Ships of the Imperial Japanese Army - Much Maru About Something
Today we take a look at the surface shipping of the Imperial Japanese Army (submarines are a separate subject), why they built them and the main types that stood out above the usual fleet of transports and tankers.
Sources:
www.amazon.co.uk/Military-Innovation-Interwar-Period-Williamson-ebook/dp/B00D2WQE4E
www.amazon.co.uk/Imperial-Japanese-Army-Vessels-1894-ebook/dp/B0878QZYXY
www.amazon.co.uk/Imperial-Japanese-Army-Vessels-1894-ebook/dp/B0879512XG
www.amazon.co.uk/Conways-Worlds-Fighting-Ships-1922-1946/dp/0851771467
www.combinedfleet.com/Rikugun-...
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Pinned post for Q&A :)
During WWII, how much information would German interrogators tend to have about captured naval personnel? Many captured Allied airmen were astonished at how much their interrogators already knew about their careers and squadrons. Did captured Allied sailors go through similar experiences?
Did the navy have tanks and vehicles and such?
Was the sinking of the soviet submarine ShCh-305 by finnish submarine Vetehinen by ramming, the only time in history when one submarine sank another by ramming? Or did this happen more than once in history?
What were some of the shortest lived warships sunk by enemy action?
Where there any attempts before during or after the war to create more of a Japanese combined services and had anyone identified it as a weakness?
"The blatant expansionism and aggression of the imperial Japanese navy will not go unchecked" - Imperial Japanese Army
China: Let them fight.
Meanwhile in America- -US Army/Marine Corps: Yo thanks for safely bringing us to the operation zone, Navy. -US Navy: No prob, got some ice cream for yall if you ever want it.
@@KardasheviteUltravisionary I thought the US Marines and navy had a moderate rivalry during WWII
@@garethbaus5471 They did, but they still were able to work with each other effectivley; unlike the IJA and IJN.
+ Kardashevite Ultravisionary But the Navy and Marines are the same branch? Of course their rivalry could never be very severe?
Their annual Army-Navy games must have been brutal.
“ and number 15 of navy is making a run for the end zone, but 8 from the army is close behind swinging a Katana”
@Hamish Banish The concept of team play was an advantage the US and British armed forces possesed
Not so brutal as the executions of the losing team.
@@colbeausabre8842 The rest simply didn't have the budget. Imagine if you need to fight for 100 dollars. The brutality of the combat would depend on how much people already have. If everyone has a few hundred thousands then nobody would care. If they have a few dollars, then it's a fight to the death. The U.S. and U.K were the richest nations at the time, so a bit less budget will not lead to the branches assassinating each other leaders, started a war on its own initiative and so on. Japan happened to have all of the ingredients that led to the most serious case of rivalry. Their budget is tiny because they didn't have much natural resources, their military was seen as "saviours" because their conquest provided wealth, they were fanatical because of their culture and lastly, their geography split their military strategy perfectly in half, with the proximity to fertile mainland Asia favoured by the Army, while being an island nation in striking range of the Pacific chains and South East Asia made the Navy salivate. Speaking of which, of all the leaders, Hitler had the right idea to create the OKH and OKW to take control of all military assets across branches for operations. However, it then created a rivalry between the OKH and OKW. We just can't win against tribalism.
Imagine the war games “oh sorry was that a real shell oops”
The US army and navy have a rivalry like sports teams have a rivalry. The IJA and IJN had a rivalry like drug cartels
Oh, it’s way worse than that. Their rivalry goes back all the way TO THE SENGOKU JIDAI (the areas where the IJA and IJN originated from were originally ruled by two of the big-name samurai clans: the Mouri and the Shimazu, which dominated western Honshu and Kyushu respectively and sometimes fought. Both clans still survive and live in these places)
The IJA and IJN hated each other more than they hated the Americans.
@@bkjeong4302 That topic was mentioned in the Isoroku Yamamoto movie of the 2010s. From what I recall, the 1930s were a coup d'etats all you can eat buffet, with all the assassinations that were rampant. A topic that still haunt japanese pop culture and why the ordinary Japanese would rather not entrust power to the military ever again.
Ah yes the Japanese Navy Naming Sense: 1 Maru But Carrying Supplies 2 Maru But Carrying Troops 3 Maru But It's Small 4 Maru But It's Bigger
lmao, mostly accurate
"Maru" just means "circular", its like a good-luck charm to ensure the ship comes back home after a successful trip. Its still very common in naming t today's civilian ships in Japan.
@@bothewolf3466 And apparently in the future, if Star Trek is to be believed.
Ironically, the modern Japanese Navy didn't (and still doesn't, if we look at the JMSDF) use "Maru" all that much. The Army used "Maru," and civilians still use it today, but the IJN didn't use it for warships - which is why we don't hear "Yamato Maru" or "Akagi Maru."
and almost Every destroyers using word kaze (wind) made them sound uniformly cute.
Drachism of the day: "In short, they were rivals in everything up to, but not quite, including having a ritual Katana duel to the death whenever officers of the two services met."
I think I remember a few times officers had a one sided katana duel, but think that was in the same branch. Part of a power struggle.
17:17 "With the IJN loosing ships like they were running some kind of giant, very explosive, insurance scam." Blah blah blah..."Finding Nemo".
There were some assassination attempts, though.
