Japan has always attracted close attention with its originality. Given the geographical location, great importance in this island country is attached to the development of the navy.
general information
In total, the Japanese fleet serves a little more than 45.5 thousand military and 3.7 thousand civilians. Of these, 8, 000 are part of naval aviation. 1, 100 volunteers who left military service upon termination of contracts or length of service are assigned as a permanent reserve. About 12 thousand people work in the Office of Maritime Safety (UBM).
As a small island nation, Japan has a fairly powerful fleet. The Navy, the photo of individual units of which can be seen in the article, has an impressive number of ships and submarines in service. The main class warships were composed of squadrons based mainly on the main naval base of Yokosuka.
- The squadron with escort ships includes four flotillas where destroyers are assigned.
- The submarine unit includes 2 groups of submarines.
- In addition to the Yokosuk base, the Kure naval base also serves as the base for the two flotilla of minesweepers.
- The coastal water protection flotillas are deployed at military bases: Yokosuka, Kure, Sasebo, Maizuru and Ominato. There are only five such units. This includes obsolete destroyers and frigates, landing ships, combat boats, auxiliary vessels.
The training of recruits is carried out on training ships.
The Japanese Navy today includes a total of 447 units of various types of ships and submarines. These are warships and patrol ships, boats and support vessels located, as already noted, at the main naval bases - Yokosuka, Sasebo, Kure, and auxiliary - Maizuru, Ominato and Hanshin.
Japan’s naval self-defense forces also contain aviation. These are aircraft - 190 units, and helicopters - 140 units. Of these, 86 patrol and anti-submarine aircraft R-3C "Orion", as well as 79 helicopters SH-60J Seahawk.
History reference
Until 1945, the imperial fleet of Japan existed. It was disbanded when the Second World War ended and the Japanese Islands were under the influence of occupation by the combined allied forces. Japan, whose Navy was only recreated only in 1952, had the right to contain it only as a self-defense force.
The imperial fleet of Japan, which existed since 1869, actively manifested itself in the Japanese-Chinese (1894-1895 gg.), Russian-Japanese (1904-1905 gg.), The First and Second World Wars.
Before World War II, Japan had the most powerful carrier fleet on the planet, consisting of 9 aircraft carriers, while in the North American fleet there were only seven, of which four were deployed in the Atlantic Ocean. The displacement of Japanese battleships of the Yamato class was the largest in the world. At the same time, Japan, whose Navy possessed the most advanced Zero fighter for carrier-based aviation at that time, still lagged significantly behind the United States of America in the number of battleships and other types of ships in the fleet, except for aircraft carriers. Industrial opportunities in Japan were also significantly lower than the US. In total, in 1941, Japan was armed with 10 battleships, 9 aircraft carriers, 35 cruisers, 103 destroyers and 74 submarines. Accordingly, the US and British Air Force and Navy against Japan were able to show significantly more powerful forces in World War II.
The complete elimination of the Japanese imperial fleet after the defeat in the war was completed by 1947.
Tasks of the newly created fleet
The Japanese Navy, created as part of the Self-Defense Forces, was designed to:
- to conduct military operations with naval and aviation groups of the enemy in order to gain dominant influence in the sea and ocean waters off the coast of Japan;
- block the strait zones in the Sea of Okhotsk, East China and Japan;
- carry out amphibious landing operations and provide support to land units in the coastal direction;
- protect maritime communications, defend naval bases, basing points, ports and coasts.
On peaceful days, the ships of the Navy of Japan guard state territorial waters, maintain a favorable operational regime in the 1, 000-mile ocean zone and carry out sentinel service, together with the Maritime Safety Authority.
Features of the Japanese Navy
The Japanese constitution today prohibits self-defense forces from possessing offensive weapons (aircraft carriers, cruise missiles, etc.). At the same time, the military-political elite of the country, the framework established by the results of the war, are becoming tight.
The presence of territorial disputes with such neighboring states as Russia and China provokes the Japanese to create a full-fledged navy that would be equipped with all modern weapons. Of course, this fact is given the maximum disguise from the Japanese leadership.
Today, the naval composition and armament of the Japanese Navy is clearly intensively building up and updating. Modern weapon systems are being introduced that are produced in North America or unified, with those being in service with the US Navy.
Japan: Navy (structural composition)
The head of the Japanese naval forces is the commander, who is also the chief of staff, who has the rank of admiral.
