# 1st Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)

The 1st Fleet (第一艦隊, Dai-ichi Kantai) was the main battleship fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

## History

First established on 28 December 1903, the IJN 1st Fleet was created during the Russo-Japanese War when the Imperial General Headquarters divided the Readiness Fleet into a mobile strike force of cruisers and destroyers to pursue the Imperial Russian Navy's Vladivostok-based cruiser squadron (the Imperial Japanese Navy's 2nd Fleet), while the remaining bulk of the Japanese fleet (the IJN 1st Fleet) continued to blockade Port Arthur in hopes of luring the battleships of the Russian Pacific Fleet out into a classic line-of-battle confrontation. The two fleets were combined into the Combined Fleet for the final Battle of Tsushima. The decisive victory of the Japanese fleet over the Imperial Russian Navy at the Battle of Tsushima validated the doctrine of the "decisive victory", or kantai kessen as stipulated by naval theorists such as Alfred Thayer Mahan and Satō Tetsutarō in the eyes of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff, and future naval procurement and deployment was centered on refinements of this doctrine. The Mahanian objective was to build a fleet in being, a naval force kept deliberately in strategic reserve, as secondary forces based on cruisers and destroyers waged a campaign of attrition against an approaching enemy, who would then be destroyed in a climactic final battle similar to the Battle of Tsushima. As a result of this doctrine, although individual ships and task forces were dispatched on occasion for specific combat operations, the main force in the Imperial Japanese Navy was mostly held in reserve from the time of its inception until near the end of World War II.

