Japanese Ships

Wreckage of Japanese Battleship Hiei Located

February 09, 2019 ·

Although Paul Allen passed away in October of 2018, R/V Petrel continues its search for sunken relics of World War II. The research vessel’s most recent discovery is the wreckage of the Japanese battleship Hiei. The find is the latest of more than a dozen wrecks located by the research operation funded by the co-founder […]

Wreckage of Japanese Destroyer Isokaze Located

May 04, 2018 ·

The Japanese 1st Air Fleet, or kido butai, that attacked Pearl Harbor was made up of six aircraft carriers escorted by a full complement of battleships, cruisers, tankers, and destroyers. In the long and bloody war that followed, most of those ships were lost. Among them was the destroyer Isokaze, whose wreckage was recently located. In 2016, […]

The Phantoms of the Pacific: Kido Butai

August 12, 2017 ·

It patiently waited, its target only 230 miles away. Waves rocked the ships as their commanders prepared for the inevitable launch that would change the world. The Pacific skies were blue, the first rays of the morning sun shining on the men scrambling across the decks of the massive force. Days prior, the fleet had […]

The Flag of the Nagato

August 08, 2017 ·

After World War II ended with the unconditional Japanese surrender, many of Japan’s ships were confiscated by the United States, their roles shifted from vessels of war to harmless ships used as targets for various US military exercises. The Japanese battleship Nagato survived World War II—despite being a target of the American campaign to eradicate […]

Yamato: Japan’s Biggest Battleship

August 04, 2017 ·

We spend so much time discussing the American battleships that were destroyed and damaged during the Pearl Harbor attack and those that fought in the Pacific all through World War II that it’s easy to forget that Japan had its own battleships. On December 16th, 1941, only nine days after the Pearl Harbor assault launched […]

Commemorating the Battle of Midway

June 10, 2017 ·

Over 75 years ago, the United States suffered one of the most devastating attacks on its soil. In the wake of the attacks, after being drawn into a war it had vowed to stay out of, Americans were locked in a back-and-forth struggle with the Imperial Japanese Navy, a force that proved to be formidable. On […]

The Ships of the Japanese Striking Force

June 03, 2017 ·

The success of pulling off the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 wasn’t a miracle. The Imperial Japanese Navy employed vessels that made up the well-oiled task force that crossed the Pacific to launch the two waves of Japanese fighters and bombers to lay waste to the US Naval Base and the battleships moored there. […]

The US Navy's Recovery After Pearl Harbor

May 05, 2017 ·

There’s a reason Japan set its sights on Pearl Harbor. It wasn’t just to send a message to the United States, to show that it wouldn’t stand by while the Americans placed an embargo on the country’s trade. It was a preemptive maneuver to try and diminish the usefulness of the US Navy in the […]

JRS-1 and The Daring Flight of Wesley Hoyt Ruth

April 11, 2017 ·

Everybody had their jobs. For Wesley Hoyt Ruth, on December 7th, 1941, when the Japanese started bombing Pearl Harbor, his job was of the utmost importance: locate the Japanese fleet responsible for the incoming fighters and bombers. While sailors and Marines scrambled at the harbor to fight back and rescue the injured and trapped, Ruth […]

Japanese War Machines of the Pearl Harbor Attack

October 01, 2016 ·

The attack on Pearl Harbor that catapulted the United States into World War II was a devastating blow, and forced the hand of the US to join the Second World War. The attack killed 2,403 US personnel, including 68 civilians, and destroyed or damaged 19 US Navy ships, including 8 battleships. More than 1,000 were […]

Wreckage of Japanese Battleship Hiei Located

Wreckage of Japanese Destroyer Isokaze Located

The Phantoms of the Pacific: Kido Butai

The Flag of the Nagato

Yamato: Japan’s Biggest Battleship

Commemorating the Battle of Midway

The Ships of the Japanese Striking Force

The US Navy's Recovery After Pearl Harbor

JRS-1 and The Daring Flight of Wesley Hoyt Ruth

Japanese War Machines of the Pearl Harbor Attack

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