated the HQ and battalion leaders operated his unit. But if any emergency occurred, I guessed the most senior major (or LtCol if any) would took the command of the regiment. Ichiki's adjutant officer went to Guadalcanal.

[wdgysin]

Thanks Taki and Hisashi. You confirmed most of what I already suspected. A big correction is the confirmation that the I Battalion was in the
Ichiki Detachment and not the II Battalion as listed in most western books on the subject. The detachment was basically a beefed up Battalion battle group.
I've come across a lot of mistakes that are being repeated in western sources about the Detachment. Some sources assume that because the Regimental HQ and Gun Companies were mobilized along with the I Battalion, that this meant the other two battalions were mobilized also. Another common mistake is that the Detachment went to Saipan after the cancellation of Operation MI as stated in some of the transport TROMs on the Combined Fleet website, where it actually was debarked at Guam on 13 June along with the 2nd CSNLF and, I believe (but have not yet confirmed) all the rest of the Midway Invasion Force.
Another mistake in some western sources has to do with the division of the Detachment at Truk into a first and second echelon for landing at Guadalcanal. As stated in Bartsch's book Victory Fever on Guadalcanal (mostly from Inui Genjiro's diary), the Destroyers transporting the first echelon could only take 150 troops each so Col Ichiki was forced to pare down each I Battalion company to 105 troops and cut all the other elements as well. Since the destroyers could not load and unload the guns of the Detachment, the artillery units were left with the second echelon (except for the Battalion Gun Platoon of 2 70mm howitzers that could be broken down for transport). The second echelon of the Detachment, which departed on the slower transports, consisted of the remainders of each Company and the other units. This was used to form the Kuma Battalion with the remains of the first echelon (which were few) after the defeat at the Tenaru River (Alligator Creek) battle. Kuma means bear in Japanese, the Heidan-Mojifu (force code) designator for the 7th Division, which the Ichiki Detachment had been drawn from, thus alluding to the unit's origins.
I am still attempting to locate any information on the Midway Invasion Force ground units that the Senshi Sōsho might have. I am working up an order of battle with units, commanders, strengths and equipment that I will post when further along. Any help with information and sources anyone could provide will be appreciated.

[Akira Takizawa]

The OOB of Midway Invasion Force on Senshi Sosho is shown at the following page.

http://www10.atwiki.jp/admiralnagumo/pages/34.html

I past the OOB of ground units below.

（占領隊）
[第二聯合特別陸戦隊司令部]
　司令官　　　大田実少将
　首席参謀　　米内四郎少佐
　機関参謀　　山本寿彦機関少佐

第二聯合特別陸戦隊（司令官　大田実少将）６３６名
　横須賀鎮守府第五特別陸戦隊（司令官　安田義達大佐）１４５０名
　呉鎮守府第五特別陸戦隊（司令官　林 鉦次郎中佐）１１００名

陸軍一木支隊（２０００名）
　歩兵第二十八聯隊（聯隊長　一木清直大佐）
　工兵第七聯隊第一中隊
　独立速射砲第八中隊

設営隊（司令　門前鼎大佐）
　第十一設営隊（横須賀）１７５０名
　第十二設営隊（呉）１３００名

[wdgysin]

Thanks again Taki!