The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

 established during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

History

Established on 14 July 1942, the IJN 8th Fleet was a headquarters unit established to direct Japanese naval operations in the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

 and New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

. The warship forces assigned to the 8th Fleet were known as the Outer South Seas Force and Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa

Gunichi Mikawa

was a Vice-Admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.Mikawa was the commander of a heavy cruiser force that carried out spectacular I.J.N. victory over the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Navy at the Battle of Savo Island in Ironbottom Sound on the night of August 1942. In...

 was assigned as the first commander.

The first warships assigned to the 8th included the heavy cruiser

Heavy cruiser

The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...

 Chōkai, Cruiser Division 6 (CruDiv6) which included the heavy cruisers Aoba

Japanese cruiser Aoba

was the lead ship in the two-vessel Aoba-class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. It is named after Mount Aoba, a volcano located behind Maizuru, Kyoto.-Background:...

, Kinugasa

Japanese cruiser Kinugasa

was the second vessel in the two-vessel Aoba-class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was named after Mount Kinugasa, located in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan.- Background :...

, Kako

Japanese cruiser Kako

was the second vessel in the two-vessel Furutaka-class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was named after the Kakogawa River in Hyogo prefecture, Japan.-Background:...

, and Furutaka

Japanese cruiser Furutaka

was the lead ship in the two-vessel Furutaka-class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was named after Mount Furutaka, located on Etajima, Hiroshima immediately behind the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy.-Design:...

, light cruisers Tenryū

Japanese cruiser Tenryu

was the lead ship in the two-ship of light cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Tenryū was named after the Tenryū River in Nagano and Shizuoka prefectures.-Background:...

 and Yubari

Japanese cruiser Yubari

was a light cruiser built between 1922 and 1923 for the Imperial Japanese Navy. She fought in World War II and was sunk by the US Navy.-Design:The ship originated as an experimental scout cruiser, which would have the combat potential of the standard Japanese light cruisers on a much lighter ship....

, and four destroyers. On July 26, Mikawa, on Chōkai led his force from Truk to Rabaul

Rabaul

Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...

, New Britain

New Britain

New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...

 where he established his headquarters. He detached CruDiv6 to Kavieng

Kavieng

Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2000, it had a population of 10,600....

, New Ireland

New Ireland (island)

New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by...

.

The IJN 8th Fleet under Mikawa engaged United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 forces in the Battle of Savo Island

Battle of Savo Island

The Battle of Savo Island, also known as the First Battle of Savo Island and, in Japanese sources, as the , was a naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II, between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval forces...

 on August 8-9, 1942. In the battle, 8th Fleet commander in chief Admiral Gunichi Mikawa

Gunichi Mikawa

was a Vice-Admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.Mikawa was the commander of a heavy cruiser force that carried out spectacular I.J.N. victory over the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Navy at the Battle of Savo Island in Ironbottom Sound on the night of August 1942. In...

 defeated a superior American force, sinking four of eight cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

s, but failed to follow through and destroy the lightly protected American transports that had just landed troops on the island, initiating the Guadalcanal Campaign

Guadalcanal campaign

The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces, was a military campaign fought between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of World War II...

.

The IJN 8th Fleet also played a major role in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the Battle of the Solomons, The Battle of Friday the 13th, or, in Japanese sources, as the , took place from 12–15 November 1942, and was the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles...

 from November 12-18 1942, during which the Japanese won a tactical victory, but suffered a strategic defeat due to large losses of irreplaceable ships and an inability to enable the delivery of sufficient army troops to retake Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...

 from Allied forces. The 8th Fleet subsequently played a major role in Operation Ke

Operation Ke

was the largely successful withdrawal of Japanese forces from Guadalcanal at the conclusion of the Guadalcanal Campaign of World War II. The operation took place between 14 January and 7 February 1943, and involved both army and navy forces under the overall direction of the Japanese Imperial...

, the successful withdrawal of army forces from Guadalcanal the first week of February, 1943 that conceded victory to the Allies in the hard fought campaign.

From December 20, 1942 until the end of the war, the IJN 8th Fleet came under the operational authority of the Southeast Area Fleet

Southeast Area Fleet

The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy established during World War II.-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...

. It headquarters staff was later isolated on Bougainville Island

Bougainville Island

Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...

 with remnants of Imperial Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese Army

-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

 forces at the end of the war.

Commanders of the IJN 8th Fleet

Commander in chief

	Rank	Name	Date
1	Vice-Admiral	Gunichi Mikawa Gunichi Mikawa was a Vice-Admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.Mikawa was the commander of a heavy cruiser force that carried out spectacular I.J.N. victory over the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Navy at the Battle of Savo Island in Ironbottom Sound on the night of August 1942. In...	14 Jul 1942 - 1 Apr 1943
2	Vice-Admiral	Baron Tomoshige Samejima Tomoshige Samejima -Notes:...	1 Apr 1943 - 3 Sep 1945

Chief of staff

	Rank	Name	Date
1	Vice-Admiral	Shinzo Onishi	14 Jul 1942 - 1 Apr 1943
2	Rear-Admiral	Teijiro Yamazumi	1 Apr 1943 - 3 Sep 1945