Although the scale of the First World War is far less extensive than the scope of the Second World War, the cruelty of the war is not lower than that of the Second World War. Because the main battlefield has always been in Europe, this world war is figuratively called the "European War", and it is precisely because of this that the participating forces from Asia and the Americas are often ignored, including the emerging power from the East, Japan, and other Japanese navies that have always been eager to move.
The flagship of the Second Southern Detachment, the battleship Satsuma, was The most cutting-edge warship in Japan at the time, which was abolished in 1923 by the Washington Naval Treaty, and was sunk as a target ship by the Hyuga and Kongo battleships during the 24th military exercise.
The territory of Germany during the First World War, not as relegated to the mainland as in World War II, when Germany had a large number of colonies overseas, whether it was Africa or Asia or Oceania can see the figure of the Germans, when the First World War broke out in full swing, the Anglo-French Allies in addition to fighting directly with the German-Austrian Allies in the European battlefield, but also to take into account their colonial powers far abroad, although the British have the world's first sea power, but the German Navy during the First World War under the tutelage of its Tilbitz, Not only is it the second largest in the world and the quality is also superior, there is always a huge threat to the British mainland, plus the ground battlefield of the First World War is like a meat grinder, and the British, who have no time to look east and want to deal a fatal blow to Germany's overseas forces, naturally think of Japan, a friendly country that has renewed its alliance for three consecutive times. But after all, the main battlefield is in Europe, Japan was not very active at the beginning, but the attitude of the British people was from the initial "hope to postpone the participation in the war", "hope to participate in the war limited by region" to the final "hope to participate in the war in an all-round way", repeatedly changed, under the urgent needs of the British, and then got the British interests promised that "after victory can share all the spoils of Germany in the East", Japan, a country that is not honest from the bones, no longer wants to play the role of an outsider.
The cruiser Asama, which belonged to the First Southern Detachment, was purchased by the British together with the Ship Tokiwa of the same class in order to make up for the shortcomings of the June Fourth Fleet, and the two were once popular as members of the Sixth Sixth Fleet.
It can be said that Japan has its natural advantages in participating in the war, Germany's largest military stronghold in the Far East Qingdao is only four thousand troops, including the Navy because of the British deterrence and had to take a frontal attack operation, and Japan at that time hundreds of thousands of troops, the Navy is more experienced in the baptism of two bloody wars between Japan and Russia, and in 1914 reached a total tonnage of 680,000 tons, ranking fifth in the world navy, so it is said that the war against Germany, even without the assistance of British allies, Japan also had the certainty of victory in taking Germany's sphere of influence far east for itself. The highlight of the Asian battlefield is the Battle of Tsingtao, the Battle of Tsingtao has limited to do with the Japanese Navy, because the main force of the East Asian Fleet of the German Navy has long been out of the Qingdao base under the leadership of Vice Admiral Shi Pei, so the Second Fleet of the Japanese Navy commanded by Vice Admiral Tseiyoshi Kato can directly support the ground operation without worrying about the threat from the sea, and the German army in Qingdao has been resisting and declaring surrender for more than a week, but it is this week. The weak German Navy sank the Japanese Navy's 3,700-ton protective cruiser Takachiori by means of mine boats, and to say that the only highlight of the Japanese Navy in this battle was the first use of seaplanes to reconnoiter and even bomb the enemy, at least in 1914 at that time, which was a remarkable precedent, and was not inferior to the European and American naval powers in pioneering terms.
The U.S. detachment belonged to the cruiser Izumo (later succeeded the cruiser Akashi as the flagship of the Second Special Fleet), and the detachment was formed before the operation in Europe, mainly active on the west coast of the United States, and its political significance was greater than the operational significance.
Because it was stated earlier that the real purpose of Japan's participation in the war was to take over the German colonies scattered in the Pacific, while the Second Fleet focused on supporting the ground warfare in Tsingtao, in addition to the first (commanded by Vice Admiral Tomsaburo Kato) and the Second Fleet (commanded by Major General Mitsumitsu Tsuchiya) that were always operating along the coast of China and Japan, the first detachment was directed to the Marshall Islands under the command of Vice Admiral Yamaya. The Second Southern Detachment, under the command of Major General Ryuo Matsumura, was directed directly to the Caroline Islands, while the Special Southern Detachment under the command of Kato Kōji Daisaku was directly under the command of the British Far East Fleet, using Singapore as a base to undertake maritime operations in the Indian Ocean. Of course, Germany's power in the Far East itself was very limited, and the colonies were declared under control with little resistance from the Japanese and British forces, and the East Asian Fleet, the largest german maritime power in the Far East, was annihilated by the British Navy near the Falkland Islands in late 1915. Compared with the support operation of the Second Fleet in Qingdao, the Southern Detachment was more relaxed, and it was not impossible to say that the operation was not absent, and the more black humor was that in February 1915, the British Indian soldiers in Singapore rioted, numbering as many as a thousand, and the Japanese Navy sent troops to assist in the suppression of the two cruisers "Tsushima" and "Otowa" at the request of the British authorities, which was also the only so-called "operation" of the Japanese Navy in Nanyang.