## Commanders of the IJN 1st Fleet

| | Commander-in-Chief | Dates | Dates | Previous Post | Next Post | Notes |
| 1 | Vice-Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō 東郷平八郎 | 28 December 1903 | 20 December 1905 | Commander-in-chief Standing Fleet | Chairman Navy General Staff | Promoted to Admiral 6 June 1904 Also Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet for entire tenure. |
| 2 | Vice-Admiral Kataoka Shichirō 片岡七郎 | 20 December 1905 | 22 November 1906 | Commander-in-chief 3rd Fleet | Director Naval Shipping Bureau | |
| 3 | Vice-Admiral Arima Shinichi [ja] 有馬新一 | 22 November 1906 | 26 May 1908 | | | |
| 4 | Vice-Admiral Ijūin Gorō 伊集院五郎 | 26 May 1908 | 1 December 1909 | Commander-in-chief 2nd Fleet | Chairman Navy General Staff | Also Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet from 8 October to 20 November 1908 |
| 5 | Vice-Admiral Kamimura Hikonojō 上村彦之丞 | 1 December 1909 | 1 December 1911 | Commander-in-chief Yokosuka Naval District | Naval Councilor | Promoted to Admiral |
| 6 | Vice-Admiral Dewa Shigetō 出羽重遠 | 1 December 1911 | 1 December 1913 | Commander-in-chief Sasebo Naval District | Naval Councilor | Promoted to Admiral |
| 7 | Vice-Admiral Katō Tomosaburō 加藤友三郎 | 1 December 1913 | 10 August 1915 | Commander-in-chief Sasebo Naval District | Minister of the Navy | |
| 8 | Vice-Admiral Kōichi Fujii 藤井較一 | 10 August 1915 | 23 September 1915 | Commander-in-chief Sasebo Naval District | Commander-in-chief Yokosuka Naval District | |
| 9 | Vice-Admiral Yoshimatsu Shigetarō [ja] 吉松茂太郎 | 23 September 1915 | 1 December 1917 | Commander-in-chief Kure Naval District | Naval Councilor | Promoted to Admiral Also Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet 8 October to 20 November 1915, 1 September to 14 October 1916, 1 to 22 October 1917 |
| 10 | Vice-Admiral Yamashita Gentarō 山下源太郎 | 1 December 1917 | 1 December 1919 | Commander-in-chief Sasebo Naval District | Naval Councilor | Promoted to Admiral Also Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet 1 September to 15 October 1918, 1 June to 28 October 1919 |
| 11 | Admiral Yamaya Tanin 山屋他人 | 1 December 1919 | 24 August 1920 | Commander-in-chief 2nd Fleet | Commander-in-chief Yokosuka Naval District | Also Commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet from 1 May 1920 |
| 12 | Admiral Tochinai Sojirō [ja] 栃内曽次郎 | 24 August 1920 | 27 July 1922 | Vice-Minister of the Navy | Commander-in-chief Sasebo Naval District | Also Commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet until 31 October 1920 and from 1 May to 31 October 1921 |
| 13 | Vice-Admiral Takeshita Isamu 竹下勇 | 27 July 1922 | 27 January 1924 | | Commander-in-chief Kure Naval District | Promoted to Admiral 3 August 1923 Also Commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet from 1 December 1922 Command of Combined Fleet and 1st Fleet would be unified for the next 20 years. |
| 14 | Admiral Suzuki Kantarō 鈴木貫太郎 | 27 January 1924 | 1 December 1924 | Commander-in-chief Kure Naval District | Naval Councilor | |
| 15 | Admiral Okada Keisuke 岡田啓介 | 1 December 1924 | 10 December 1926 | Naval Councilor | Commander-in-chief Yokosuka Naval District | |
| 16 | Vice-Admiral Katō Hiroharu 加藤寛治 | 10 December 1926 | 10 December 1928 | Commander-in-chief Yokosuka Naval District | Naval Councilor | Promoted to Admiral 1 April 1927 |
| 17 | Admiral Taniguchi Naomi [ja] 谷口尚真 | 10 December 1928 | 11 November 1929 | Commander-in-chief Kure Naval District | Commander-in-chief Kure Naval District | |
| 18 | Vice-Admiral Yamamoto Eisuke [ja] 山本英輔 | 11 November 1929 | 1 December 1931 | Commander-in-chief Yokosuka Naval District | Naval Councilor | Promoted to Admiral 1 March 1931 |
| 19 | Vice-Admiral Kobayashi Seizō 小林躋造 | 1 December 1931 | 15 November 1933 | Vice-Minister of the Navy | Naval Councilor | Promoted to Admiral 1 April 1933 |
| 20 | Vice-Admiral Suetsugu Nobumasa 末次信正 | 15 November 1933 | 15 November 1934 | Commander-in-chief 2nd Fleet | Commander-in-chief Yokosuka Naval District | Promoted to Admiral 30 March 1934 |