@@windwalker5765 now that I think about it, I think some rowdy army guys tried to off Hirohito towards the end of the war. The Imperial military was wild.
@@johntaylor7029 Yep. They didn't want to surrender even after the atomic bombs had been dropped.
IJ Army: "We want our own navy!" IJ Navy: "Good luck with that!" US Navy: "Good luck with that!"
US Army: "Mine's bigger!" Even today, the Army operates hundreds of watercraft from inflatable rafts up to 5000-ton direct-to-shore landing ships. And that's not counting the Army Corps of Engineers' assets.
@@ReptilianLepton Similar to the US Navy having the second largest air force in the world.
@@ReptilianLepton Ehhh yes and no? During WW2, the US would definitely had have more transport and small crafts. But the IJA had a literal small navy. They had de facto carriers and amphibious assault ships. They also operated the escort ships, and various small submarines. The US army can't compare in that regard
@@neurofiedyamato8763 The US Army had a destroyer. The Corps of Engineers operated a "Hyacinth Destroyer" on the Mississippi and in Florida. The Army also had a flotilla of Mine Planters ("planting" controlled mines instead of "laying" uncontrolled ones - a neat technical distinction) operated by the Coast Artillery. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mine_planter. The Engineers deployed some of their dredges overseas to keep captured ports operational and to develop new ones. They also operated Port Repair Ships to put captured ports back in operation. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Army_Engineer_Port_Repair_ship. The Signal Corps operated Cable Layers and Radio Ships - as a matter of fact, the USAS Apache broadcast MacArthur's "I have returned" speech to the world www.navsource.org/archives/12/1217991405.jpg The Army also operated many more hospital ships and earlier in the war than the Navy Want more info (more than just hospital ships despite title)? military-history.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_ships_of_the_United_States_Army#Hospital_ships
@@ReptilianLepton The US Army operated more ships than the US Navy during WW2…
I like imagining that crane ship approaching an IJN battleship to "requisition" a turret for a nearby IJA shore emplacement.
hey what are you doing get back noooooo. -Ise before conversion to a battlecarrier.
I would like to imagine that, after seeing the IJA crane ship successfully "requisition" the Shinano into an aircraft carrier and the Ise into a battlecarrier, the remaining IJN battleships, especially Yamato and Musashi, would open a full broadside aimed at the crane ship, sending a brief signal to the crane ship, literally just before sending shells, that is basically the Japanese equivalent to "Eat shit and die!"
*Yoink.mp4*
@@muttproductions2536 Of all the IJN ships that did change the amount and size of their turrets you picked Shinano that never had them.
@@Slavic_Goblin now you know why. making it an aircraft carrier was a quickly made up excuse so nobody would ask why there are no turrets XD
IJN: Ahha we now have a landing craft capable of carrying a Medium tank!!! Now... We just need to make a medium tank.
Half a century later, Wargambling will design some for them.
@@Ciborium War gambling? - Flashback to a famous scene in the 1942 movie Casablanca Rick : How can you close me up? On what grounds? Captain Renault : I'm shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here. [a croupier hands Renault a pile of money] Croupier : Your winnings, sir. Captain Renault : [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much. Captain Renault : [aloud] Everybody out at once.
... they actually did, the Type 3 Ka-Chi amphibious tank.
@@jonrolfson1686 You missed the original joke didn’t you
Movie pitch: The Army & Navy are fighting over the same thing. And only one thing can stop them: being sunk. Laughs. Conversions. Infighting. It's all in There's Something About Maru.
This is excellent
Brilliant!!!
Theory: The fourth Yamato was requested by the IJA.
There are four Yamato class battleships in High School Fleet. 😉
Interesting
@@tominiowa2513 and the plans called for five to be built in reality
Yonaga?
@KvAT actually all five got layed down, but hull number 5 was only like 12% complete (hull 4 was 22% at least if I'm remembering correctly)
Wish there was an independent Imperial Airforce to join the rivalry, imagine them commissioning a flying tank or a plane that works underwater like the one in the US lmao.
I mean the Russians did that with the Antonov A-40. Granted it's a glider but still
Well we just would to have to wait the 3 services fight to the death to win the war 😂
You mean like Fascist Italy?
Limitless possibilities 😎
@@mikhailiagacesa3406 When you have to use airplane engines in tanks, cause they're too weak for airplanes anyway, and you only have one factory to build engines, but here comes the big fuck all navy with 90% of the budget asking for more torpedo boats: yep it's gamer time xD
I am not sure that an IJN ship torpedoing and sinking an IJA ship counts as "own goal". Most probably they thought it was a double score.
With the most probable exception would be the IJA, who would see this as a double loss
Mogami sinking IJA ships didn't count as teamkill
The shocking commentary in this video was that a us submarine actually torpedoed and sunk a ship in 1942, given the terrible performance of our torpedoes.
The non Mark XIV torpedoes worked well.
@@johnbuchman4854 Not all early Mk 14 failed. The early AIM-7s were the Mk 14 of the Vietnam War but you will still see a lot of Sparrow kills recorded in the 1965-68 period.
Aside from the S-boats that used the Mk 10, the Mk 14 had a success rate of around 20%. If it was lower maybe they would have investigated earlier.
The only thing that surprised me was the US did not figure out they needed five time the torpedo tubes to make up for the 20% accuracy, it must only be the deck they liked to cover in weapons.
