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Convoy Hi-71
was one of the World War II Hi convoys of fast tankers and troop transports from Japan to Singapore. The heavily defended convoy was specially loaded with reinforcements for defense of the Philippines, and encountered a wolfpack of United States Navy submarines in the South China Sea after being scattered by an August 1944 typhoon. Personnel losses were high because heavy seas prevented rescue of crewmen from sunken ships. Background Japanese shipping through the South China Sea carried much of the food sustaining the Japanese population, the petroleum fueling Japan's aircraft and warships, and the raw materials for World War II. Japanese aircraft and warships patrolled South China Sea shipping lanes from bases in the Philippines; and loss of those bases would threaten the flow of resources needed to defend the Empire of Japan. As Allied forces converged to fulfill Douglas MacArthur's promised return, Japan implemented Operation ''Shō'' to defend the Philippines. Convoy Hi- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolfpack (naval Tactic)
The wolfpack was a convoy attack tactic employed in the Second World War. It was used principally by the U-boats of the during the Battle of the Atlantic, and by the submarines of the United States Navy in the Pacific War. The idea of a co-ordinated submarine attack on convoys had been proposed during the First World War but had had no success. In the Atlantic during the Second World War, the Germans had considerable successes with their wolfpack attacks but were ultimately defeated by the Allies. In the Pacific, the American submarine force was able to devastate Japan’s merchant marine, though this was not solely due to the wolfpack tactic. Wolfpacks fell out of use during the Cold War as the role of the submarine changed and as convoys became rare. World War I During the (German war on trade) Allies of World War I, Allied ships travelled independently prior to the introduction of the convoy system and were vulnerable to attacks by U-boats operating as 'lone wolves'. By gatheri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Destroyer Yūnagi (1924)
The Japanese destroyer was one of nine destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1920s. During the Pacific War, she participated in the occupation of the Gilbert Islands and the Battle of Wake Island in December 1941 and then the occupations of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in early 1942. Design and description The ''Kamikaze'' class was an improved version of the s. The ships had an overall length of and were between perpendiculars. They had a beam of , and a mean draft of . The ''Kamikaze''-class ships displaced at standard load and at deep load.Whitley, p. 189 They were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce , which would propel the ships at . During her sea trials, ''Yūnagi'' comfortably exceeded her designed speed, reaching .Gardiner & Gray, p. 245 The ships carried of fuel oil which gave them a range of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Destroyer Asakaze (1922)
The Japanese destroyer was one of nine destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1920s. During the Pacific War, she participated in the Philippines Campaign in December 1941 and the Dutch East Indies Campaign in early 1942. She took part in the Battle of Sunda Strait in March and helped to sink two Allied cruisers. She was sunk by in August 1944. Design and description The ''Kamikaze'' class was an improved version of the s. The ships had an overall length of and were between perpendiculars. They had a beam of , and a mean draft of . The ''Kamikaze''-class ships displaced at standard load and at deep load.Whitley, p. 189 They were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce , which would propel the ships at . During sea trials, the ships comfortably exceeded their designed speeds, reaching .Gardiner & Gray, p. 245 The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luzon Strait
The Luzon Strait (Tagalog: ''Kipot ng Luzon'', ) is the strait between Luzon and Taiwan. The strait thereby connects the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea in the western Pacific Ocean. This body of water is an important strait for shipping and communications. Many ships from the Americas use this route to go to important East Asian ports. Many submarine communications cables pass through the Luzon Strait. These cables provide important data and telephony services to mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. Description The Luzon Strait is approximately wide containing a number of islands belonging to the Philippines that are grouped into two: the islands comprising the province of Batanes and the Babuyan Islands, which are part of the province of Cagayan. The strait is divided into a number of smaller channels. The Babuyan Channel separates Luzon from the Babuyan Islands, which is separated from Batanes by the . Batanes is separated from Taiwan by t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pescadores
The Penghu ( , Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, about west of the main island of Taiwan across the Penghu Channel, covering an area of . The archipelago collectively forms of Taiwan and is the smallest county of Taiwan. The largest city is Magong, on the largest island, which is also named Magong. The Penghu islands first appear in the historical record in the Tang dynasty and were inhabited by Chinese people under the Southern Song dynasty, during which they were attached to Jinjiang County of Fujian. The archipelago was formally incorporated as an administrative unit of China in 1281 under Tong'an County of Jiangzhe Province in the Yuan dynasty. It continued to be controlled by Imperial China with brief European occupations by the Dutch Empire (1622–1624) and Second French colonial empire (1885), until it was ceded to the Empire of Japan in 1895. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mako Guard District
