![Jinichi Kusaka](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Jinichi_Kusaka.jpg)
The was a fleet of the
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
established during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
History
The Southeast Area Fleet was an operational command of the Imperial Japanese Navy combining the remaining surface elements of the
IJN 8th Fleet with the
IJN 11th Air Fleet, the No.5 Special Base Unit. The Southeast Area Fleet was established on December 24, 1942, during the waning weeks of the
Guadalcanal campaign
The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in th ...
and was headquartered in
Rabaul,
New Britain
New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...
.
In February 1944, after heavy losses in the
Solomon Islands campaign
The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea, ...
, most surviving Japanese surface and naval aircraft forces withdrew from Rabaul to
Truk in the
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...
. However, lacking transport, most of the headquarters staff of the Southeast Area Fleet was left abandoned on Rabaul, together with surviving elements of the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
IJA 8th Area Army, and was isolated until the end of the war.
Commanders of the IJN Southeast Area Fleet
Commander in chief
[Wendel, Axis History Database]
Chief of staff
References
Notes
Books
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External links
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{{IJN
Fleets of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Military units and formations established in 1942
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945