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98-778: With the surrender of 1945 , Japan was demilitarized based on the Potsdam Declaration , and the Imperial Japanese Navy was also dissolved. However, at the end of the war, 55,347 moored minesweepers of the Japanese Navy and 6,546 minesweepers of the Allied Forces remained in the waters near Japan. Based on the instructions of the Commander-in-Chief General Headquarters (GHQ), a minesweeping department

196-475: A Scientific Panel composed of Robert Oppenheimer , Enrico Fermi , Ernest Lawrence , and Arthur Compton . In a 1 June report, the Committee concluded that the bomb should be used as soon as possible against a war plant surrounded by workers' homes and that no warning or demonstration should be given. The committee's mandate did not include the use of the bomb—its use upon completion was presumed. Following

294-600: A counterbalance to the million-strong Kwantung Army . The Allied submarine campaign and the mining of Japanese coastal waters had largely destroyed the Japanese merchant fleet. With few natural resources, Japan was dependent on raw materials, particularly oil, imported from Manchuria and other parts of the East Asian mainland, and from the conquered territory in the Dutch East Indies . The destruction of

392-408: A mine sweeping boat system. The construction cost of a conventional minesweeper was about 5 billion yen, but with the same type, it was 14.6 billion yen, which jumped nearly three times. During this period, the prices of other equipment such as escort vessels and submarines also soared, while the Japanese economy remained in a slump after the period of stable growth, and as a result, the defense budget

490-942: A postwar division of Japan similar to that which had occurred in Germany . Bluebird-class minesweeper The Adjutant -class auxiliary motor minesweepers were built for the United States Navy throughout the 1950s and 1960s, even as late as 1978. Most were loaned to foreign countries under the Military Defense Assistance Pact , with only 24 actually commissioned by the US Navy, with 13 of those eventually being transferred to foreign nations as well. Initially classified as auxiliary motor minesweepers (AMS), on 7 February 1955, they were reclassified as coastal minesweepers (minesweeper, coastal) (MSC). The Adjutant -class minesweepers were of

588-552: A protest by scientists involved in the project, in the form of the Franck Report , the Committee re-examined the use of the bomb, posing the question to the Scientific Panel of whether a "demonstration" of the bomb should be used before actual battlefield deployment. In a 21 June meeting, the Scientific Panel affirmed that there was no alternative. Truman played very little role in these discussions. At Potsdam, he

686-430: A purposeful deception predicated upon a desire to play both ends against the middle. While this judgment does not accord with the much-lauded character of Admiral Suzuki, the fact remains that from the moment he became Premier until the day he resigned no one could ever be quite sure of what Suzuki would do or say next. Japanese leaders had always envisioned a negotiated settlement to the war. Their prewar planning expected

784-500: A rapid expansion and consolidation, an eventual conflict with the United States, and finally a settlement in which they would be able to retain at least some new territory they had conquered. By 1945, Japan's leaders were in agreement that the war was going badly, but they disagreed over the best means to negotiate its end. There were two camps: the so-called "peace" camp favored a diplomatic initiative to persuade Joseph Stalin ,

882-521: A wooden construction with brass and stainless steel fittings to reduce magnetic attraction. The rated displacement was 330 long tons (340 t) light and 390 long tons (400 t) at full load, though the ships of the Redwing class show a displacement of 412 long tons (419 t) and the Albatross class show a displacement of 320 long tons (330 t). They were 138 ft (42 m) between

980-551: Is mounted. With the commissioning of the same type, the 10th Mine Warfare Group below the 11th Mine Warfare Group was revived and assigned to each Mine Warfare Force, the 40th Mine Warfare Group became the local force while the 30th Mine Warfare Group became a support ship. 1970s than the Soviet Navy had promoted the development of anti-submarine mines, the Maritime Self-Defense Force in the, especially

1078-1036: The Army General Staff, and Chief of the Navy General Staff. At the formation of the Suzuki government in April 1945, the council's membership consisted of: All of these positions were nominally appointed by the Emperor and their holders were answerable directly to him. Nevertheless, Japanese civil law from 1936 required that the Army and Navy ministers had to be active duty flag officers from those respective services while Japanese military law from long before that time prohibited serving officers from accepting political offices without first obtaining permission from their respective service headquarters which, if and when granted, could be rescinded at any time. Thus,

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1176-523: The Bungo Channel , Uraga Channel when installed mines in two choke points, each Kure bases of the 1st underwater disposal team. As the activities of the 2nd Submarine Force at Yokosuka Naval Base were greatly affected, the development of the ability to deal with deep anti-submarine mines became extremely urgent. For this reason, the Uwajima-class , which has the ability to deal with mines in

1274-853: The Japan Coast Guard was established as a law enforcement agency under the Ministry of Transport , incorporating these minesweeping units derived from the former Navy. On June 1, 1950, the Minesweeping Division was separated from the Guard and Rescue Department , and the Route Enlightenment Headquarters was established in the center and the Route Enlightenment Department was established in the regions as an organization under