@@Right-Is-Right The standard fleet type sub design was nailed down pre-war: six tubes forward, four tubes aft.
And I thought the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine hated each other... This takes it to a whole other level
In fairness the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe weren't too bad. Just Goering not sharing his toys (read political power). It was the Heer and the SS that were real rivals. Two army's. What you get in a dictatorship I guess 🤣.
@@AdamMGTF To be fair, I doubt that any of Germany's services were too fond of the SS. My grandfather, born in 1927, was supposed to be drafted into the Waffen SS. His father (WWI veteran) told him to volunteer for the Heer instead as an officer cadet (Fähnrich), which he did. His older brother was a Lt. on a U-Boat. He survived the war, but his older brother and father (civilian & killed in the bombing of Engelskirchen) didn't.
@@generalripper7528 thank you for sharing that. It was such a tragic war for Germany. I know that the German nation was "the bad guy". And yes. Horrible things happened. But in the end the German people suffered horribly thanks to Hitler and the Nazis. I'd say 'lets hope it doesn't happen again'. But I won't hold my breath, it's happened and is happening across the world.
@@AdamMGTF Yes.. my grandfather became a pacifist after the war. He became a lawyer and worked for the West German government, where he worked together with British, French and American colleagues. He says that the Nazis have smeared Germany's name in the world and that he is shocked how quickly the new generations forget what war really entails and what advancements have been made in weapons technology compared to WWII. It's his 94th birthday at the end of the month.
I have only just recently learned that the reason Yamamoto spent all his time at Sea on the Yamato battleship was to avoid the army assassins who had threatened to take his life if he landed ! How crazy !
The ijn ninja clans were very busy fighting those ija ninja clans.
Check out Tora Tora tora....That film points it out somewhat clearly...
All I'm imagining is if the tables were turned, admiral Nimitz and general MacArthur beating the snot out of eachother over strategy differences Or admiral king having an arm wrestling match with the entire royal navy
🍿
@CreedOfHeresy Forget Nimitz, King wanted to rip MacArther's head off.
@CreedOfHeresy I heard that in addition to lacking the facilities. A reason why none of the US fleet carriers were sent to Australia for repairs during World War 2. Because Nimitz was worried MacArthur would steal them for his own uses.
@@ph89787 You've got a double-negative in there ...
@@ThePhoenix198 yeah i was writing the comment in a hurry.
Japanese Army-Navy Rivalry: Sown in the bed of an ancient clanfeud, grown in the sands of time, nurtured in the light of the emperor. _As long as your society's most powerful factions have natural enemies, your position over the factions is secure._
Junior officers of both groups plotted to assassinate the Emperor in the 1930s...
This "let the dogs fight" style of "management" was visible in the US Army even at the beginning of this century, alas.
Which 2 clans?
Well said. Kudos to you from a veteran poet.
The emperor was mostly a figurehead.
Great Drachism likening the us submarine fleet around japan to the seagulls in Finding Nemo. I'm picturing a bunch of boat captains on their radios saying: "Mine, mine, mine, mine,..."
Finally, someone who respects that reference.
I can see that play out in my mind
Drachism of the week: (on assault ships converted to whalers) "Gratifyingly, I'm happy to report that those vessels sprang leaks and sank into the antarctic waters in the early fifties." Can't argue with that...
The whales will be grateful; purveyors of fine, rare sushi not so much.
Considering the extent of the infighting and backstabbing between the IJA and IJN, I'm astonished that Japan fared as well as it did and accomplished what it did during WW II. In modern parlance, what a complete clustercuss.
*Modern Parlance*
US Army to Navy: Bro, would it be awesome if we fly B-25s off one of your Carriers? Imperial Japanese Army to Navy: *How DARE you suggest we work together with the enemy?*
Also US Navy: Hey, can we launch your P-47s off our escort carriers and use them as CAP? US Army: Aight, go ahead. Just don’t scratch the paint.
IJA ships and probably IJN armed forces... Reminds me of this old joke: - "Redistribute all the land to the workers, and all the factories to the peasants" - "Uh, maybe you meant the other way around?" - "Already tried the other way around, it ended badly"
That is more of an communist thing. And yes Stalin himself raged against the idiocy going on like collective farms officials fighting over who crops to plant until autumn. Now this was probably by Stalin tendency to kill all who failed something so lets to nothing. It probably did not work but it require no work or resources so you could use your time steal stuff to use as bribes later. So way way more dysfunctional the the Japanese during WW2.
@@magnemoe1 The Soviets just had way more land and resources (including peasants) to fall back on than Japan.
Given the relation between the services I can't help but wonder if the IJA kept the Seishu Maru around hoping they could sneak up to a Kongo one night and just steal a turret...
*Yoink.mp4*
They could get one of Mutsu's turrets instead. Upgrade
It is a sign of how antagonistic the two services were that the IJN's WW I experiences were in the areas of shore support (siege of Tsingtao) and convoy escort/ASW (with the brits in Med and Indian Ocean primarily. Exactly the two areas they neglected interwar & early WW 2. While the IJN obsession with Kantai Kessen also contributed, one cannot help but feel the disdain for the army contributed to the complete neglect of these fields.
