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List of ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy

The following is the list of ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy for the duration of its existence, 1868–1945. This list also includes ships before the official founding of the Navy and some auxiliary ships used by the Army. For a list of ships of its successor, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, see List of active Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships and List of combatant ship classes of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Early warships

  • Atakebune, 16th century coastal oar propelled warships.
  • Red seal ships – Around 350 armed sailships, commissioned by the Bakufu in the early 17th century, for Asian and South-East Asian trade.
  • (1607) – Built by William Adams for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Crossed the Pacific in 1610.
  • (1614) – One of Japan's first Western-style sail warships, transported the embassy of Hasekura Tsunenaga to America in 1614.

Early modern warships

Edo period

This section lists warships belonging to the Tokugawa shogunate and to the various domains of Japan before the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War. Several of the vessels that survived the war would go on to serve in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Navy.

Western-style sail warships

  • (1854), Japan's first post-seclusion Western-style sail warship.
  • (1854)
  • (1854)
  • (1862) ()
  • (1867) ()

Steam warships

  • (1855), Japan's first steam warship.
  • (1856-1857), Japan's first screw-driven steam warships.
  • , , ()
  • (1858)
  • (1863), Japan's first domestically built steam warship.
  • (1863) ()
  • (1864)
  • (1864)
  • (1865) ()
  • (1865)
  • (1865)
  • (1865)
  • (1866)
  • (1866) ()
  • (1866) ()
  • (1866) ()
  • (1866)
  • (1867)
  • (1867)
  • (1867-1868)
  • , ,
  • (1868) ()
  • (1868)
  • (1868) ()
  • (1868)
  • (1868) ()
  • ()

Meiji era

  • (1869)
  • (1870)
  • (1870)
  • (1874) ()
  • (1875)
  • (1876)
  • (1877)
  • (1877)
  • ,
  • (1878)
  • (1882)
  • (1883)
  • (1885-1886)
  • , ,
  • Chinese gunboat captured during the First Sino-Japanese War (1894)
  • Sōkō (ex-')

Battleships

Pre-dreadnoughts

Prizes of the Russo-Japanese War

Battleships

Coastal defense ships

Transitional Dreadnoughts

Battleship prizes of World War I

Battlecruisers

In commission during World War II

Old battleships

‡ Before conversion to hybrid aircraft carriers

Super battleships

Seaplane tenders

  • (1913)
  • Notoro (1920)
  • Akitsushima-class
  • Akitsushima
  • Chihaya (not completed)
  • Kamoi
  • (converted to aircraft carriers)

Aircraft carriers

Standard aircraft carriers

  • (1925)
  • (1928)
  • (1935)
  • (1937)
  • (1939)
  • (1939)
  • (1943)
  • (1943)
  • (1943)
  • (1944)
  • (not completed)
  • Aso (not completed)
  • Ikoma (not completed)
  • (1944)

Light aircraft carriers

  • (1921)
  • (1931)
  • (converted from submarine tender in 1940)
  • (converted from submarine tender in 1941)
  • (converted from ocean liner in 1941)
  • (converted from ocean liner in 1941)
  • (converted from seaplane tender in 1943)
  • (converted from seaplane tender in 1944)
  • Ibuki (not completed, converted from heavy cruiser)

Escort aircraft carriers

  • (converted from ocean liner in 1941)
  • (converted from ocean liner in 1942)
  • (converted from ocean liner in 1942)
  • (converted from ocean liner in 1942)
  • (converted from submarine tender in 1942)
  • Shin'yō (converted from ocean liner in 1943)
  • Special 1TL Type auxiliary escort carrier
  • (1944)
  • Otakisan Maru (not completed)

Cruisers

Unprotected cruisers

Protected cruisers

Prizes of Russo-Japanese War

Armored cruisers

Other cruisers

Dispatch vessels

Foreign ships

In commission during World War II

Old light cruisers

Heavy cruisers

New light cruisers

Destroyers

1st Class destroyers

World War I era

In commission during World War II

Minekaze-class
Kamikaze-class
Mutsuki-class
Fubuki-class
Akatsuki-class
Hatsuharu-class
Shiratsuyu-class
Asashio-class
Kagerō-class
YÅ«gumo-class
Akizuki-class
Shimakaze
Matsu-class
Tachibana-class

2nd Class destroyers

  • (1911–1912)
  • ,
  • (1915)
  • , , , , , , , , ,
  • (1916–1917)
  • , , ,
  • (1917–1918)
  • , , , , ,
  • (1919–1922)
  • , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
  • (1922–1923)
  • , , , , , , ,

