Japan
Kawanishi H11K Soku (Blue Sky)
Kawanishi was a leader in flying boat development and had gained most of its experience in designing large sea going aircraft. Two of their most successful designs were the Kawanishi H6K (codenamed Mavis by the Allies) and the H8K (Emily), with the latter arguably the best flying boat of World War 2. The company was also not lacking in cargo…
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The Land of the Setting Sun I
October 1944–September 1945 Armchair strategists can look at the last stages of a campaign and say there’s nothing left but mopping up, but if you’re holding the mop it’s different. The last Jap in the last bunker on the last day can be as fatal to you personally as the…
The Land of the Setting Sun II
The last significant naval action of the war took place in the Malacca Straits on 15 May 1945, where five Royal Navy destroyers sank the Japanese cruiser Haguro by torpedoes. Yet, despite no longer having a fleet capable of defending the mainland, the Japanese Government decided to fight on. The…
Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night
During the last months of the war, Ishii was preparing for a long-distance attack on the United States. This operation, codenamed “Cherry Blossoms at Night”, called for the use of airplanes to spread plague over Southern California at night. The plan was finalized on March 26, 1945. Five of the…
Korean-Japanese Wars (1592–1593 and 1597–1598)
After the successful unification of Japan, Japanese warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi made two attempts to seize Korea as the first step in a Japanese conquest of China. Japanese defeats at sea, however, made the maintenance of supply lines between Kyushu and Japanese bridgeheads in southern Korea increasingly difficult, and the campaigns…
Battles of Kizugawaguchi
KAIZOKU OF THE MURAKAMI NAVY WITH FULL EQUIPMENT FOR SEA FIGHTING, 1576 This plate shows the kaizoku pirates of the Murakami navy at the height of their powers when they were in action against Oda Nobunaga at the first battle of Kizugawaguchi in 1576. They are more substantially dressed and…