Both services had the issue of being full of glory hounds. Things like logistics were always neglected, despite one of history's great naval geniuses, Akiyama Saneyuki, leaving the navy plenty of writing on it. If I remember correctly, something like 80% of army men went into the Infantry. The Navy, as we know, had the battleship as their obsession
Keep in mind, it was a rivalry at higher levels. If you take a look at something like "The Miraculous Torpedo Squadron" you'll find that at lower levels the army and navy got along better. Navy pilots were used as ground attack in the early stages of the invasion of China(with appropriate support from the Army), while at places like Guadalcanal the army was completely dependent on the Navy for sea/air power. When Mori was shot down in the latter stages of the fight at Guadalcanal, he points out that everyone was stuck and starving, but shot down Navy pilots were being given priority evac(to hopefully get a new plane to fight the cactus air force) It goes to show you, nobody beats up my brother but me.
@@jaredrevis4594 I wonder if the Navy was inclined to ignore the lessons that that Akiyama Saneyuki left to them (despite his impeccable record of naval service as an architect of their glorious victories in the Russo-Japanese War) because of his brother, the very prominent Army general Akiyama Yoshifuru.
Have to that's on point 👉.
It was also the army's fault things kept spiraling out of control in China which helped push them towards war with the US in the first place.
The Japanese military branches in WW2 remind me of the scene from Monty Python's "Life of Brian" where the 2 insurgent groups meet and fight while infiltrating Pilate's home. "We should be uniting together against our common enemy!" "The Judean People's Front?!" "No! The Romans!"
Perun sent me here for homework :) always a good time to rewatch an old Drach video
IJA Arizona Maru, sunk by american dive bomber USS Arizona, sunk by japanese dive bomber now they're even
Lol
Actually, it was a "Kate" Nakajima B5N horizontal/torpedo bomber on the BB, at 10,000 feet dropping a modified 16" AP shell.
@@gregorywright4918 my bad
@@correctionguy3135 close enough, we’ll let it slide for the sake of the joke
IJA: "No fair! That was the _Navy's_ fault!"
IJN:"Have you seen my new landing craft? It can carry not one but two tanks!" AJA:"Yeah but have you seen our new ships, the carrier maru? And they have an advantage over most of your carriers." IJN:"What's that?" IJA:"They're still afloat!"
US Navy submarines: "Ha, ha! Torpedoes go BOOM!
US Navy: *"Buenos dias fuckboy"*
I served in the Navy and we always had a rivalry with the Marines But when it came time to do business we need one thing we always supported the boots on the ground.
Amen brother (former ossn CVN 71)
@@MashMonster69 Former DS3 CV-64. 90 - 96. Lift a cold one for those who can't brother.
One of the secondary 5-inch gun turrets on the Iowa class was traditionally manned by Marines.
And then there is always the Coast Guard which binds the Navy together during wartime. We Coasties are always ready to put the Marines on and off of hostile beaches!
@@living2ndchildhood347 I went on Coast Guard cutter in Hawaii. I have to say you guys run a tight ship. It was immaculate. Almost made me feel a little bit dumpy.
You do have to give the Japanese credit for being so environmentally forward-thinking. They spent a lot of money to create artifical reefs all over the South and Central Pacific.
You missed the forward thinking part, the reefs were to capture the sand to male their current man made islands and give a platform to do so.
@@Right-Is-Right That's the Chinese who are scraping up the environmentally-fragile reefs and building islands on them - the Japanese made steel reefs by losing freighters and tankers all over the place.
@@gregorywright4918 Don't bother, to some people Japanese and Chinese people are the same.
@@neurofiedyamato8763 - Only when it comes to their treatment of prisoners of war.
BAAHAAHAA 😂
Considering that Hideki Tojo's first reaction to the news of the Navy's catastrophe at Midway was barely concealed mirth and shadenfrued... says a lot. But that intro. 😂😂 If it were not so tragic all this info would be great comedy skit material.
Considering the atrocities both the IJA and IJN were responsible for, I wouldn't call it tragic. Instead, I say go ahead and make that skit in full "Springtime for Hitler"/Producers style mockery.
What about the 1000000 tons of Japanese wooden Maru transports. That's a great story
@@TheTutch We're all struggling to fill in gaps. Thanks for the correction.
Where does this information come from ? Whenever I search about this, I cant find anything on the internet. Can anyone pls send me a link ?
@@KillerofWestoids If I recall correctly, this info I referenced came from Shattered Sword. A fantastic book about Midway.
I’ve watched uncle Drach for years and yet Perun landed me here
And all the USN had as a rival was the BuOrd
Where incompetence meets treason.
ouch
Admiral King would possibly have picked the Royal Navy over BuOrd as first rival.
@@tcpratt1660 definitely 😂😂😂
IJA ships: Just as much of torpedo magnets as IJN ships. Don't tell either that they have something in common.
Fortunately for them both (at least early in the war), they were facing the American Mk. 14 Torpedo, and had the U.S. Ordinance Bureau as a staunch ally.
@@Tomyironmane BuOrd to the resc- hol up.
Coming on April 1st: an in depth video by Drachnifel on the IJA's Kobayashi Maru.
heh...
There is a real life ship named that sailing today - a cargo ship
A "Q" ship with underwater Long Lance tubes and tons of 25mm AA guns?
I sort of feel like if I was a Japanese flag officer, I would have doubts of victory when Service Squadron 6 was not only pulling battleships and fleet carriers up on the mobile dry dock, but among the fleet of repair and resupply ships, they had an ice cream ship. Plus when I read Gen Kenney's book and he describes going from barely getting 18 bombers up for a raid in 42, by 44 he has so many planes for landings he would detail off 70 of them for insect spraying operation during the landings.
