Northeast Area Fleet

The Northeast Area Fleet (北東方面艦隊, Hokutō Hōmen Kantai) was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy established during World War II.

Northeast Area Fleet
Active5 August 1943 – 5 December 1944
CountryEmpire of Japan
Branch Imperial Japanese Navy
Battle honoursPacific Theatre of World War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Jinichi Kusaka

History

The Northeast Area Fleet was a short-lived operational headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Navy, established on August 5, 1943. As United States Navy forces had driven the Japanese out of the Aleutian Islands in late 1943 to early 1944, an organizational structure was required to coordinate Japan's northern defenses against the possibility that the United States would extend operations from the Aleutians into the Chishima Islands, Karafuto and to northern Japan itself. The new Northeast Area Fleet was a combined operational command containing surviving elements of the IJN 5th Fleet, IJN 12th Air Fleet and ground elements.[1] As it became eventually evident that the United States had no intention of using the northern approaches to Japan as an invasion route, gradually most of its forces were reassigned to other theaters of the war. The Northeast Area Fleet itself was disbanded on December 5, 1944.

Transition
DateHigher unitLower units
5 August 1943 (original)Combined Fleet5th Fleet, 12th Air Fleet
1 April 19445th Fleet, 12th Air Fleet, 22nd Cruiser Division, Chishima Area Base Force
15 August 19445th Fleet, 12th Air Fleet, Chishima Area Base Force
5 December 1944disbanded

Commanders of the IJN Northern Area Fleet

Commander in chief [2]

RankNameDateAdditional post
1Vice AdmiralMichitaro TotsukaAugust 5, 1943 - September 15, 1944Commander of the 12th Air Fleet
2Vice AdmiralEiji GotoSeptember 15, 1944 – December 5, 1944

Chief of staff

RankNameDateAdditional post
1Rear-AdmiralYoshiyuki IchimiyaAugust 5, 1942 – December 5, 1944Chief of staff of the 12th Air Fleet

Notes
  1. D'Albas, Death of a Navy
  2. Wendel, Axis History Database

References
  • D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 0-8159-5302-X.
  • Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
  • Wendel, Marcus. "Axis History Database". Retrieved 2007-08-25.
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