An Imperial Visit to Kure - March 1939
The emperor had been a keen follower of naval developments since his voyage to Europe on the battleship Katori almost twenty years ago. So it hadn’t surprised Yamamoto when the secretary of the Emperor had approached him and his superior, navy minister Yonai, to organize an imperial visit of the naval base in Kure. Admiral Yonai had been sick the last few days so it was his task to entertain the emperor today. He didn’t really like the white dress uniform that much, but for a visit of the emperor it would be necessary.
Hirohito and his entourage had arrived by train in Hiroshima and had been driven to the naval base. When the emperor left the first car, Yamamoto bowed deeply and then welcomed him and Prince Fushimi, the navy chief of staff and a second cousin of the emperor.
“We will start with a tour of the docks and I will show you the future flagship of our navy, your highness.”
“Yes, excellent. I can’t wait to see the Yamato. So far, I have only seen sketches. How long is she?”
“800 feet.”
“And the British and the Americans have nothing comparable?”
“No, your highness. This will be the ultimate battleship. They have nothing like this. Their designs still adhere to the treaties of the last decades. From what we know, the new British battleships will have smaller guns, less armament and won’t be faster either.”
Yamamoto wasn’t so keen about the project, but he knew that Prince Fushimi was an old school believer in the superiority of battle ships. He had been one of the main proponents of this new battleship. As he didn’t want to embarrass him in front of the emperor, he would keep his opinion to himself. Gladly, most of the important people in the navy had been convinced by him that battleships were a thing of the past. Aircraft carriers would rule the seas in the next naval conflict.
They walked towards the Yamato and boarded her. All the while, the emperor asked questions about technical aspects that Yamamoto faithfully answered. When they were finished they walked over to the other big dry dock where the Zuikaku, a new fleet carrier, was currently built. Yamamoto thought that she was much more important than the Yamato, but obviously the emperor didn’t care as much for her.
Battleship Yamato in the dry dock in Kure
They continued walking through the naval base towards the barracks of the Kure Rikusentai. When they arrived, the whole division had assembled on the parade ground in front of the barracks to welcome the emperor. The troops were especially trained for naval landings. The Great War and before it the Russo-Japanese War had demonstrated that having bases in the area of operations was more important than ever to resupply a fleet. These men would be the navy’s spearhead when conquering bases. They would also train opposed landings as the Gallipoli campaign had shown that amphibious operations were all but trivial. After talking to some of the officers of the Rikusentai, they walked over to the headquarters.
“Allow me to show you our design bureau, your highness. It’s where our best engineers work on new ship designs. At the moment, we work on a new design for destroyers. It’s not a revolution, but it is still a considerable improvement over the last design. The new class will be called Kagero and will be about 390 feet long. It will be our fastest and most powerful destroyer. As a whole, it’s probably more powerful than a light cruiser in the Great War. We need more destroyers to protect our shipping in case of a war. Me and some people of the general staff recently analyzed the submarine war of Germany in the Great War and made up estimations what modern subs could do. As you know, we are very dependent on our shipping just to supply our basic industries.”
They discussed some of the details of the new design with the engineers. The emperor also looked at the newest sketches for a new class of aircraft carriers and a new class of light cruisers. But these designs would take a few more years to be built. After that they walked to the officer’s mess to have lunch.
Design for the new Kagero class destroyer
The big officer’s mess with the huge map of the Western Pacific area obviously impressed Hirohito. About a hundred officers had assembled to greet the emperor. Over lunch they debated Japan’s future naval strategy.
“As you know, after we have finished the Yamato and the Musashi, we will concentrate on aircraft carriers. We will build them in different sizes. Smaller ones and sea planer tenders to support our other surface combatants and to protect convoys. But the centerpiece of our strategy will be the fleet carriers. In two and half years, we will have eight modern fleet carriers. Certainly that will be enough to have naval supremacy in the Pacific. We know that the British and the Americans have also begun with the construction of new carriers. The aircraft will be the ruler of the seas in the future.”
“But what about battleships? What will be their role?”
Now he had to treat carefully. While he was convinced that the time of the battleship was over, Prince Fushimi, who sat right next to the emperor, was not.
“We will try to lure an enemy into a decisive battle where the superiority of our battle ships will carry the day.”
“I see. How will you organize the navy in the future?”
“We will probably form two different fleets. The first will be centered on our carriers and will have fast cruisers as support to strike against enemy fleets afar. The second will be centered on our heavy surface vessels, our battle cruisers and battle ships. These will have two roles. On the one hand they will support military operations in coastal regions with naval gunfire support. Our heavy ships can lay an incredibly devastating barrage on every enemy. On the other hand, we will keep them ready for a decisive battle.”
He didn’t believe what he just said, but it was fleet doctrine. While he had gained considerable influence over the years, he was still just vice minister of the navy and couldn’t just throw the long standing doctrine out of the window. He would have to work slowly to convince them that a decisive battle wouldn’t happen anymore. Jutland and Tsushima wouldn’t be repeated. It would be slow attrition, indirect attacks against convoys and merchant shipping and surprise attacks. Set piece battles were a thing of the past.
“We will also build smaller fleets to patrol our seas of course. These will be centered mainly on our older cruisers and destroyers. We will keep these as a reserve too.”