Sound quality was good. Your dig at the Japanese whailer fleet was as cristal clear as one would like.
Their whaling fleet seemed emulate the Essex. "And this years winner of the Pequod Award is........"
At least the Russians didn’t have a big navy at the time. And the whaler fleet wasn’t a fishing fleet.
This topic is a odd twist and turns that feels like a movie skit. An unexpected topic to be sure, but definitely a welcomed one.
'The Wackiest Ship in the Army' - A vaguely WWII based comedy film of 1960. By the second decade after the war the still youngish veterans (at least of the US, UK, and Commonwealth forces) seemed determined that the popular rewrite of the war would include a very substantial element of slapstick comedy.
The story of the Navy vs Army rivalry never gets old. It really is just so freaking wild.
Didnt know the Japanese Navy - Army rivalry, at least in terms of equipment, went this far. Nice work!
The Americans were the least of their problems. The Japanese Infantry/Marines were issued a Shoulder bag /Haversack, it had a belt support hook, to help stop it bouncing when running..the IJA and IJN had the hooks facing in opposite directions to each others patterns.... yeah.
They have been each other's oldest enemy, since even before the Meiji Restoration.
It went even deeper than that. I recall reading, and for the life of me I can't remember the name of the book, that the IJA would ignore the draft deferments of works in IJN shipyards and manufacturers.
They even assassinated each other.
@@ToreDL87 reminds me of the old kgb and gru (military intelligence directorate/soviet general staff) loathing of one another. while the kgb could be relied upon for a bit of sense in ops - no need to kill? then don't - the gru agents were born and bred killers. robots. according to soviet practice, each service chief and subordinates were instructed they couldn't murder the other's agents - without sanction...
On the flip side, the Imperial Japanese Navy also had their own infantry and air units!
The land-based bomber units of IJN were a significant part of IJN, they took out Prince of Wales and Repulse on Day 3. Fear that the US land-based air might be as good as them may have driven Nagumo to retreat from Pearl after the first strikes. The IJN "marine corps", the SNLF, were only good as occupation forces and showed their poor capabilities in opposed landing at Wake.
So did U.S.N.
@@gregorywright4918 Was it also that IJA Air Force was modeled after Luftwaffe which did not have strategic bombing units either? Yamamoto's vision for Navy land base bombers were also for strategic bombing first, close air support second for what I remember.
@@thanakonpraepanich4284 I suspect the IJAAF was influenced most by Germany, as that was the primary advisor they sought out. Practically, they did not have the same level of control over field units as the Wehrmacht - the Kwantung Army was constantly doing things Tokyo did not want them to, including starting a serious shooting incident with the Russians in 1939. From what I have read of Yamamoto's thoughts on land-based bombers, there was NO strategic level to his planning - support of the fleet was the primary objective, particularly the First Phase of the Decisive Battle plan.
@@gregorywright4918no the SNLF for at least the first 2 years were quite good
So if all the IJA ships were sunk and they couldn't be transported to and from pacific bases, was the Army maruned?
:D :D
Brilliant
Quite a number of them went down with their ships, and weren't rescued by the Navy.
💯
Yes. Also, i see what you did there.
The IJA also had Yu class transport submarines, aka Maru Yu, or officially: Type 3 submergence transport vehicle. These were ~300 ton vessels, 38 boats were completed before the end of the war, many more were incomplete. The many classes of Japanese submarines would make a good video topic.
try japan's I - 400 series boats. submarine carriers (?!) with usually three seiran float planes aboard in a hangar and parts to assemble a fourth. no one knew they existed till they surrendered.
Yes, it's an excellent video but it left out the Army's submarines.
This would be a great topic to look at in depth!
I've known very little about this rivalry other than it existed. Thanks for this intriguing clip. And yep, Perun directed me to this clip.
Ah yes, another topic I know an embarrassing amount about already because of Kantai Collection. Hearing Daihatsus mentioned was nice given how frequently they're used in KC, both for extra resource gathering and the original purpose of amphibious assaults. You can even get Toku Daihatsus. Shinshuu Maru had a lot of different code names during her construction. She was called Godland (a literal translation of Shinshuu) Maru and Ryuujou Maru, among others. I'm glad Drach mentioned her getting torped by Mogami, because Mogami friendly fire stories are always hilarious. Akitsu Maru having a proper flight deck gave her a pretty useful niche in the early days of the game. Since routing rules between battles would sometimes prevent bringing carriers, and Akitsu Maru could launch fighters, she was frequently used to provide air cover. Eventually the devs wised up and started including rules to exclude her as well.
Best part about knowing a bit about this thanks to Kancolle (besides it making utter sense that Akitsu was the first ship in-game to come with a Daihatsu as base equipment) is bringing up the linked Wikipedia pages about the various landing crafts and confirming that Drach used an IJN one at the beginning. The Type 2 Ka-Mi amphibious tank was based on work the IJA had done to try to make an amphibious tank, and the IJN did use an IJA tank as their starting point for the Ka-Mis, but the result was an IJN vehicle. Thankfully no Installation Princesses are watching this - DJ Hime would be screaming as she remembers how Daihatsus/Tankhatsus/Ka-Mis wreck her. 🤣
Akitsu-maru a cute!
