3rd Fleet ( Imperial Japanese Navy ) The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy , which was created on six separate occasions . History . Russo - Japanese War . First established on 28 December 1903 , the IJN 3rd Fleet was created by the Imperial General Headquarters as an administrative unit to manage various vessels considered too obsolete for front - line combat service . These vessels were used primarily for training and for coastal patrol duties . The IJN 3rd Fleet came under the aegis of the Combined Fleet for the duration of the Russo - Japanese War from March 1904 . Although initially derided as a " dinosaur fleet " , the IJN 3rd fleet proved invaluable at the Battle of Tsushima and the Invasion of Sakhalin . It was disbanded on 20 December 1905 . South China Fleet . The IJN 3rd Fleet was revived on 24 December 1908 as an expeditionary force during the Chinese Republican Revolution , to safeguard Japanese civilians and property on the Chinese mainland and ( if necessary ) to conduct emergency evacuation . It was nicknamed the " South China Fleet " since its area of activity was initially envisioned to be the South China Sea , although for the most part its cruiser s patrolled the Yangtze River and other large rivers in China , and its headquarters was based in the Japanese concession in Shanghai . It was disbanded on 25 December 1915 . World War I . The IJN 3rd Fleet was reconstituted on the same day as the dissolution of the " South China Fleet " , initially as a training force to supplement Japan ' s contribution to the World War I war effort under the Anglo - Japanese Alliance . However , with the Russian Revolution and the proclamation of the communist Soviet Union , the mission of the IJN 3rd Fleet was changed to that of patrols of the coast of Russia and support of the Siberian Intervention by Japanese ground forces in support of anti - Bolshevik forces . The IJN 3rd Fleet was disbanded on 1 December 1922 , and many of its vessels were scrapped almost immediately under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty . First China Expeditionary Fleet . The IJN 3rd Fleet was again raised on 2 February 1938 as part of Japan ' s emergency buildup for forces after the Shanghai Incident . The buildup took the form of three separate expeditionary fleets , consisting primarily of cruisers and gunboats to patrol the Chinese coast and major riverways and to support the landings of Japanese ground forces . With the outbreak of general war ( the Second Sino - Japanese War ) in 1937 , the IJN 3rd Fleet came under the aegis of the China Area Fleet . It was disbanded on 15 November 1939 ; however , some of the organizational and command structures for ground forces under the First China Expeditionary Fleet remained in place until August 1943 . Southern Expeditionary Fleet . The IJN 3rd Fleet was recreated once again on 10 April 1941 with the additional designation " Southern Expeditionary Fleet " for the specific task of invading the Philippine islands . At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor , its headquarters was based in Palau and its mission expanded to include the invasions of Java , Borneo and other islands of the Netherlands East Indies . It was superseded by the 2nd Southern Expeditionary Fleet under the aegis of the Southwest Area Fleet on 10 March 1942 . World War II . The sixth ( and final ) incarnation of the IJN 3rd Fleet was formed on 14 July 1942 immediately after the disastrous Battle of Midway as an aircraft carrier task force modeled after similar units in the United States Navy . It was centered on the new aircraft carriers and . It played an important role during the Pyrrhic victory at the Battle of Santa Cruz , in which the American aircraft carrier was sunk , but at the cost of many of the best air crews in the Japanese Navy . After March 1944 , the IJN 3rd Fleet was effectively merged with the IJN 2nd Fleet , and suffered through the disastrous Battle of the Philippine Sea , losing 3 of its aircraft carriers , including the newly commissioned and over 350 carrier planes . With the loss of 4 aircraft carriers at the Battle off Cape Engaño , the IJN 3rd Fleet effectively ceased to exist . It was officially disbanded on 15 December 1944 . Commanders of the IJN 3rd Fleet . Commander in chief Chief of Staff