The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), which was created, and subsequently disbanded on six separate occasions and revived on five separate occasions.
First established on 28 December 1903, the 3rd Fleet was created by the Imperial General Headquarters as an administrative unit to manage vessels considered obsolete for front-line combat service. These vessels were used primarily for training and for coastal patrol duties. The 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",[1] the 3rd fleet proved invaluable at the Battle of Tsushima and the Invasion of Sakhalin. It was disbanded on 20 December 1905.
The 3rd Fleet was revived on 24 December 1908 as an expeditionary force during the Chinese Republican Revolution, to safeguard Japanese interests (civilians and property) on the Chinese mainland and (if necessary) to conduct emergency evacuation. It was nicknamed the "South China Fleet" after its chief area of envisioned activity was the South China Sea. Its cruisers patrolled the Yangtze River and other large rivers in China, and its headquarters was in the Japanese concession in Shanghai. It was disbanded on 25 December 1915.
The 3rd Fleet was reconstituted on the same day as the dissolution of the "South China Fleet", initially to act as a training force to supplement Japan's contribution to the World War I under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. When the Russian Revolution was proclaimed by the communist forces in Russia, the mission of the 3rd Fleet was changed to that of patrols of the Russian sea coast for the Siberian Intervention by Japanese ground forces in support of anti-Bolshevik forces. The 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.
The 3rd Fleet was again raised on 2 February 1938 as part of Japan's emergency buildup of 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 the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the 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.
The 3rd Fleet was recreated once again on 10 April 1941 with the additional designation "Southern Expeditionary Fleet" for the specific task of invading the Philippines. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, its headquarters was 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.
Based at Takao, Formosa[2] 12th Carrier Division
AV Kamikawa Maru (flagship)
AV Sanuki Maru
AV Sanyo Maru16th Division
CL Nagara (fleet flagship)
CL Kuma
CA Ashigara17th Division
AN/CM Itsukushima (flagship)
AN/CM Yaeyama
CM Tatsumiya Maru
CM Tatsuharu MaruSupply Group
AR Yamabiko Maru
AP Senko Maru
AW Koan Maru
AW Asayama Maru (aka Chozan Maru or Chosan Maru)
AW Goryu Maru
AO Hayatomo Maru
AO Genyo Maru
AP Kosei Maru
AGS Kyodo Maru5th Destroyer Squadron
CL Natori (flagship)
5th Destroyer Division
DD Asakaze
DD Harukaze
DD Hatakaze
DD Matsukaze
22nd Destroyer Division
DD Fumizuki
DD Minazuki
DD Nagatsuki
DD Satsuki6th Submarine Squadron
9th Submarine Division
9th Submarine Division
I-1221st Base Force
21 Minesweeper Division
AM W-8
AM W-9
AM W-10
AM W-11
AM W-12
1st Gunboat Division
PG Busho Maru
PG Keiko Maru
PG Kanko Maru
PG Myoken Maru
1st Subchaser Division
PC Ch-1
PC Ch-2
PC Ch-3
2nd Subchaser Division
PC Ch-13
PC Ch-14
PC Ch-15
51st Subchaser Division
PC Kyo Maru No. 12
PC Kyo Maru No. 13
AN Tōkō Maru No. 1 Go
52nd Subchaser Division
PC Takunan Maru No. 5
Other
AN/CM Aotaka
AGM Ikushima Maru
AGM Kimishima Maru
AP Myoku Maru
AG Hakusan Maru2nd Base Force
21st Torpedo Boat Division
PT Chidori
PT Hatsukari
PT Manazuru
PT Tomozuru
11th Minesweeper Division
AM W-13
AM W-14
AM W-15
AM W-16
30th Minesweeper Division
AM W-17
AM W-18
AM W-19
AM W-20
2nd Gunboat Division
PG Kamitsu Maru
PG Tokuyo Maru
PG Taiko Maru
PM Banyo Maru
3rd Gunboat Division
PG Kiso Maru
PG Nampo Maru
53rd Subchaser Division
PC Kyo Maru No. 2
PC Kyo Maru No. 11
54th Subchaser Division
PC Shonan Maru No. 1
PC Shonan Maru No. 2
21st Subchaser Division
PC Ch-5
PC Ch-6
PC Ch-16
PC Ch-17
PC Ch-18
31st Subchaser Division
PC Ch-10
PC Ch-11
PC Ch-12
Other
CMN Wakataka
ACM Nichiyu Maru
PG/CM Seian Maru
PG/CM Shinko Maru
AP Sumanoura Maru
AP Kenryu Maru
AG Hakozaki Maru32nd Special Base Force
1st Patrol Boat Division
Other
CMc Kamome
CMc Tsubame
AMc Nichiyu Maru
The sixth (and final) incarnation of the 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 3rd Fleet was basically merged with the 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.