Every time a familiar KanMusu appeared or the equipment I had an "AHHHH" moment since I remember such stuff. Interesting to hear the complete backstory of it all
流石艦これだなぁ!! 艦隊 コレクション､萬歳!! ww 😆😆🤣🤣
Me, an azur lane player: *SCREAMS IN TERROR* Jk, ironically it was kantai collections lack of an official international version that got me into AL
Perun always seems to link to interesting topics
Much Maru about something. Goddammit you’re killing me here man.
Who were the officers on the IJA ships who actually operated & sailed the ships? Did they just assign infantry officers to the wheelhouse and just hope for the best!? Thanks for another unique video on an excellent and unique channel!
I'd think they would be in the same category as the crews on transports.
They shanghaied the necessary crewmen from the Imperial Japanese Navy.
IJA had a "navy" called 船舶部, there were sailors called 船舶兵。
Curiobill In the US Army the licensed personnel on large ships are warrant officers. Boats are run by non-commissioned officers.
Like the US Army, the IJA had a marine transport staff. (The US Army operated more ships in WW2 than the US Navy).
Fascinating. To this day, the history of failure within Imperial Japan (lack of army / navy cooperation and a unified national strategy) and Nazi Germany (incoherent production policy, two front war, etc) make me wonder what it would have been like had these two enemy nations actually realized their full military potential & executed to a more coherent strategy. Thankfully neither did.
The war would've just lasted longer.
I see the Russo-Japanese War as Imperial Japan's greatest moment. The interservice rivalry (as far as I know) was not as bad or had much affect on Japan's overall progress. The army and navy both fought well against the Russians, who themselves had their moments, but in the end Japan achieved a hard fought victory. But a shame for Japan that Russia's only victory was the peace conference, that alone didn't help the West in the future or tie down the war-hawks in Imperial Japan.
@@josten8044Army and navy in that war do their own things without interfering with each other too much and they didn't yet have argument regarding where to expand next. Japan especially on land lose a lot of men in the war and they are nearly bankrupt by the war. If Russia drag the wr longer it will no longer be in Japan advantage. Especially after reinforcement and with more competent general on Russia part arrive(General on land from the Russian side were incompetent, they were the same men that cause Tannenberg) Japan was kind of force to accept the terms. If the war last longer, Japan will be bankrupt
@@789knowThe point I was making was that the Imperial Army and Navy had seen success and how a previous conflict shaped their thinking. And I doubt the Russians would have kept the war going for much longer anyway, sure Japan was hemorrhaging money, but the Russian people had no will to fight in foreign lands and had zero faith in the Romanovs, I'm in line to think the Russians would have come to terms in fear of a major civil crisis.
Had they executed a more coherent strategy, either they would have ganged up on the Soviets and ignored the West or they would have made nice and not gone to war at all. Germany First was the Allied motto; Russia First should have been the Axis motto.
Next Drach video, the tanks of the Japanese navy 😂 Video as great and funny as usual. Drachinifel will have an EPO test soon, it is not human to do so many brilliant videos for so long 😂 I must admit that I lost it when Drach was talking about the giant assurance scam and Nemo's seagulls. As I miss my keyboard everything is fine once I swipe the coffee from my desk. This is the last time I drink coffee during a Drach s video. Should have known better 😂
Tanks of the IJN would explain his trip to Dorset
He actually showed an IJN tank in the very beginning, the Type 2 Ka-Mi. He has a starting point already. 🤣
Will there an IJN tank in a future cour of Girls und Panzer?
I know the feeling.... I needed a few minutes after that as well
At he very begging of the vid Drach had a photo of the Australian Army tring out a IJN tank, very relieved their driver could operate a sea fearing tank I presume.
I knew that they were devided but I never knew to what extend. This is literally madness with a system!
That title is quite frankly amazing
A red shirted crewman goes to board the Kobayaahi Maru: “I have a bad feeling about this”. For the record I did a quick search and, for all the game that particular name has garnered amongst sci fi fans, there is not an actual vessel bearing that name. Or wessel for that matter 😏
There is actually at least one ship named that - she's a bulk cargo carrier registered under the flag of the Marshall Islands and built in 2019
@@Trek001 some person there is a trekkie, but no one got the reference when he decided to name the ship that. He was just making an irl easter egg
@@dankuser8303 Just imagine when the under construction Enterprise sails, the pair meet - what a meme that would be
@@Trek001 movie/book idea-- the real Kobayashi Maru is chartered to carry supplies to CVN-80 Enterprise…. but prior to the rendezvous is taken over by Islamist terrorists and (unknown to everyone) rigged as a giant (nuclear?) suicide bomb…. Enterprise to rescue the original crew and any passengers?
Dem gravitic mines though...
The sound, eh, sounds great. The Akitsu Maru that was in the title photo, was the assault/escort carrier that carried the Kayaba Ka-1 Autogyro's for a time for anti-submarine patrol. They apparently worked well at spotting subs but never sank any themselves. Balao's damaged her in November 1943, then sank her in November '44 with over 2,040 men lost (she had been carrying troops). She appears to be the only operational wartime "Autogyro Carrier" in history (although the Japanese operated them on land as well). If the U.S. had fielded one, would they have termed it a "CG"? We will never know ;)
CW (for "Carrier, Whirligig")
CVG,CVA,or CVAG most likely.