An Imperial Visit to Kure
The emperor had been a keen follower of naval developments since his voyage to Europe on the battleship Katori almost twenty years ago. So it hadn’t surprised Yamamoto when the secretary of the Emperor had approached him and his superior, navy minister Yonai, to organize an imperial visit of the naval base in Kure. Admiral Yonai had been sick the last few days so it was his task to entertain the emperor today. He didn’t really like the white dress uniform that much, but for a visit of the emperor it would be necessary.
Hirohito and his entourage had arrived by train in Hiroshima and had been driven to the naval base. When the emperor left the first car, Yamamoto bowed deeply and then welcomed him and Prince Fushimi, the navy chief of staff and a second cousin of the emperor.
“We will start with a tour of the docks and I will show you the future flagship of our navy, your highness.”
“Yes, excellent. I can’t wait to see the Yamato. So far, I have only seen sketches. How long is she?”
“800 feet.”
“And the British and the Americans have nothing comparable?”
“No, your highness. This will be the ultimate battleship. They have nothing like this. Their designs still adhere to the treaties of the last decades. From what we know, the new British battleships will have smaller guns, less armament and won’t be faster either.”
Yamamoto wasn’t so keen about the project, but he knew that Prince Fushimi was an old school believer in the superiority of battle ships. He had been one of the main proponents of this new battleship. As he didn’t want to embarrass him in front of the emperor, he would keep his opinion to himself. Gladly, most of the important people in the navy had been convinced by him that battleships were a thing of the past. Aircraft carriers would rule the seas in the next naval conflict.
They walked towards the Yamato and boarded her. All the while, the emperor asked questions about technical aspects that Yamamoto faithfully answered. When they were finished they walked over to the other big dry dock where the Zuikaku, a new fleet carrier, was currently built. Yamamoto thought that she was much more important than the Yamato, but obviously the emperor didn’t care as much for her.
Battleship Yamato in the dry dock in Kure
They continued walking through the naval base towards the barracks of the Kure Rikusentai. When they arrived, the whole division had assembled on the parade ground in front of the barracks to welcome the emperor. The troops were especially trained for naval landings. The Great War and before it the Russo-Japanese War had demonstrated that having bases in the area of operations was more important than ever to resupply a fleet. These men would be the navy’s spearhead when conquering bases. They would also train opposed landings as the Gallipoli campaign had shown that amphibious operations were all but trivial. After talking to some of the officers of the Rikusentai, they walked over to the headquarters.
“Allow me to show you our design bureau, your highness. It’s where our best engineers work on new ship designs. At the moment, we work on a new design for destroyers. It’s not a revolution, but it is still a considerable improvement over the last design. The new class will be called Kagero and will be about 390 feet long. It will be our fastest and most powerful destroyer. As a whole, it’s probably more powerful than a light cruiser in the Great War. We need more destroyers to protect our shipping in case of a war. Me and some people of the general staff recently analyzed the submarine war of Germany in the Great War and made up estimations what modern subs could do. As you know, we are very dependent on our shipping just to supply our basic industries.”
They discussed some of the details of the new design with the engineers. The emperor also looked at the newest sketches for a new class of aircraft carriers and a new class of light cruisers. But these designs would take a few more years to be built. After that they walked to the officer’s mess to have lunch.
Design for the new Kagero class destroyer
The big officer’s mess with the huge map of the Western Pacific area obviously impressed Hirohito. About a hundred officers had assembled to greet the emperor. Over lunch they debated Japan’s future naval strategy.
“As you know, after we have finished the Yamato and the Musashi, we will concentrate on aircraft carriers. We will build them in different sizes. Smaller ones and sea planer tenders to support our other surface combatants and to protect convoys. But the centerpiece of our strategy will be the fleet carriers. In two and half years, we will have eight modern fleet carriers. Certainly that will be enough to have naval supremacy in the Pacific. We know that the British and the Americans have also begun with the construction of new carriers. The aircraft will be the ruler of the seas in the future.”
“But what about battleships? What will be their role?”
Now he had to treat carefully. While he was convinced that the time of the battleship was over, Prince Fushimi, who sat right next to the emperor, was not.
“We will try to lure an enemy into a decisive battle where the superiority of our battle ships will carry the day.”
“I see. How will you organize the navy in the future?”
“We will probably form two different fleets. The first will be centered on our carriers and will have fast cruisers as support to strike against enemy fleets afar. The second will be centered on our heavy surface vessels, our battle cruisers and battle ships. These will have two roles. On the one hand they will support military operations in coastal regions with naval gunfire support. Our heavy ships can lay an incredibly devastating barrage on every enemy. On the other hand, we will keep them ready for a decisive battle.”
He didn’t believe what he just said, but it was fleet doctrine. While he had gained considerable influence over the years, he was still just vice minister of the navy and couldn’t just throw the long standing doctrine out of the window. He would have to work slowly to convince them that a decisive battle wouldn’t happen anymore. Jutland and Tsushima wouldn’t be repeated. It would be slow attrition, indirect attacks against convoys and merchant shipping and surprise attacks. Set piece battles were a thing of the past.
“We will also build smaller fleets to patrol our seas of course. These will be centered mainly on our older cruisers and destroyers. We will keep these as a reserve too.”
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I am sure that the Pacific War will be interesting and that the Allies will commit enough troops to make it hard for me. After all, I am much more successful than Japan was in real life so the Allies will be more vigilant this time. 
