A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy

by Paul S. Dull

The great naval battles that raged across the blue curve of the Pacific during the Second World War locked millions of men and thousands of ships and aircraft into a shifting saga of victory and defeat. The fiercely nationalistic Japanese entered into the war with a deeply rooted conviction that they were invincible, and would be swept to victory by a "divine wind." By the war's end, however, the Imperial Japanese Navy had been decimated by a series of crushing defeats, and a proud people had been brought to their knees. Japan's fate was sealed by a few decisive battles—and as Napoleon remarked over a century before, "Between a battle lost and a battle won, the distance is immense, and there stand empires."

This unique book based on hitherto unused Japanese sources tells the story of the Pacific War from the viewpoint of the Japanese themselves, focusing on both the celebrated and lesser-known sea battles. The author has traced the development of the war back to its first causes—the economic, political, and cultural forces that led, step by step, to the devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and the quick establishment of the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. Then the account turns to the slow disintegration of the Imperial Japanese Navy, no longer invincible once its original defense perimeter was extended beyond the range of land-based air cover. The author has focused his efforts on the major surface engagements of the war—Coral Sea, Midway, the crucial Solomons campaign, and the last-ditch battles in the Marianas and Philippines. The account is supplemented by detailed track charts, also derived from Japanese sources, and by a selection of Japanese photographs of major vessels and actions.

This unusual volume, several years in the making, fills a void in the story of the naval war in the Pacific, corrects errors of previous writers, and furnishes a wealth of new information for the readers of this generation and for the historians of the future.

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction, World War II, Naval History, Japan, Military Fiction

402 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Paul S. Dull was a professor of history and political science at the University of Oregon, where he taught from 1946 until 1973. He earned his B.A. (1935) and Ph.D. (1940) in Political Science from the University of Washington, and served as an officer in the United States Marines from 1941 until his discharge in 1944.

Reviews

[Patricrk patrick]

very good. drawn a lot from Japanese sources. Gives far more details about the fighting around Guadacanal at night than any other book I've read.

[Michael Conway]

Great naval history resource. This book is focused on surface engagements.

[Gin]

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Bear in mind that this was published in 1978, but it remains a good source for the history of the Imperial Japanese Navy from a Japanese source. This was what attracted me to get a used copy, S to my knowledge, with the exception of Kaigun, other similar type of histories do not make use or only use minimally Japanese sources.

Dull covered all the major and minor battles comprehensively, and provided a timeline at the start of each chapter as to what would transpire within that chapter. Together, when strung together one can see the events unfolding, from Pearl Habour all the way to Ten-Go. It allowed me to see the fate of IJN during the war years, which was like watching a slow-motion train-wreck.

Many of the battles also came with maps showing the fleets’ movements and engagements from both sides - something which I deeply appreciate. These maps were taken from the archives at the Japan Defense Agency and showed the understanding of events from the perspective of the IJN.

Also there were some great photos - I have seen many before in later books but somehow they feel like they belonged in Dull’s book. My favourite was the one showing the Force A leaving Brunei to go into battle at Leyte Gulf - knowing what happened to the majority of the ships there left me feeling poignant.

Dull also provided a comprehensive list at the end, of the major surface combatants of the IJN, and their resulting fates. Very few survived the war, and I think about all the men lost for the idiocy, hubris and fantastical notions that the Navy higher command harboured, and contempt at the stupidity of the Imperial Japanese Navy that the IJN was commanded to support.

Highly recommended.

[James Levy]

It is an indictment of my profession that we are still dependent on this book and Kaigun (which is really about the pre-war navy) as THE Japanese-sourced works on the IJN in the WWII era. The book is very good, but needs an update. The subject is a dangerous hot potato in Japan, so the Anglosphere has got to train some young people to read the language and hit the archives over there and give us a better, more balanced and informed history of the period. On the diplomatic front, I would recommend Takuma Melber's Pearl Harbor, which is tightly focused but well researched.

[Jesse Callaghan]

This book was very good and overall the maps were solid but I really needed a few more big picture maps to make everything click for me. I found that reading this book while also having access to the relevant maps from A War To Be Won: Fighting the Second World War by Murray and Millet worked well. One tiny nitpick was the incorrect spelling of Japanese ship names that contain long vowel sounds, for example Yūzuki is spelt Yuzuki.

