2nd Special Squadron (Japanese Navy)

{{main|Imperial Japanese Navy in World War I}}

Troubled by the expansion of Russian influence in India, Korea and Manchuria, the British Empire and the Empire of Japan signed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1902. The treaty was renewed in 1905 following Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, the focus of the alliance shifted towards Germany. In October 1911, Winston Churchill was appointed to the position of First Lord of the Admiralty, he sought to counter the potential threat posed by Germany in the North Sea by redeploying warships from the China Seas and the Mediterranean. The two countries renewed the treaty once again as Britain intended to relegate the responsibility of safeguarding its shipping in the Pacific and the Mediterranean to Japan and France respectively, in the event of a war. In 1914, the Imperial Japanese Navy was divided into three fleets. The 1st Fleet was commanded by Vice Admiral Katō Tomosaburō and consisted of the navy's most modern battleships and battlecruisers. The 2nd Fleet was largely formed of captured Russian ships and some cruisers, it was commanded by Katō Sadakichi. The 3rd Fleet was stationed in the South China Sea, it was composed of cruisers and cannon boats. Its total strength amounted to 50 destroyers, 14 battleships and battlecruisers, 13 armored cruisers, 10 lighter cruisers and old cruisers.{{sfn|Pocher|2015|pp=345–358}}{{sfn|Saxon|2000|pp=1–5, 13}}

On 7 August 1914, Britain requested that Japan destroy the German East Asia Squadron. On 15 August, Japan issued Germany an ultimatum demanding the handover of the Kiautschou Bay concession and that German ships abandon Chinese waters, thus intervening into World War I on the side of the Triple Entente. With the expiration of the ultimatum Japan officially declared war on Germany, blockading, besieging and eventually capturing Tsingtao. In September, the 1st and 2nd South Sea Squadrons proceeded to German New Guinea, where they occupied the German administrative centers in Rabaul, the Caroline Islands, Palau, Mariana Islands and Marshall Islands. The Japanese navy subsequently participated in the pursuit of the German East Asia Squadron through the Indian and Pacific oceans.{{sfn|Pocher|2015|pp=345–358}}

On 2 September 1914, the British requested that Japanese send naval units to the Mediterranean theater of operations, in order to counter the threat posed by the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian navies as well as the German Mediterranean Division. Japan declined citing its involvement in the blockade of Tsingtao and the Pacific Ocean operations. On 4 November, Britain reiterated their proposal offering to support Japanese claims at the conclusion of the war. This proposal was refused after chief of national staff Shimamura Hayao voiced the opinion that the presence of a Japanese force at such a distance from the homeland would create a risk of an American invasion. The British persisted, approaching the Japanese naval attache in London in December 1914 and 13 January 1915, who promptly rebuffed them. Negotiations were resumed on 2 February 1916, whereupon it was agreed that Australia would sign the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, Japanese immigrants would be granted entry into Australia and New Zealand, and Japanese doctors would be allowed to practice in British colonies. The above concessions in tandem with the appointment of Terauchi Masatake (who advocated wider cooperation with the British) to the post of Prime Minister of Japan, led to the creation of the 1st Special Squadron that was tasked with escorting troopships from Australia and New Zealand to the Aden Protectorate as well as patrol duties on the same route. Japanese assistance was extended on 10 February 1917, when it was decided that a 2nd Special Squadron was to be created.{{sfn|Hirama|1998|pp=41–45}}

File:Japanese_navy_officers_at_Marsa,_Malta,_1919.jpg

The squadron was headed by the {{sclass|Suma|cruiser|2}} {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Akashi||2}}, while also including the 10th ({{ship|Japanese destroyer|Ume|1915|2}}, {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Kusunoki|1915|2}}, {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Kaede|1915|2}}, {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Katsura|1915|2}}) and 11th ({{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Kashiwa||2}}, {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Matsu|1915|2}}, {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Sugi|1915|2}}, and {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Sakaki|1915|2}}) Destroyer Flotillas, consisting of 4 {{sclass|Kaba|destroyer|2}}s each. The 11th Flotilla departed Japan on 18 February 1917, joining the rest of the squadron in Singapore on 5 March, where Admiral Kōzō Satō assumed command. The squadron sailed through Colombo, Aden and Port Said, arriving at Malta on 16 April. The arrival of the squadron coincided with the peak of the unrestricted submarine warfare practiced by the Central Powers.{{sfn|Hirama|1998|pp=45–54}}{{sfn|Saxon|2000|pp=12–16}}