C = Cruiser. V= Aircraft. The subsequent letter could be H = Helicopter, V= Vertical takeoff. The US navy designation letter for Autogyros was O (as observation aircraft) so CVO would be relevant.
@@allangibson2408 To my knowledge the CV designation actually means "carrier vessel".
@@Norkans5 Nope - all “C”s are cruisers. CA are heavy cruisers, CL are light cruisers, CG are guided missile cruisers. Aircraft Carriers were originally intended to fill the role of cruisers, providing scouting and fleet screening. The Russians still have heavy guns on their Kiev class carriers because a treaty clause with Turkey requires it for passage through the the Straits of Marmara.
I like your reports they are informative, factual, interesting, etc. enjoy them a lot. As a kid I lived on the ocean, in Canada, and remember after ww11, the Japanese transports that came and loaded up with pyrite for the Japanese market. We could go aboard and the crew would give us cheap knockoff items from an emerging Japanese industry. Long time ago. Nice video thank you.
As always very good. Ah, the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy... Was there ever a better example for the bone-headed and self-destructive capacity for us humans to do entirely the wrong thing simply because of unreasonable rivalry? I'm surprised the Japanese Emperor didn't threaten both services with wholesale beheadings if they didn't play more nicely with each other.* *Although I suspect their "infallible god-emperor" knew he would have quickly lost his head if he had tried to impose a little sense!
You summed up why I think the imperial military was stupid under 2 minutes on a video not related to that topic...damn you're good.
wHy I tHiNk
@CreedOfHeresy parden the pun but I think the ship of uncooperative sailed long ago with the two, by ww2 the two were full blown gutting each other whenever they could, and when japanese cities were burning they still were fighting one another, as a military, how is that anything but stupid?
@CreedOfHeresy You don't have to remind me of that. My family still curses the Kobayakawa family for their betrayal at Sekigahara. BUT, thats no excuse. Like you said, a milenia long blood feud and yet they were cooperating whenever it was needed, such as when the mongols invaded. During this time of ww2, the two were just beyond help, they really were acting more to their own interest than that of the emperor and yet he had to suffer the most.
This all explains how Japan thoroughly managed to fail landings on the Chinese mainland in my last HOI4 run. Absolutely no coordination between army and navy, beaten off be a few determined garrison troops with minor aircraft fire support, and the investment into a couple levels of shore defences.
Honestly! The *Chileans* can do it better when they try to take Equador!
Japan usually fails in my HOI4 games because the Chinese manage to get their hands on bloody Panthers despite me not being Allied to them when playing Germany. No idea how they get them but just about every time they get them.
@@OtterTreySSArmy How you say? Ancient Chinese Secret.
@@OtterTreySSArmy It's probably a one-sided event that only requires China to not be at war with Germany. PDX games has a ridiculous amount of those kind of events.
honestly the game simplifies the rivalry to a simple national spirit. If you're being beaten by an AI in landings you're doing something really wrong. It's basically always better to land on adjacent tiles/provinces and attack the ports then.
American Military: Nobody is worse than us when it comes to Army/Navy rivalry. German Military: Hold mien schnapps. Soviet Military: Our Navy is too busy fighting itself. Japanese Military: BANZAI!
*Angry Katana noises*
USN PACSUBFOR: Let's just gang up on BuOrd...
Much Maru about something? Ow! It hurts. It hurts.
Hopefully Mrs. Drach is not a Shakespearean Literature lover...
"All right, we build our own carriers. Pretty small though, we'll need to carefully select a plane that can fly off of it." "Shall we get some Zero's from the navy? They're designed for that and... I hear they're... pretty..." "..." "...Sepuku?" "Sepuku."
I'd love to see an episode about the IJA submarines. My mind was blown when I first learned such a thing really existed!
Drach, It's so cool to see guys from various domains, each doing a different type of a very good job, referring one another. I watch your videos with keen interest (not all of them, although eventually, who knows) but this specific one caught my attention after being referred to by Perun. What I mean is - internet is full of bloated crap on wheels. It's not so easy to pick a gem in this crappy sh***hole internet has become these days, unless you have, like, unlimited time (which I don't), and such references really, really help. One guy with brains mentioning another one from somewhat different domain, but also making most informative and high quality content. This brings back some of my faith in our species, and this is good.
Mogami Captain in Sunda: We sank an enemy ship! Crew: It was our Army ship. Mogami Captain: Exactly.
this whole video is an example of why I say the IJN.IJA relationship is worthy of a Jerry Springer episode.
Too much drama, even for him. But just in case he does....STEVE, STEVE, STEVE!
I anticipate the episode, 'Army and Navy Officers Do Not Quite Repent nor Forswear Katana Duels for the Love of Midget Geishas'. Jerry Springer's Life Lesson: 'On today's show we saw unexpected and needless violence... the maiming, beheading, cleaving of limbs, and general mayhem caused by prideful inter-service rivalry. And for what? For love? For sex? For dominance? For the tender affections of geisha midgets? Can't we all just along? I think that if we learned anything today then it is this... with the proper scheduling of visits then the beloved midget geishas can share their affections with all the services. Except the Kempetai. Everyone hates those fuckers.' Note: the reference to midget geishas is prompted from real episodes of the JSS; 'I Had an Affair with a Midget I & II'. Also some geisha houses were aligned as either Army or Navy. Adm Yamamoto is reported to have been more affectionate to his geisha mistress than his wife. Source: 'The Relectant Admiral'. This book makes it clear that many in the Navy knew that a war with the USA was an automatic loss. The IJA was rife with fanatic lunatics.