| 21 | Vice-Admiral Takahashi Sankichi 高橋三吉 | 15 November 1934 | 1 December 1936 | Commander-in-chief 2nd Fleet | Naval Councilor | Promoted to Admiral 1 April 1936 |
| 22 | Vice-Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai 米内光政 | 1 December 1936 | 2 February 1937 | Commander-in-chief Yokosuka Naval District | Minister of the Navy | |
| 23 | Admiral Nagano Osami 永野修身 | 2 February 1937 | 1 December 1937 | Minister of the Navy | Naval Councilor | |
| 24 | Vice-Admiral Yoshida Zengo 吉田善吾 | 1 December 1937 | 30 August 1939 | Commander-in-chief 2nd Fleet | Minister of the Navy | |
| 25 | Vice-Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku 山本五十六 | 30 August 1939 | 11 August 1941 | Vice-Minister of the Navy | Commander-in-chief Combined Fleet | Promoted to Admiral 15 November 1940 Command of Combined Fleet and 1st Fleet separated. |
| 26 | Vice Admiral Takasu Shirō 高須四郎 | 11 August 1941 | 14 July 1942 | Commander-in-chief 4th Fleet | Attendant Navy General Staff | |
| 27 | Vice-Admiral Shimizu Mitsumi 清水光美 | 14 July 1942 | 20 October 1943 | | | |
| 28 | Vice-Admiral Nagumo Chūichi 南雲忠一 | 20 October 1943 | 25 February 1944 | Commander-in-chief Kure Naval District | | |
Chief of Staff
| | Rank | Name | Date |
| 1 | Fleet Admiral | Baron Hayao Shimamura | 28 December 1903 – 12 January 1905 |
| 2 | Fleet Admiral | Viscount Tomosaburō Katō | 12 January 1905 – 20 December 1905 |
| 3 | Admiral | Kōichi Fujii | 20 December 1905 – 22 November 1906 |
| 4 | Fleet Admiral | Baron Yamashita Gentarō | 22 November 1906 – 10 December 1908 |
| 5 | Admiral | Takarabe Takeshi | 10 December 1908 – 1 December 1909 |
| 6 | Admiral | Kaneo Nomaguchi | 1 December 1909 – 11 March 1911 |
| 7 | Vice Admiral | Saneyuki Akiyama | 11 March 1911 – 1 December 1912 |
| 8 | Admiral | Isamu Takeshita | 1 December 1912 – 24 May 1913 |
| x | | position vacant | 24 May 1913 – 1 December 1913 |
| 9 | Vice Admiral | Tetsutaro Sato | 1 December 1913 – 17 April 1914 |
| 10 | Vice Admiral | Kazuyoshi Yamaji | 17 April 1914 – 1 December 1914 |
| 11 | Vice Admiral | Shibakichi Yamanaka | 1 December 1914 – 13 December 1915 |
| 12 | Vice Admiral | Saburo Horiuchi | 13 December 1915 – 1 December 1917 |
| 13 | Vice Admiral | Hanroku Saito | 1 December 1917 – 1 December 1918 |
| 14 | Vice Admiral | Kajishiro Funakoshi | 1 December 1918 – 1 December 1919 |
| 15 | Vice Admiral | Hansaku Yoshioka | 1 December 1919 – 1 December 1921 |
| 16 | Vice Admiral | Kumazo Shirane | 1 December 1921 – 1 December 1923 |
| 17 | Rear Admiral | Bekinari Kabayama | 1 December 1923 – 10 November 1924 |
| 18 | Vice Admiral | Kanjiro Hara | 10 November 1924 – 1 December 1925 |
| 19 | Vice Admiral | Naotaro Ominato | 1 December 1925 – 1 November 1926 |
| 20 | Admiral | Sankichi Takahashi | 1 November 1926 – 1 December 1927 |
| 21 | Vice Admiral | Eijiro Hamano | 1 December 1927 – 10 December 1928 |
| 22 | Vice Admiral | Ken Terajima | 10 December 1928 – 30 October 1929 |
| 23 | Admiral | Koichi Shiozawa | 30 October 1929 – 1 December 1930 |
| 24 | Admiral | Shigetarō Shimada | 1 December 1930 – 1 December 1931 |
| 25 | Admiral | Zengo Yoshida | 1 December 1931 – 15 September 1933 |
| 26 | Admiral | Soemu Toyoda | 15 September 1933 – 15 March 1935 |
| 27 | Admiral | Nobutake Kondō | 15 March 1935 – 15 November 1935 |
| 28 | Admiral | Naokuni Nomura | 15 November 1935 – 16 November 1936 |
| 29 | Rear Admiral | Yasutaro Iwashita | 16 November 1936 – 18 February 1937 |
| 30 | Vice Admiral | Jisaburo Ozawa | 18 February 1937 – 15 November 1937 |
| 31 | Vice Admiral | Ibo Takahashi | 15 November 1937 – 5 November 1939 |
| 32 | Vice Admiral | Shigeru Fukudome | 5 November 1939 – 10 April 1941 |
| 33 | Admiral | Seiichi Ito | 10 April 1941 – 11 August 1941 |
| 34 | Vice Admiral | Kengo Kobayashi | 11 August 1941 – 6 January 1943 |
| 35 | Vice Admiral | Gihachi Takayanagi | 6 January 1943 – 25 February 1944 |