The Japanese were tasked with escorting troopships heading from Malta to Salonica and from Alexandria to Taranto and Marseille. On 4 May 1917, Sakaki and Matsu took part in the rescue of the passengers of British transport {{SS|Transylvania|1914|6}}, which was sinking after being torpedoed off the Gulf of Genoa, almost 3,000 people were saved. The British Admiralty later sent a telegram congratulating Satō for the service of his men on that occasion. In June 1917, {{sclass|Izumo|cruiser|2}} {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Izumo||2}} relieved Akashi at Malta becoming the squadron's flagship. On 11 June 1917, Sakaki was torpedoed by Austro-Hungarian submarine {{ship|SM|U-27|Austria-Hungary|6}} off the coast of Crete, resulting in 59 deaths and 22 injuries. Sakaki was badly damaged, however she managed to reach the port of Pireaus. On 25 June 1917, the 15th Destroyers Flotilla comprised four {{sclass|Momo|destroyer|2}}s ({{ship|Japanese destroyer|Momo|1916|2}}, {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Kashi|1916|2}}, {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Hinoki|1916|2}}, {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Yanagi|1917|2}}) departed from Japan, joining the squadron in August 1917. On 27 August 1917, admiral superintendent of the Malta Dockyard George Alexander Ballard praised the operational capacity of the Japanese, favorably comparing them towards those of the French and Italians. In 1918, {{sclass|Kasuga|cruiser|2}} {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Nisshin||2}} reinforced the squadron, becoming a flagship in November of the same year.{{sfn|Hirama|1998|pp=45–54}}{{cite news|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000445/19181210/045/0004|title=U-boats for French Port|date=10 December 1918|work=Aberdeen Evening Express|page=4|accessdate=10 March 2015| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=limited}}{{sfn|Hackett|Kingsepp|2014}}{{sfn|Saxon|2000|pp=12–16, 1}}

By the end of the war ships belonging to the squadron had accompanied 788 Allied ships, including transports carrying 700,000 troops. They engaged German and Austro–Hungarian submarines on 38 occasions failing however to sink any. In December 1918, Izumo, accompanied by the destroyers Hinoki and Yanagi, sailed from Malta to Scapa Flow to assume control of seven captured German U-boats as prizes of war. The crew of the ships took part in the 1919 Paris and London Victory Parades. They returned to Malta with the U-boats in March 1919 and Nisshin accompanied eight destroyers and the U-boats to Japan, while Izumo made port calls at Naples, Genoa and Marseilles before arriving in Japan with the remaining destroyers on 2 July 1919.{{sfn|Hirama|1998|pp=45–54}}{{sfn|Saxon|2000|pp=12–16}}{{sfn|Hackett|Kingsepp|2014}}

A memorial commemorating the fallen servicemen from Sakaki was opened at the Kalkara Naval Cemetery in Malta.{{cite news|last1=Zammit|first1=Roseanne|title=Japanese lieutenant's son visits Japanese war dead at Kalkara cemetery|url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20040327/local/japanese-lieutenants-son-visits-war-dead-at-kalkara-cemetery.126734|accessdate=25 May 2015|publisher=Times of Malta|date=27 March 2004}}

;Cruisers

;10th Destroyer Division

;11th Destroyer Division

;15th Destroyer Division

; Japanese crewed British ships

As the anti-submarine activities increased the Japanese were lent two Destroyers and two gunships.{{sfn|Buttigieg|2017|p=}}

• 1st Special Squadron (Japanese Navy) - Fleet assigned to patrol Australia
• North American Task Force - Fleet assigned to patrol Canada and later the West Pacific
• Third Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy) - Fleet assigned to patrol Russian coast during the Soviet Revolution
• 2nd Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy) was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) created as a mobile strike force in response to hostilities with Russia, and saw action in every IJN military operation until the end of World War II.
• 1st Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite web|last=Buttigieg|first=Mario |date=May 21, 2017|url = https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/Malta-and-the-Imperial-Japanese-Navy-s-Second-Special-Squadron-in-WWI.648609|title =Malta and the Imperial Japanese Navy's Second Special Squadron in WWI|publisher = Times of Malta| accessdate = June 11, 2022 }}
• {{cite web | url= http://www.combinedfleet.com/Izumo_t.htm| title=IJN Izumo: Tabular Record of Movement| last1 = Hackett| first1 =Bob | first2 = Sander |last2=Kingsepp| date=2014| work= SOKO-JUNYOKAN – Ex-Armored Cruisers | publisher= Combinedfleet.com|accessdate =23 April 2015|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite journal |last=Hirama |first=Yochi|date=1998|title=Rising Sun in the Mediterranean:The Second Special Squadron,1917–18|url=http://hiramayoihi.com/yh_e_top.html|journal=Proceedings of Il Mediterraneo Quale Elemento del Potere Marittimo|publisher=Commissione Italiana di Storia Militare- Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare |pages=39–54|accessdate=8 May 2016}}{{dead link|date=February 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
• {{cite journal |last=Pocher |first=Harald|date=2015|title=Japan in the First World War|journal=Military Science Review/Hadtudományi Szemle|volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=341–358}}
• {{cite journal |last=Saxon |first=Timothy|date=2000 |title=Anglo-Japanese Military Cooperation, 1914–1918 |journal=Naval War College Review|publisher=US Naval War College|volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=1–26}}

{{Refend}}

• {{cite web| url =http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060023135 | title = MOVEMENTS OF JAPANESE WARSHIPS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN|work = Imperial War Museum| accessdate =23 December 2016 }}

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Category:Mediterranean naval operations of World War I

Category:Fleets of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Category:Military units and formations established in 1917

Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1919

Category:Japan–Malta relations

Category:Military history of the Mediterranean