The was a fleet of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

during

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 wo ...

, primarily responsible for control of the

Tsushima Strait or Eastern Channel (; ''Dongsuro'') is a channel of the Korea Strait, which lies between Korea and Japan, connecting the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea, and the East China Sea. The strait is the channel to the east and southeast of Tsushima Isl ...

History

The IJN 7th Fleet was formed on 15 April 1945, during the closing stages of

. It was essentially an administrative fleet tasked with coordinating local defenses and control of the

sea lane A sea lane, sea road or shipping lane is a regularly used navigable route for large water vessels (ships) on wide waterways such as oceans and large lakes, and is preferably safe, direct and economic. During the Age of Sail, they were determined ...

s between northern

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

and far western

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

, and the

Korean peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

. It was headquartered at

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 Hon ...

. The “fleet” was assigned an old minelayer, converted merchant vessels and a small number of anti-submarine patrol boats, so that its actual combat potential was almost nonexistent. It was disbanded at the end of World War II.D'Albas, Death of a Navy The commander of the IJN 7th Fleet concurrently held the post of commander in chief of the 1st Escort Fleet.

Commanders of the IJN 7th Fleet

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ijn 7th Fleet 7 Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945