[Mike Glaser]

A solid history of the Pacific naval theater in WW II from the Japanese perspective using Japanese sources. Although dry at times, it does a good job of showing what went right and what went wrong with Japanese naval planning as well as reminding us of just how successful the Japanese navy was during the Solomons’ campaign. It also highlights issues that the US fleet had with technology early in the war.

[Bob McNamara]

One of the better efforts describing the operations of the IJN during WWII. Mostly movements and deployments rather than planning or actions. Would have given it 4.5

[Daniel]

Neat book with a more Japanese-centric viewpoint. Interesting coverage of the early ‘41-2 conquests that often get glossed over in American-focused narratives.

[Billy]

A high-level summary of the IJN's battles in the Pacific. It's at so high a level that I don't think the author once identifies any of the Japanese carrier planes by name or describes any of the construction history of any of the ships. As such, if you are looking to learn the combat radius of a Kate or Val or the armor thickness on Kongo or Mutsu, this isn't the book for you. But if you are looking for a handy one-volume reference on the naval engagements of the Pacific and how they relate, this is a nice addition to the library. The loss of a star is for the maps. While there are a large number of them, they are usually small, and the print is miniscule.

[Dave]

Well-written and well structured, this is an essential read for people looking to understand the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War 2. The style of writing is easy to read, and the structure of the narrative easy-to-follow in the vast majority of places, which is quite an achievement given how much ground is covered. The book itself covers the surface and carrier actions of the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War Two.

It’s black marks are few – it has a few editing slips (typos and ‘words out of place’ (eg, a reference to the British cruisers at the Battle of Badung Strait, when no British cruisers were present) are fairly harmless, but references to rank were sometimes incorrect, in a way that would be unable to be determined from the text alone, and some dates are incorrect as well), which brings it down a bit, particularly as one of it's main benefits is as a reference source. The only author writes from a very US/Pacific-centric focus (hardly unusual amongst US writes about WW2 naval operations) but given the tight focus of the book, this is never an issue for anything of substance.

While most of the content is text, it has illustrations where appropriate with well labelled-maps, track charts and photographs of people, vessels and (where possible) actions. It also has a comprehensive bibliography, and two appendices, one for the fates of ships (destroyers and up) and one for naming conventions for Japanese warships.

[Russel]

Was ground-breaking in its day, but other treatments of most of the campaigns covered leave this book seeming shallow. Perhaps this was inevitable, given the scope of actions covered; from the beginning of the Pacific War to the end. So the book's an overview rather than the sort of carefully drawn history one finds in books that cover single battles or campaigns. Orders of battle are well-done and an excellent resource. Surface engagement descriptions are easy to follow. Carrier battle actions don't seem as well-done.

[Michael Romo]

Based on the archives of the Imperial Japanese Navy Dull covers the battles of the Pacific War in World War II. What is new with this book is that the Japanese side of these battles are fully covered. Their intentions, admirals, tactics and strategies all come into play in the descriptions of the battles. If you want to understand why and how the Japanese fought in World War II this book is a must read for you.

[Alan]

First published in 1973, this is the first Western history of the Pacific War to use Japanese archival material. It covers every engagement in which the Imperial Japanese Navy participated, from pivotal battles like Midway to small skirmishes in the Solomons campaigns. I found the style engaging and the detail well drawn. An excellent resource for any student of the Second World War.

[Bill V]

This is a good book that focuses on the Japanese perspective of the war, specifically the naval segment. Over half the book is on the first year or so and the rest of the war feels rushed, but then again, by late 1943 the Japanese Navy was already a shell of itself and unable to fight as it had earlier in the war.

[Sean Chick]

A work of impressive scholarship but the book is dry and the war after Leyte Gulf is basically skipped over, leading to some holes in the narrative. A few surface battles from that period are not even covered. Still, this is the definitive book on this subject.

[Jeff]

Really a very well-done addition to a crowded field. What sets it apart is Dull's reliance on Japanese sources and his military knowledge. You really come away with a much better understanding of how the operational and tactical options looked from the Japanese commander's perspective

[Curtiss]

A thorough look at every campaign and engagement of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second World War, from Pearl Harbor to the final surrender.

[Mark Peebler]

Good general account of the Pacific War from the Japanese side.

[Robert Haag]

Great resource