The was the major navy base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in Taiwan before and during World War II. Located in Mako , (present-day Makung, Pescadores Islands, Republic of China), the Mako Guard District was responsible for control of the strategic Straits of Taiwan and for patrols along the Taiwan and China coastlines and in the South China Sea. It was disbanded in 1943, and reestablished as the Takao Guard District at Takao on the Taiwan main island. History The were second tier naval bases, similar to the first tier , with docking, fueling and resupply facilities, but typically lacked a shipyard or training school. They tended to be established by strategic waterways or major port cities for defensive purposes. In concept, the Guard District was similar to the United States Navy Sea Frontiers concept. the Guard District maintained a small garrison force of ships and Naval Land Forces which reported directly to the Guard District commander, and hosted detachments of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nakajima B5N
The Nakajima B5N (, World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft, Allied reporting name "Kate") was the standard Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based torpedo bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) for much of World War II. It also served as a High level bombing, high level bomber. Although the B5N was substantially faster and more capable than its Allied counterparts, the American Douglas TBD Devastator monoplane (the U.S. Navy's first all-metal, carrier-borne monoplane of any type with retracting gear), and the British Fairey Swordfish and Fairey Albacore torpedo biplanes, it was nearing obsolescence by 1941. Nevertheless, the B5N operated throughout the whole war, due to the delayed development of its successor, the Nakajima B6N, B6N. In the early part of the Pacific War, when flown by well-trained IJN aircrews and as part of well-coordinated attacks, the B5N achieved particular successes at the battles of Attack on Pearl Harbor, Pearl Harbor, Battle of Coral Sea, Cora ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moji-ku, Kitakyūshū
is a Japanese Wards of Japan, ward of the city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture. It is the former city of Moji which was one of five merged to create Kitakyūshū in 1963. It faces the city of Shimonoseki across the Kanmon Straits between Honshū and Kyūshū. The ward's area is 73.37 km2. It had a population of 114,754 as of 2000. History Moji was first made into a port by Suematsu Kenchō with the financial backing of Shibusawa Eiichi in 1889. It was chiefly used for the transportation of coal, though there is a traditional song about the sale of bananas imported into Moji from Southeast Asia which survives to this day (''Banana no tataki-uri''). An imperial decree in July 1899 established Moji as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom.US Department of State. (1906)''A digest of international law as embodied in diplomatic discussions, treaties and other international agreements'' (John Bassett Moore, ed.), Vol. 5, p. 759 In 1905, Moji ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperial Japanese Army
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during the Meiji period, fought in numerous conflicts including the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and World War II, and became a dominant force in Japanese politics. Initially formed from domain armies after the Meiji Restoration, it evolved into a powerful modern military influenced by French and German models. The IJA was responsible for several overseas military campaigns, including the invasion of Manchuria, involvement in the Boxer Rebellion, and fighting across the Asia-Pacific during the Pacific War. Notorious for committing widespread Japanese war crimes, war crimes, the army was dissolved after Japan's surrender in 1945, and its functions were succeeded by the Japan Ground Self-D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with distinction in World War I; as Chief of Staff of the United States Army, chief of staff of the United States Army from 1930 to 1935; as Supreme Commander, South West Pacific Area, Southwest Pacific Area, from 1942 to 1945 during WWII; as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers overseeing the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951; and as head of the United Nations Command in the Korean War from 1950 to 1951. MacArthur was nominated for the Medal of Honor three times, and awarded it for his WWII service in the Philippines. He is one of only five people to hold the rank of General of the Army, and the only person to hold the rank of Field Marshal (Philippines), Field Marshal in the Philippine Army. MacArthur, the son of Medal of Honor recipient ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Empire Of Japan
The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, 1910 to Japanese Instrument of Surrender, 1945, it included the Japanese archipelago, the Kuril Islands, Kurils, Karafuto Prefecture, Karafuto, Korea under Japanese rule, Korea, and Taiwan under Japanese rule, Taiwan. The South Seas Mandate and Foreign concessions in China#List of concessions, concessions such as the Kwantung Leased Territory were ''de jure'' not internal parts of the empire but dependent territories. In the closing stages of World War II, with Japan defeated alongside the rest of the Axis powers, the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, formalized surrender was issued on September 2, 1945, in compliance with the Potsdam Declaration of the Allies of World War II, Allies, and the empire's territory subsequent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