3rd Class destroyers

  • (1898–1899)
  • , , , , ,
  • (1898–1900)
  • , , , , ,
  • (1901–1902)
  • ,
  • (1901–1902)
  • ,
  • (1902–1905)
  • , , , , , ,
  • (1905–1909)
  • , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
  • Russian destroyers captured during the Russo-Japanese War (1905)
  • Satsuki (ex-Bedovyi) (), Yamabiko (ex-Reshitel'nyi), Fumizuki (ex-Sil'nyi) ()

Kaibōkan

Kaibōkan was originally a catchall term used by the Imperial Japanese Navy for obsolete warships which had been relegated to coastal defense duties. As a consequence of the London Naval Treaty, the Imperial Japanese Navy was constricted on the total tonnage of destroyers it was allowed to build, so Japanese naval planners designed a new class of vessel to take advantage of a loophole in the treaty which permitted ships of between 600 and 2,000 tons, with no more than four guns over , no torpedoes, and a maximum speed of 20 knots, and gave them the obsolete designation of kaibōkan to further ensure that they would not be considered as destroyers. These ships were roughly equivalent to contemporary Allied destroyer escorts and frigates.

  • (1939-1940)
  • , , ,
  • (1942-1943)
  • , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
  • (1943-1944)
  • , , , , , , ,
  • (1944-1945)
  • , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , (Ōtsu, Tomoshiri not completed)
  • (1944-1945)
  • , , , , , , , , (Murotsu, Urumi not completed)
  • Type C (1943-1945)
  • , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , (CD-83, CD-89, CD-93, CD-101, CD-109, CD-117, CD-223, CD-229, CD-235 not completed)
  • Type D (1943-1945)
  • , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , (CD-62, CD-70, CD-80, CD-122 not completed)
  • Chinese cruisers captured during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1944)
  • Ioshima (ex-), Yasoshima (ex-)

Torpedo boats

1st Class torpedo boats

2nd Class torpedo boats

  • (1894-1895)
  • ,
  • (1893-1901)
  • , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
  • (1900)
  • ,
  • (1901-1902)
  • , , , , , , , , ,
  • (1903-1904)
  • , , , , , , , ,

3rd Class torpedo boats

  • (1881-1884)
  • , , ,
  • (1892–1894)
  • , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
  • (1893)
  • ,
  • Chinese torpedo boats captured during the First Sino-Japanese War (1895)
  • (ex-You III) (), (ex-You I) ()
  • (1900-1902)
  • , , , , , , , , ,

4th Class torpedo boats

London Naval Treaty era torpedo boats

As a consequence of the London Naval Treaty, the Imperial Japanese Navy was constricted on the total tonnage of destroyers it was allowed to build, so Japanese naval planners designed a new 600-ton class vessel, which was small enough not to be limited by the treaty, armed with half the armament of a destroyer, and gave them the obsolete designation of torpedo boats to further ensure that they would not be considered as destroyers.

  • (1933)
  • , , ,
  • (1935–1937)
  • , , , , , , ,

Gunboats

  • (1886-1888)
  • , , ,
  • (1891)
  • Chinese gunboats captured during the First Sino-Japanese War (1895)
  • Chinhoku (ex-') (), Chinnan (ex-') (), Chinzei (ex-') (), Chintō (ex-') (), Chinchu (ex-') (), Chinpen (ex-') ()
  • Chinese ironclad coastal defence ship captured during the First Sino-Japanese War (1895)
  • Heien (ex-')
  • (1903)
  • (1912)
  • (1922)
  • (1939-1940)
  • ,
  • American gunboat captured during the Pacific War (1942)
  • Karatsu (ex-)
  • Italian gunboat captured during the Pacific War (1943)
  • Okitsu (ex-')

River gunboats

  • (1903)
  • (1906)
  • (1911)
  • (1922-1923)
  • , , ,
  • (1929)
  • ,
  • (1929)
  • (1935)
  • ,
  • (1939)
  • ,
  • American gunboat captured during the Pacific War (1941)
  • Tatara (ex-)
  • British gunboat captured during the Pacific War (1942)
  • Suma (ex-)
  • Italian gunboat captured during the Pacific War (1943)
  • Narumi (ex-')

Patrol boats

  • (ex- destroyers converted to patrol boats, 1940)
  • No. 1 (ex-), No. 2 (ex-)
  • (ex- and destroyers converted to patrol boats, 1940)
  • No. 31 (ex-), No. 32 (ex-), No. 33 (ex-), No. 34 (ex-), No. 35 (ex-), No. 36 (ex-), No. 37 (ex-), No. 38 (ex-), No. 39 (ex-), No. 46 (ex-)
  • British destroyer captured during the Pacific War (1942)
  • No.101 (ex-)
  • American destroyer captured during the Pacific War (1943)
  • No.102 (ex-)
  • American torpedo boat captured during the Pacific War (1943)
  • No.114 (ex-Luzon)
  • American minesweeper captured during the Pacific War (1943)
  • No.103 (ex-)
  • Philippine customs patrol boat captured during the Pacific War (1943)
  • No.105 (ex-Arayat)
  • Dutch patrol boats captured during the Pacific War (1944)
  • No.104 (ex-), No.108 (ex-)
  • American tugboat captured during the Pacific War (1944)
  • No.107 (ex-)
  • Dutch patrol boat captured during the Pacific War (1945)
  • No.109 (ex-)
  • Dutch destroyer captured during the Pacific War (conversion not completed)
  • No.106 (ex-)

Auxiliary patrol boats

In addition to the purpose-built No.1-class, during the Pacific War the Imperial Japanese Navy requisitioned and converted a number of civilian vessels into auxiliary patrol boats.