@@kirbyculp3449 tbh the Navy had its own brand of Fanaticism. for instance, in the runup to Midway, the IJA was wanting to dig in and go defensive, not try to keep conquering territory.
Slept in late accidentally but YESSSS been waiting for coverage on these for a while :D Also, Tamatsu, Akitsu, and Mayasan Marus were sunk with 4,000+, 2,000+, and 3,000+ lives lost respectively
audio was perfect for me. opening theme didn't blow my ear drums and i could hear you clearly with no adjustment in volume on my end.
I wonder if the inter-service fighting was the cause for the Navy to build IJN _Most Honourable Combat_ to fight that crane ship
I thought she was the counter to HMS By Jove and USS Second Amendment Rights. 🤣
This was a great one, love it Drach.
Sounds great. Looking forward to hearing about the US Army's fleet in WW2.
Agreed. Sound is good.
I find it funny the US army had ships built to retrieve their aircraft. The US army had some retrieving Vessel s ,eleven of these small ships were built in late 1942 through mid 1943.
@@Right-Is-Right The RAF had several hundred High Speed Launches that looked like MTB's without torpedo tubes and the Navy and Army operated crash boats into the Fifties. The USN rated them as AVR's - Auxiliary Ship - Fixed Wing Aircraft - Rescue. I knew an ex-USAF enlisted man who had the rating of "seaman" during his tour in the Air Force. www.bing.com/videos/search?q=raf+high+speed+launch&view=detail&mid=F25E7E191D989F9EE8CCF25E7E191D989F9EE8CC&FORM=VIRE&msclkid=62950a05c4d811ecae598f1bbfcb892b kzhead.info/sun/hqisg516nouMZHk/bejne.html en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_boats_of_World_War_II?msclkid=022a77bdc4d811ecb2f83c7d72bab76d uscrashboats.org/?msclkid=02285b92c4d811ecb4594adc40c34429
5:38 What I initially imagined as a kid, when learning of the term 'pocket battleship' for the first time.
Thank you for this specific topic!
Thanks for cover some smaller ships I have always found smaller fleet units very interesting and they don't get the coverage they deserve because of them being over shadowed by Battleships and fleet carriers.
There’s another channel called “the history guy” where he did a brief video on US Army ships of WW2, is that something you may consider doing? Really enjoyed this video and and the research you provide. Always love tuning into your channel.
The U.S. Army also had a "special engineering" section that developed a quite credible amphibious unit in the Pacific theatre, especially since they started pretty much from scratch. The U.S. Army also developed "pallet loading" (and beach unloading) which astounded Howland Smith with its much higher efficiency, and he ordered the Marine Corps to adopt it immediately.
@@jayadkisson2075 that’s actually really cool I need to look that up now. Thank you for the extra information.
Another History Guy channel fan. Really enjoy his videos. Like the 1978 archive fires or learning how painted lines on roads came about.
He might be making a series of Army ships of countries from WW2.
@@jakemillar649 also true
Audio is excellent - thanks!
Fascinating, thanks for sharing!
IJA: Screw you Navy, we'll make our own ships! USN Submarines: *Bonus Round*
Fun fact: Tokai Maru was sunk in Apra Harbor, Guam and landed slightly on top of SMS Cormoran, a German auxiliary cruiser scuttled in 1917. I got to dive both wrecks in 1997.
Great vid Drach, thank you for all your hard work!
I have long struggled with the volume levels and this video's balancing is MUCH better.
To say that I look forward to Wednesday’s video is an understatement! Thanks so much!
Thanks Drach, now I can't shake The mental image of Maru's face on each of these ships
Thank you, Drach! This was interesting information that I hadn't heard of before!
Audio is clear and without distractions. Great job as usual.
I love your videos, Drach, not only for the superb level fo detail and explanation that you give on each topic, but also, your lovely sense of humour! This one 's an absolute classic!
the audio was great, and so is your sense of humour... I love it
Welcome to the Drach's world
This was a very informative video. Thank you very much.
I've been waiting for this video for so long!
Thank you for all that you do Drach! Great stuff as always! Kudos!👍🏻😎 🇺🇸
This is super informative on a very obscure subject, my own research didn't manage to earth up half of this interesting info
Thank you, Drachinifel.
Love it all, Drach.. keep it going
The audio on this video came through loud and clear. And thanks for all you do... knowledgeable, thoughtful presentations with a touch of humour make for wonderful entertainment!
you are a content juggernaut. keep up the great work
Outstanding audio, keep up the good work sir!
Thanks for the excellent history lesson. Audio was just fine.
Another excellent video, Sir Drach. A bit of a suggestion here - can you do a video explaining the Convoy System used in both WW1 and WW2 and how it changed according to the advancements in technology and tactics? Appreciate it Drach!
Even the US Army had LCM-8s and LCUs in addition to tug boats and various other ships. I had trained as a "Harbor Craft Boatswain" (MOS 61B30) at Ft Eustis, VA in 1967. Ft Eustis is on the James River up from Newport News and the Hampton Roads area.
Sounded great along with your thoughts and ideas.