Branch Imperial Japanese Navy | Notable
commanders Jinichi Kusaka | |
Active 5 August 1943 – 5 December 1944 | ||
The Northeast Area Fleet (北東方面艦隊, Hokutō Hōmen Kantai) was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy established during World War II.
Contents
History
The Northeast Area Fleet was a short-lived operational headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Navy, established on August 5, 1943. As United States Navy forces had driven the Japanese out of the Aleutian Islands in late 1943 to early 1944, an organizational structure was required to coordinate Japan’s northern defenses against the possibility that the United States would extend operations from the Aleutians into the Chishima Islands, Karafuto and to northern Japan itself. The new Northeast Area Fleet was a combined operational command containing surviving elements of the IJN 5th Fleet, IJN 12th Air Fleet and ground elements. As it became eventually evident that the United States had no intention of using the northern approaches to Japan as an invasion route, gradually most of its forces were reassigned to other theaters of the war. The Northeast Area Fleet itself was disbanded on December 5, 1944.
Commanders of the IJN Northern Area Fleet
Commander in chief
Chief of staff