Structurally, the Japanese Navy consists of a headquarters, navy, five military maritime areas, a training aviation command, as well as formations, units and institutions that are centrally subordinate. The location of the headquarters is an administrative complex in the capital of the state, where control centers for other arms and the Ministry of Defense are also located.
In total, the staff of the headquarters has 700 employees, of which about six hundred are officers and admirals.
The fleet consists of:
- headquarters located at the Yokosuka Naval Base;
- three commands - escort, underwater and aviation;
- flotilla of minesweepers;
- intelligence groups;
- experience groups;
- Oceanography units;
- special forces patrol unit.
The fleet has a little more than a hundred warships. Here is a list of some items:
- diesel submarines - 16 pieces;
- destroyers - 44 pieces;
- frigates - 8 pcs.;
- landing ships - 7 pcs.;
- mine sweepers - about 39 pcs.
The fleet is under the command of Vice Admiral.
Escort Force Structure
Escort forces under the command of Vice Admiral are led by a headquarters deployed at the Yokosuka naval base.
In submission he has:
- flagship;
- four flotillas with destroyers located at the bases of Yokosuke, Sasebo, Kure and Maizuru;
- six separate divisions of destroyers or frigates;
- units with landing ships;
- supply transports;
- ships providing combat training;
- study group.
Flotillas are led by rear admirals, to which the respective headquarters and 4 destroyers are subordinate, combined into divisions, divided into two types.
The division of the first type consists of:
- destroyer-helicopter carrier;
- guided weapon destroyer;
- two ordinary destroyers.
The second type includes three ordinary destroyers and one with a guided missile charge.
In separate divisions there are from two to five vessels. The location of the ships included in the frigate (destroyer) division is one of the naval bases.
For vessels included in the supply transport division, deployment at various bases is allowed.
Separate groups of landing ships are equipped with helicopter docks "Osumi", which are located at the base of Kure. In addition, each division includes six boats with an air cushion and designed for landing.
The training group includes a headquarters located in Yokosuka, and five training units, disbanded at various bases.
Submarine Composition
The submarine commander has the rank of vice admiral and manages the following military units:
- headquarters at the Yokosuke base;
- two fleets with submarines located there and at the base of Kure;
- submarine training center and training division.
Each flotilla is under the command of Rear Admiral, who also submits to all military personnel at headquarters, on the flagship submarine floating ship base, in two or three submarine divisions (each includes 3-4 submarines).
Air Force Structure
The location of the air command - Atsugi air base.
Structurally, it consists of the following units:
- headquarters;
- seven aviation wings;
- three separate squadrons;
- three units: two aircraft repair and air traffic control;
- one mobile engineering company located at the Khatinohe airbase.
The Air Force Commander is named Vice Admiral. The chief of staff and the wing commanders are rear admirals.
Aviation wings consist of:
- headquarters;
- four squadrons: patrol, search and rescue, anti-submarine helicopter and electronic warfare units;
- engineering and aviation support and supply teams;
- airfield technical support units.
The 31st air wing is subordinate to a special squad containing target unmanned aerial vehicles. In the aviation squadron there are from one to three aviation and technical units. The patrol air squadrons located in each wing are armed with the Orion R-3C base aircraft. SH-60 models are deployed in anti-submarine helicopter squadrons. In search and rescue squadrons there are up to three squads with UH-60J helicopters.
Minesweeper fleet structure
The flotilla of minesweepers is subordinate to the commander - Rear Admiral. It consists of a headquarters, four divisions (three - basic and one - sea minesweepers), two floating bases of mine-sweeping ships and a detachment for the provision of mine-sweeping operations. Each division includes from two to three ships.
The structure of the remaining groups
The experience group is commanded by Rear Admiral.
The composition of the unit is as follows:
- headquarters in Yokosuka;
- ship division;
- three centers: the first - on the development and design of ships, the second - on control and communication systems, the third - a testing laboratory for naval weapons with a Kagoshima training ground.
In addition to the headquarters, the anti-submarine defense center, the meteorological support group, and two coastal sonar stations, the oceanic group also includes ships for hydrographic surveys, sonar observations and cable layers.
The intelligence group includes the headquarters and three departments (for the collection of operational information, conducting information and analytical activities, intelligence by electronic means).
The special forces patrol unit has the following tasks:
- to detain and inspect ships that violate territorial coastal borders;
- fight against terrorist and sabotage groups;
- conducting intelligence activities and sabotage.
