Events until November 1941
Since November 1939 when
the "Graf Spee" first entered the Indian Ocean,
German raiders had hunted there as well as in the
Pacific. The Royal and Dominion Navies had not only been
busy tracking them down, but also escorting troops of
Australia, India, New Zealand and other members of the
British Empire to the theatres of war.
All this time Japan had
manoeuvred to complete the conquest of China. By the end
of 1938, northeast China as far south as Shanghai,
together with the major ports was in Japanese hands. In
February 1939 Japan occupied the large island of Hainan
in the South China Sea. By early 1940, events were moving
inexorably towards a total world war:
1940
March
- Japan established a Chinese puppet-government in
Nanking.
June/July - With
its possession of the Chinese ports, Japan wanted to
close the remaining entry points into China. Pressure was
put on France to stop the flow of supplies through
Indochina, and on Britain to do the same with the Burma
Road. Both complied, but Britain did so only until
October 1940, when the road was reopened.
September - Vichy
France finally agreed to the stationing of Japanese
troops in northern Indochina.
1941
April - Five Year
Neutrality Pact between Japan and Russia benefited both
powers. Russia could free troops for Europe and Japan
concentrate on expansion southwards.
July - The demand
for bases in southern Indochina was now conceded by Vichy
France. Britain, Holland and the United States protested
and froze Japanese assets, but the troops went in. The
Dutch East lndies cancelled oil delivery arrangements and
the Americans shortly imposed their own oil embargo.
Japan had lost most of its sources of oil.
September - Japan
and the US continued to negotiate over their differences,
but as its oil stocks rapidly declined Japan accelerated
preparations for war.
October - War
Minister Gen Tojo became Japanese Prime Minister.
Also in October
Australia saw the fall of the Country Party of former
Prime Minister Robert Menzies who resigned earlier in
August. John Curtin and the Labour Party came to
power.
November - As talks
dragged on and the United States demanded the departure
of Japan from China as well as French Indochina, the
Pearl Harbor Strike Force sailed into the North Pacific.
Vice-Adm Nagumo commanded the fleet carriers
"Akagi", "Hiryu", "Kaga",
"Soryu", "Shokaku" and
"Zuikaku", plus two battleships, cruisers and
destroyers.
Britain's limited naval
deterrent to Japanese expansion, capital ships
"Prince of Wales" and "Repulse" met
at Colombo, Ceylon on the 28th, en route to Singapore.
Without the fleet carrier "Indomitable" which
had run agroound, they lacked ship-borne aircraft defence.
Strategic and Naval Background
Allied
Britain
and Dominions -
Responsible for defending India, Ceylon, Burma, Malaya,
northern Borneo, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, the
Papua New Guinea/Bismarck Archipelago/Solomon Islands
chain, and numerous island groups throughout the Indian
Ocean and Central and South Pacific. Few forces could be
spared from existing war zones to protect this vast
spread of territory and its supply routes. Britain's main
base was at Singapore with the two recently arrived big
ships. Three old cruisers and some destroyers were in
Malayan waters, and a few old destroyers at Hong Kong. By
now the surviving seven cruisers and smaller ships of the
Royal Australian and New Zealand Navies were back in the
area.
United
States -
Apart from the defence of its Western seaboard, Panama
Canal Zone, Alaska and the Aleutians, Hawaiian Islands
and various islands in the Central Pacific, the US was
responsible for the Philippines. In the event of attack,
the defenders were expected to hold out until relieved by
the US Pacific Fleet fighting its way from the main base
at Pearl Harbor, a distance of 4,500 miles. In the
Philippines was the Asiatic Fleet with three cruisers, 13
destroyers and 29 submarines. The Pacific Fleet itself
consisted of eight battleships, three fleet carriers, 21
cruisers, 67 destroyers and 27 submarines.
Dutch - Naval forces allocated to the
defence of the many islands of the Dutch East lndies
included three cruisers, seven destroyers and fifteen
submarines.
Japan
Already established in
Korea, Manchuria, northeast China, its main ports and
Hainan, Formosa, and the Mariana, Caroline and Marshall
Island groups, Japan now had the whole of French
Indochina. Japan's main aim was still the conquest of
China, for which the oilfields of the Dutch East lndies
(DEI) were indispensable. Also important was the closing
of the Burma Road over which Allied supplies continued to
roll.
Both moves meant war with
Britain and the US, and a vital part of the Japanese
strategy was the establishment of a huge defence
perimeter stretching from Burma right around to the
Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Only in this way could it
hope to hold off the United States once its manpower and
industrial resources were mobilised.
Japan went to war with both the strategic and military advantages:
Strategically
-
Japan was well placed to
occupy the territory needed for the defence perimeter:
