Japanese destroyers in the Med in WW1

[Andy H]

Does anyone have details of Japanese destroyer activities in the Meditterean during WW1?

Andy from the Shire

[David C. Clarke]

Hi Andy, there's not much written on it, but:

In 1917, soon after Germany's declaration of an unrestricted U-Boat campaign against Allied shipping, Japan acceded to a British request for a Japanese Destroyer Division to be sent to the Mediterranean, where some 34 enemy submarines, both German and Austrian, were causing havoc with Allied shipping. That March, the Japanese navy organized a special service squadron (one of two put at the service of her allies), consisting of a cruiser and two destroyer divisions, each composed of four of the navy's newest destroyers. Arriving in Malta in April at the height of the U'Boat attacks, the small Japanese contingent under Rear Admiral Sato Kozo was immediately put to work escorting Allied troopships between Marseilles, Taranto, and ports in egypt. For the next year and a half, the squadron tooj part in some 348 escort missions, involving 750 ships and covering over 240,000 nautical miles. The squadron quickly earned such an excellent reputation for smart shiphandling that the Royal Navy eventually turned over two of its destroyers to be manned by Japanese crews for the duration of the war. The Japanese contingent was even blooded duing the Mediterranean campaign. One destroyer, Sakaki, was torpedoed and lost 59 officers and men, including her skipper, but made it back to Malta and eventually rejoined the squadron. Despite the Japan's force's inability to claim a U-Boat sinking, Allied losses dropped sharply after the Japanese arrival on station....

"Kaigun" by David C. Evans and Mark R. Peattie, page 169.
I hope this helps. Best regards, David

[David C. Clarke]

Oh yes Andy, I have another source, Halpern's "The Naval War in the Mediterranean" which says (page 344) that the initial force of cruiser Akashi and eight Kaba class 650 ton destroyers was supplemented by
4 new Momo class 835 ton destroyers of the 15th Flotilla when armored cruiser Idzumo relieved cruiser Akashi in August 1917. Two British destroyers (H-class, 760 tons) Minstrel and Nemesis (renamed Sendan and Kanran, respectively) were manned by Japanese crews.
Best Regards, David

[Andy H]

A day late but thanks for the info, I've sent an email to my local library requesting the books you mentioned.

Take care my friend

[Lars EP]

Gentlemen...

Most interesting and informative. Never heard about it before, so I'm very pleased having learned something new.

Regards --- Lars

[voltar]

For a while i've been wondering what the heck did the Japanese do during ww1. This fills me in. Did Japanese forces partake in any other aspects of ww1?

[Mike R]

They also took over Germany's colonial possessions in the East and Pacific. The major one that comes to my mind is Tsing-tau..

Regards,
-Mike

[voltar]

So Germanys pacific colonies became propery of Japan post ww1?

[Peter H]

Japan's naval war:

http://www.nwc.navy.mil/press/Review/20 ... t3-w00.htm

[Gwynn Compton]

Not completely. New Zealand seized Samoa early in the war, and we gained it, after the war. It was to become New Zealand's disasterous experiment in colonisation.

Gwynn

[Balrog]

why was it a disaster? and issn't samoa now "american somoa"? or is that another piece of an island chain? thank you for any info.

[Robert Hurst]

Hi Jeol

Samoa is divided into Western Samoa/American Samoa. Western Samoa was originally occupied by the Germans up until 1914 when it was taken over by New Zealand. After World War 1, New Zealand was given the Mandate to run Western Samoa by the League of Nations.

In the early Sixties or Seventies Western Samoa became an Independent Nation within the British Commonwealth.

Regards

Bob

[Gwynn Compton]

New Zealand did not manage Western Samoa well at all. The Colonial Administrators allowed a ship, which they knew carried influenza, to come ashore, which led to terrible casualties in the Samoan population. Later, when Samoan independence became a more pressing issue, New Zealand's response to the Mau (opposition) was poor, leading in one case I believe to a massacre.

In those days the New Zealand Government often viewed itself as the "Britain of the Pacific" and to some extent does so now. Though Australia's new commitment to the Pacific is now shifting the focus away from New Zealand, and towards Australia.

Gwynn

[Cantankerous]

So Germanys pacific colonies became propery of Japan post ww1?

The Marshall Islands, the Caroline Islands, the Marianas, Nauru, and Palau were put under Japanese control under the 1919 Versailles Treaty, which robbed Germany of all colonies in the developing world.

[stulev]

Nauru was occupied by Australia not Japan