In October 1944, the 3rd Fleet was designated the "Northern Force" in a three-force plan to defeat the Allied invasion of the Japanese-held Philippines. The 3rd Fleet carriers were divested of all but 108 aircraft and sent to lure the American-led fleet away from protecting the troop landing ships. On 25–26 October, facing a large force that included ten USN carriers, with 600–1,000 aircraft,[3] 3rd Fleet lost 4 aircraft carriers, one light cruiser and one destroyer at the Battle off Cape Engaño. The 3rd Fleet effectively ceased to exist, and was officially disbanded on 15 December 1944.[4]
| Commander-in-Chief | Dates | Previous Post | Next Post | Notes | ||||
| 1 | Vice-Admiral Kataoka Shichirō 片岡七郎 | 28 December 1903 | 20 December 1905 | Commander Takeshiki Naval Base | Commander-in-chief 1st Fleet | |||
| Rank | Name | Dates | ||
| 1 | Admiral | 13 December 1915 | 6 April 1917 | |
| 2 | Admiral | 6 April 1917 | 1 December 1918 | |
| 3 | Admiral | 1 December 1918 | 1 December 1919 | |
| 4 | Admiral | 1 December 1919 | 1 December 1920 | |
| 5 | Admiral | Kozaburo Oguri | 1 December 1920 | 1 December 1921 |
| 6 | Admiral | Baron Kantarō Suzuki | 1 December 1921 | 27 July 1922 |
| 7 | Vice-Admiral | Naoe Nakano | 27 July 1922 | 1 December 1922 |
| Commander-in-Chief | Dates | Previous Post | Next Post | Notes | |||
| 1 | Vice-Admiral Nomura Kichisaburō 野村吉三郎 | 2 February 1932 | 28 June 1932 | Commander-in-chief Yokosuka Naval District | Commander-in-chief Yokosuka Naval District | Relieved after being blinded in eye during the Hongkou Park bombing 29 April 1932. | |
| 2 | Vice-Admiral Sakonji Seizō 左近司政三 | 28 June 1932 | 1 December 1932 | Commander-in-chief Sasebo Naval District | |||
| 3 | Vice-Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai 米内光政 | 1 December 1932 | 15 September 1933 | Commander Chinkai Guard District | Attendant Navy General Staff | ||
| 4 | Vice-Admiral Imamura Nobujirō | 15 September 1933 | 15 November 1934 | Commander-in-chief Sasebo Naval District | |||
| 5 | Vice-Admiral Hyakutake Gengo 百武源吾 | 15 November 1934 | 1 December 1935 | Commander-in-chief Maizuru Guard District | Commander-in-chief Sasebo Naval District | ||
| 6 | Vice-Admiral Oikawa Koshirō 及川古志郎 | 1 December 1935 | 1 December 1936 | Director Naval Aviation Bureau | |||
| 7 | Admiral Hasegawa Kiyoshi 長谷川清 | 1 December 1936 | 25 April 1938 | Vice-Minister of the Navy | Commander-in-chief Yokosuka Naval District | Also Commander-in-chief China Area Fleet after 20 October 1937 | |
| 8 | Vice-Admiral Oikawa Koshirō 及川古志郎 | 25 April 1938 | 15 November 1939 | Commander-in-chief China Area Fleet | Also Commander-in-chief China Area Fleet | ||
On 15 November 1939 the 3rd Fleet was reorganized into the 1st China Expeditionary Fleet.
