Naval stuff I didn't know: The Japanese navy patrolled Med during WWI, and the Nazis planned a fleet of aircraft carriers

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Monday, November 5, 2012 - 6:35 AM Share

Paul Kennedy reports that in World War I, when the Japanese were allied with the UK, they patrolled the Indian Ocean at the request of Britain. They also "dispatched a dozen destroyers for anti-submarine work in the Mediterranean," he notes.

Nor did I know that in the German defense plan of 1938 called for it to build four aircraft carriers.

Finally, I learned that during World War II, more German U boats were sunk by Allied aircraft (288) than by surface ships (246). (Another bunch were deep-sixed by combined actions.)

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TOM RICKS

8:26 PM ET

November 5, 2012

What I love about Best Defense commenters

I had a whole bunch of items posted today. What got the comments? The weird post about the Japanese role in World War I. And I learned something from them!
Thanks,
Tom

 

BUCHERM

10:32 PM ET

November 5, 2012

Honestly...

I think the bigger question is WHY didn't the Japanese contribute more to the allied cause during WW1? I don't mean sending a expeditionary force to the Western Front, but the Grand Fleet was chronically strapped for screening elements and even two modern Japanese BBs would have made the situation that much worse for the Germans. Heck, a Japanese expeditionary force in East Africa might have brought in von Lettow-Vorbeck earlier and released more allied personnel for the Western Front.

Instead the Japanese conquered German mandates and had naval assets deployed to relatively quiet sectors.

 

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military for the Washington Post from 2000 through 2008.

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