The defensive cruiser Otowa, which participated in the suppression of British Indian soldiers, was itself a shrunken version of the new high-caliber cruiser, which sank during the wartime return to the mainland.
If the previous ones were all small fights, then going to Europe would be a huge revolutionary change for the Japanese Navy, that is, a comprehensive transition from a coastal navy to an ocean-going navy. In the Mediterranean, where the Sea superiority of the Allies is not as obvious as in the North Sea, in the face of the German Navy's unrestricted submarine warfare and the geographical advantages of the Austrian and Turkish navies in the Mediterranean, the Allies expect that the Japanese Navy can come to share some escort operations for it, of course, Japan will not go to Europe for no reason, provided that the Allies betray china in the same camp, that is, to give all of Germany's power in China to Japan. In this regard, Japan set up a special task force in charge of Mediterranean operations, the commander was the artillery expert Rear Admiral Takazo Sato, the flagship was the armored cruiser Izumo (that is, the flagship of the Third Fleet that was attacked by our army in the War of Resistance), plus nine destroyers to assist in the operation, and their main opponent in the Mediterranean was submarines, thirty-one ships of the German Navy, fourteen ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, and three ships of the Turkish Navy, at that time, the Japanese Navy was not equipped with sonar devices, and it was completely naked to find opponents. During this time, the destroyer Uzum was attacked by the Austro-Hungarian submarine U27 and nearly sank. Because it mainly served as an escort operation with a wide range, including Greece, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Spain, France, Belgium, northern England and even the Sea of Marmara between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, it left the figure of the Second Special Fleet, escorting seven hundred and eighty-eight Allied ships, more than seven thousand rescuers, and engaging thirty-six directly with opponents in the three hundred and forty-eight escort missions, Most of them are still buried in the Maltese Military Cemetery, even during World War II, when Japan and Britain were at loggerheads. In addition to the Second Special Fleet, there are two Japanese naval fleets that are also heading to the ocean, one is the First Special Fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Takeshita, the home port is Cape Town, to assist the British Navy's Cape of Good Hope Squadron, and the other is the Third Special Fleet, which is responsible for escorting the Western Pacific, the home port is in Sydney, Australia, but both lack actual combat experience because of the relatively late formation.
The Hirado protective cruiser, which belonged to the Second Southern Detachment, was the third ship of the Chikuma class, which was actively supported during the Kwantung Army's Rehe Operation, and was later used as a naval training ship. After the end of World War II, it was dismantled and used as a breakwater, and it is worth mentioning that the three chiefs of the Navy (the Minister of the Navy, the Commander of the Combined Fleet, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Military Command) have served on this ship as captains.
With the comprehensive end of the First World War, the Allies will naturally not lack the figure of Japan in dividing up the fruits of victory, in which Japan will obtain more than 1,400 islands and reefs south of the equator, including the Mariana Islands, caroline Islands, and marshall islands, and its area has reached a vast area of 5,000 meters long from east to west and 2,400 kilometers wide from north to south. After some baptism, the Japanese Navy's chief insight not only gained valuable experience in ocean-going combat, but also saw the gap with the navies of European and American powers, and when the world set off a climax in the construction of dreadnoughts, the Japanese also formulated a fantastic "Eighty-Eight Fleet" shipbuilding plan for their own navy. It is worth mentioning that the Second Special Fleet to fight in Europe can be described as a generation of talents, including Kishii Koichi, the first person in submarine warfare, Tatsumi Yamaguchi, the leading aviation expert, and Tanaka Raizo, who is known for mine warfare. The commander of the Second Special Fleet, Sato Takazo, also won the Second Class Crown Medal issued by Belgium, the Order of St. Michael and St. George issued by the United Kingdom, and the Legion of Honor medal issued by France because of his meritorious service, but for such a figure as Sato Takazo who did not obtain the rank of Navy General, there are many opinions, and a considerable number of people have the view that Sato Takazo himself is known for his artillery skills, and he is not suitable for the position of naval commander to fight in Europe, and the actual command of the Second Special Forces Fleet is also responsible for Nagasawa Naotaro. When the Japanese Navy was frequently threatened by submarines in Europe, after the return of Sato Gaozang still ignored the threat of submarines and vigorously advocated the doctrine of large artillery and giant ships, originally in the era of Emperor Showa, he had intended to reward Sato Gaozang, sadly, during World War II, the Japanese Navy suffered extremely heavy losses due to submarine strikes, so everyone blamed the responsibility on Sato Gaozang, who did not attach importance to anti-submarineism, and believed that the Japanese Navy failed to learn the lessons of World War I and did not pay attention to anti-submarine As the Japanese Navy's war situation worsened and the tide deteriorated, this voice constantly troubled the old man. In any case, Sato Takazo is still a hero and general who pioneered the new japanese navy.
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