Admiral Oikawa retained command of the China Area Fleet but command of the former 3rd Fleet passed to Tanimoto Umatarō. Command History continues there.
| Rank | Name | Dates | |||
| 1 | Admiral | 10 April 1941 | 10 March 1942 | ||
| X | Disbanded | 10 March 1942 | 14 July 1942 | ||
| 1 | Admiral | 14 July 1942 | 11 November 1942 | ||
| 2 | Vice-Admiral | 11 November 1942 | 15 November 1944 | ||
Chief of Staff
| Rank | Name | Dates | |||
| 1 | Rear-Admiral | Shizuka Nakamura | 28 December 1903 | 12 January 1905 | |
| 2 | Vice-Admiral | Koshi Saito | 12 January 1905 | 2 November 1905 | |
| X | Disbanded | 20 December 1905 | 13 December 1915 | ||
| 1 | Rear-Admiral | Shichitaro Takagi | 13 December 1915 | 1 April 1916 | |
| 2 | Rear-Admiral | Tokutaro Hiraga | 1 April 1916 | 19 March 1917 | |
| 3 | Vice-Admiral | Hisatsune Iida | 19 March 1917 | 1 December 1917 | |
| 4 | Vice-Admiral | Shichigoro Saito | 1 December 1917 | 1 December 1918 | |
| 5 | Vice-Admiral | Shinzaburo Furukawa | 1 December 1918 | 10 June 1919 | |
| 6 | Vice-Admiral | Kosaburo Uchida | 10 June 1919 | 20 November 1920 | |
| 7 | Rear-Admiral | Hisamori Taguchi | 20 November 1920 | 1 December 1921 | |
| 8 | Vice-Admiral | Naomoto Komatsu | 1 December 1921 | 1 December 1922 | |
| X | Disbanded | 1 December 1922 | 2 February 1932 | ||
| 1 | Admiral | Shigetarō Shimada | 2 February 1932 | 28 June 1932 | |
| 2 | Vice-Admiral | Shigeru Kikuno | 28 June 1932 | 1 April 1933 | |
| 3 | Rear-Admiral | Seizaburo Mitsui | 1 April 1933 | 15 November 1933 | |
| 4 | Admiral | Shirō Takasu | 15 November 1933 | 15 November 1934 | |
| 5 | Vice-Admiral | Eijiro Kondo | 15 November 1934 | 2 December 1935 | |
| 6 | Vice-Admiral | Seiichi Iwamura | 2 December 1935 | 16 November 1936 | |
| 7 | Vice-Admiral | Rokuzo Sugiyama | 16 November 1936 | 25 April 1938 | |
| 8 | Vice-Admiral | Jinichi Kusaka | 25 April 1938 | 23 October 1939 | |
| 9 | Admiral | Shigeyoshi Inoue | 23 October 1939 | 15 November 1939 | |
| X | Disbanded | 15 November 1939 | 10 April 1941 | ||
| 1 | Vice-Admiral | Toshihisa Nakamura | 10 April 1941 | 10 March 1942 | |
| 2 | Vice-Admiral | Ryunosuke Kusaka | 14 July 1942 | 23 November 1942 | |
| 3 | Vice-Admiral | Sadayoshi Yamada | 23 November 1942 | 6 December 1943 | |
| 4 | Rear-Admiral | Keizo Komura | 6 December 1943 | 1 October 1944 | |
| 5 | Rear-Admiral | Sueo Obayashi | 1 October 1944 | 15 November 1944 | |