  • (1945)
  • 27 built during the Pacific War, 5 lost; 30 not completed.

Submarine chasers

  • (1943-1945)
  • 200 built during the Pacific War, 81 lost.

Minelayers

Minesweepers

This section lists the purpose-built and numbered converted minesweepers of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

  • (1923-1928)
  • , , , , ,
  • No.7-class (ex- destroyers converted to minesweepers, 1924)
  • No.7 (ex-), No.8 (ex-), No.9 (ex-), No.10 (ex-), No.11 (ex-), No.12 (ex-)
  • No.7-class (ex- destroyers converted to minesweepers, 1930)
  • No.7 (ex-), No.8 (ex-)
  • No.9-class (ex- destroyers converted to minesweepers, 1930)
  • No.9 (ex-), No.10 (ex-)
  • (1933-1935)
  • , , , , ,
  • (1938-1939)
  • , , , , ,
  • (1941-1944)
  • , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
  • British minesweepers captured during the Pacific War (1944)
  • No.101 (ex-), No.102 (ex-)

Auxiliary minesweepers

In addition to the vessels listed below, during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War the Imperial Japanese Navy requisitioned and converted a number of civilian vessels into auxiliary minesweepers.

  • (1941-1943)
  • , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
  • Dutch minesweepers captured during the Pacific War (1943-1944)
  • No.101 (ex-), No.102 (ex-), No.103 (ex-), No.104 (ex-), No.105 (ex-), No.106 (ex-), No.107 (ex-), ex- (conversion not completed)

Landing craft

Submarines

1st Class submarines

  • Sentoku type, , 3 units, , , (I-404 not launched, I-405 not completed).
  • Sentaka-Dai type, , 3 units, , , (I-204 to I-208 not completed).
  • Senho type, , (I-352 not completed).
  • Kiraisen type, , 4 units (ex-I-21), (ex-I-22), (ex-I-23), (ex-I-24).
  • Captured German submarines, 6 units, I-501 (ex-), I-502 (ex-), I-503 (ex-UIT-24, ex-), I-504 (ex-UIT-25, ex-), I-505 (ex-), I-506 (ex-).

2nd Class submarines

  • Type F
  • Type F1, 2 units, , .
  • Type F2, , 3 units, , , .
  • KaichÅ« type
  • Type K1, , 2 units, , .
  • Type K2, , 3 units, , , .
  • Type K3, , 10 units, , , , , , , , , , .
  • Type K4, , 3 units, , , .
  • Type KT (Toku-ChÅ«), , 5 units, ,, Submarine No. 70, , .
  • Type K6, , 2 units, , .
  • Type KS (Sen-ChÅ«), , 18 units, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .
  • Type L
  • Type L1, , 2 units, , .
  • Type L2, , 4 units, , , , .
  • Type L3, , 3 units, , , .
  • Type L4, , 9 units, , , , , , , , , .
  • Ko Type, 18 units, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .
  • Ex-German submarines, 2 units, Ro-500 (ex-), Ro-501 (ex-).

3rd Class submarines

Other submarines

  • modified Holland class

Suicide vessels

  • Shinyo motorboat, 6,200 units.
  • Kaiten torpedo, approx. 420 units.

Training vessels

Imperial Japanese Army

Due to various political reasons, the Army used its separate navy during the Second World War, mostly to support with logistical support and ground invasion operations.

Escort carriers

Landing craft carriers

Landing craft carriers were an innovation exclusively used by the Army, with some being fitted with a flight deck for limited aerial operations.

  • Type C Landing Craft Carrier
  • (1941, landing craft carrier and escort carrier)
  • M Type C Landing Craft Carrier
  • (1945, landing craft carrier and escort carrier)
  • Tokitsu Maru (not completed, later completed as a whaling ship in 1946)
  • Type A Landing Craft Carrier
  • (1943)
  • (1942)
  • (1944)
  • M Type A Landing Craft Carrier
  • (1943)
  • (1944)
  • (1945)
  • Type B Landing Craft Carrier
  • (1944, with icebreaker capability)

Submarines

The Army only used transport submarines, with limited defensive capacity:

Small craft

See also

References

External links