1940 Military Mission to Germany, Italy,....

[Felix C]

Potter's book on Yamashita indicates the latter stating the naval mission stayed behind after the German invasion of Russia and returned to Japan via submarine travel to Buenos Aires then by neutral steamer to Japan. Is this accurate?
What submarine if so?

[fontessa]

Hello Felix、

Potter's book on Yamashita indicates the latter stating the naval mission stayed behind after the German invasion of Russia and returned to Japan via submarine travel to Buenos Aires then by neutral steamer to Japan. Is this accurate?

No, the above is incorrect.
Due to the signs of the German-Soviet war, the Yamashita Inspection Team shortened the schedule in Italy and returned to Japan by the Siberian Railway with the following schedule.
Departure from Berlin: 17 June 1941
Through Moscow: 19 June 1941
Arrival at Manchuria: 26 June 1941
Arriving in Tokyo: 7 July 1941

fontessa

[Felix C]

The book mentions the Army portion of the delegation left. The Naval officers elected to stay on and then came home via the mentioned process. Is the latter correct?

[fontessa]

Hello Felix,

・Potter's book on Yamashita indicates the latter stating the naval mission stayed behind after the German invasion of Russia
・The Naval officers elected to stay

Does the book say that Navy officers joined the mission? Yamashita inspection team consisted of only Army officers, and there were a German Army inspection team and a German Air Force inspection team.

fontessa

[Akira Takizawa]

Besides Yamashita army mission, there was naval mission to Germany. Naval mission returned to Japan via South America between July and August. I don't know the details of their return. But, submarine seems nonsense. The traffics by ship and airplane were still working in 1941. I believe that they traveled from Europe to South America by ship or airplane.

https://m-repo.lib.meiji.ac.jp/dspace/b ... 65_159.pdf

Taki

[Felix C]

Thanks everyone for responding.
The book mentions that a military mission went to Europe via the USSR RR. Army and Navy.
It would be good to know how the naval mission traveled to Japan.

[cstunts]

See:

“The Japanese Military Mission to Italy in 1941,” VADM Giuseppe Fioravanzo, Proceedings, January 1956, 24–31.

IJN officers/experts visited Italy between May 18, 1941 & June 8, 1941, led by RADM Abe Koki. They spent time in Rome talking w/their Italian naval counterparts and also visited Taranto, where they expressed much interest in the British torpedo attack there the year before.

HTH