Battles of the Imperial Japanese Navy

The following are some of the battles of the Imperial Japanese Navy:

Boshin War (1868–1869)

 * Naval Battle of Awa, 28 January 1868.
 * Naval Battle of Miyako, March 1869.
 * Naval Battle of Hakodate, May 1869 (Imperial Navy victory over the remnants of the Shogun's Navy of the Republic of Ezo.)

First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895)

 * Battle of Pungdo (First naval battle of the war)
 * Battle of Yalu River (1894) (Major naval victory over China)
 * Battle of Weihaiwei (Decisive Japanese victory in Land/Naval battle)

Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905)

 * Battle of Port Arthur (February 1904, naval victory over Russia)
 * Battle of Chemulpo Bay (February 1904, victory over small Russian squadron off present day Inchon)
 * Battle of the Yellow Sea (August 1904)
 * Battle off Ulsan (August 1904)
 * Battle of Tsushima (May 1905, major naval victory over Russia)

World War I (1914–1918)

 * Battle of Tsingtao. Naval actions against German interests in the Far-East, in particular the capture of the Tsingtao peninsula.
 * Few ships diverted to Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea for escort duties cooperating with the British Royal Navy. In the Mediterranean, a fleet consisting of one armoured cruiser, Nisshin, and eight of the Navy's newest destroyers under Admiral Satō Kōzō, was based in Malta and efficiently protected allied shipping between Marseilles, Taranto and ports in Egypt until the end of the War.
 * Seizure of the former possessions of Germany in Micronesia (the Mariana Islands (excluding Guam), Caroline Islands and Marshall Islands).

Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)
Besides support for Imperial Japanese Army operations, the Navy operations involved many landing operations by the Special Naval Landing Forces along the coasts and rivers of the Republic of China, French Indochina and along the Yangtze River and its tributaries. The Navy provided much of the air support for operations in the first few years of the war in central and southern China.


 * Battle of Shanghai
 * Battle of Beiping-Tianjin
 * Battle of Nanking
 * Amoy Operation
 * Battle of Wuhan
 * Canton Operation
 * Hainan Island Operation
 * Battle of Nanchang
 * Swatow Operation
 * 1st Battle of Changsha
 * Battle of South Guangxi
 * 1939-40 Winter Offensive
 * Indochina Expedition
 * 2nd Battle of Changsha
 * 3rd Battle of Changsha

World War II (1941–1945)

 * Attack on Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941, destruction of much of the battleship fleet of the United States Navy (USN) in the Pacific Ocean)
 * Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse (10 December 1941, destruction of the British Royal Navy (RN) Z force)
 * Battle of Makassar Strait, (February 4, 1942, Japanese victory against USN and Dutch forces)
 * Aerial attack on Darwin, Australia, (19 February 1942, Japanese victory)
 * Battle of Badung Strait, (18–19 February 1942, Japanese victory)
 * Battle of the Java Sea (27 February 1942, Japanese victory against forces of ABDA, the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command)
 * Indian Ocean raid, (31 March 1942, Japanese victory against RN, Dutch, and Australian forces)
 * Attack on Sydney Harbour (May–June 1942, Japanese victory)
 * Battle of Madagascar (May–November 1942, Allied victory against Vichy French and small contingent of Japanese submarines)
 * Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942, tactical Japanese victory, strategic USN victory)
 * Battle of Midway (5 June 1942, USN victory, the IJN loses four carriers while the USN loses one carrier)
 * Battle of Savo Island (9 August 1942, Japanese tactical victory, strategically inconclusive)
 * Battle of the Eastern Solomons (24 August 1942, inconclusive)
 * Battle of Cape Esperance (October 11 – 12, 1942, USN tactical victory, strategically inconclusive)
 * Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands (26 October 1942, Japanese tactical victory)
 * Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (12 November 1942, narrow USN victory)
 * Battle of Tassafaronga (30 November 1942, Japanese tactical night battle victory, strategically inconclusive)
 * Battle of the Bismarck Sea (23 December 1942, USN victory)
 * Battle of the Komandorski Islands (26 March 1943, narrow USN victory)
 * Battle of Kolombangara (12–13 July 1943, Japanese victory, evacuation of Japanese troops successful)
 * Battle of Empress Augusta Bay (1 November 1943, USN victory)
 * Battle of the Philippine Sea (19 June 1944, major USN victory, the IJN loses three carriers)
 * Battle of Leyte Gulf (23 October 1944, major USN victory, the IJN loses four carriers while the USN loses one carrier)
 * Battle of Okinawa (April 1–22 June 1945, major Allied victory)
 * Operation Ten-Go (7 April 1945, destruction of the JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Yamato)
 * Battle of Tokyo Bay (22–23 July 1945, USN victory)