1372-682: The Korean War . Although the minesweeping work produced one line of duty, it was highly evaluated by the UN forces during this period when the minesweeping force was extremely weak, and it also led to the improvement of the conditions of the San Francisco Peace Treaty . When the National Safety Agency Guard was established on August 1, 1952, the route enlightenment work was transferred to this place, and

1470-614: The Kuril Islands ) in fulfillment of promises they had secretly made to the US and the UK at the Tehran and Yalta Conferences . On 6 August 1945, at 8:15 am local time, the United States detonated an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima . Sixteen hours later, American President Harry S. Truman called again for Japan's surrender, warning them to "expect a rain of ruin from

1568-753: The Soviet Union , the United Kingdom , and the United States , represented by Stalin, Winston Churchill (later Clement Attlee ), and Truman respectively. Although the Potsdam Conference was mainly concerned with European affairs, the war against Japan was also discussed in detail. Truman learned of the successful Trinity test early in the conference and shared this information with the British delegation. The successful test caused

1666-812: The occupation of Japan led by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers began. The surrender ceremony was held on 2 September, aboard the United States Navy battleship USS  Missouri , at which officials from the Japanese government signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender , ending the hostilities. Allied civilians and military personnel alike celebrated V-J Day , the end of the war; however, isolated soldiers and personnel from Japan's forces throughout Asia and

1764-402: The 1st Air Cushion Corpss. On this occasion, the ships under the direct control of the group and the 51st Mine Warfare Group were abolished, the 1st Mine Warfare Group was reorganized, and the 3rd Mine Warfare Group was newly formed. As a result of this amphibious operation, the staff organization, which was initially less than 20 people, has been increased to more than 50 people in total. And in

1862-532: The 30 outlines decided by the Cabinet on December 18, 2018, when the outlines are completed, the number of MSCs and MSOs will be reduced to 12 in total, and to supplement this, the Mogami-class frigate will be given a mine warfare function. It was decided to secure the prescribed function. Six minesweepers and seven frigates are to be organized into two groups. On October 1, 2020, due to the reorganization of

1960-614: The Allies, the Soviets responded with delaying tactics to encourage the Japanese without promising anything. Satō finally met with Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov on 11 July, but without result. On 12 July, Tōgō directed Satō to tell the Soviets that: His Majesty the Emperor, mindful of the fact that the present war daily brings greater evil and sacrifice upon the peoples of all the belligerent powers, desires from his heart that it may be quickly terminated. But so long as England and

2058-420: The Allies. His own comments at the conference of senior statesmen gave no hint that he favored any early cessation of the war ... Suzuki's selections for the most critical cabinet posts were, with one exception, not advocates of peace either. After the war, Suzuki and others from his government and their apologists claimed they were secretly working towards peace, and could not publicly advocate it. They cite

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2156-496: The American delegation to reconsider the necessity and wisdom of Soviet participation, for which the U.S. had lobbied hard at the Tehran and Yalta Conferences . The United States prioritized shortening the war and reducing American casualties—Soviet intervention seemed likely to do both, but at the cost of possibly allowing the Soviets to capture territory beyond that which had been promised to them at Tehran and Yalta, and causing

2254-713: The Conduct of the War," which stated that the Japanese people would fight to extinction rather than surrender. This policy was adopted by the Big Six on 6 June. (Tōgō opposed it, while the other five supported it.) Documents submitted by Suzuki at the same meeting suggested that, in the diplomatic overtures to the USSR, Japan adopt the following approach: It should be clearly made known to Russia that she owes her victory over Germany to Japan, since we remained neutral, and that it would be to

2352-657: The Emperor, were not acceptable to the Japanese leadership. On 5 April, the Soviet Union gave the required 12 months' notice that it would not renew the five-year Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact (which had been signed in 1941 following the Nomonhan Incident ). Unknown to the Japanese, at the Tehran Conference in November–December 1943, it had been agreed that the Soviet Union would enter

2450-511: The Japanese Army and Navy effectively held a legal right to nominate (or refuse to nominate) their respective ministers, in addition to the effective right to order their respective ministers to resign their posts. Strict constitutional convention dictated (as it technically still does today) that a prospective Prime Minister could not assume the premiership, nor could an incumbent Prime Minister remain in office, if he could not fill all of

2548-491: The Japanese Imperial High Command planned an all-out defense of Kyūshū codenamed Operation Ketsugō . This was to be a radical departure from the defense in depth plans used in the invasions of Peleliu , Iwo Jima , and Okinawa . Instead, everything was staked on the beachhead; more than 3,000 kamikazes would be sent to attack the amphibious transports before troops and cargo were disembarked on

2646-713: The Japanese city of Nagasaki . Emperor Hirohito ordered the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War to accept the terms the Allies had set down in the Potsdam Declaration. After several more days of behind-the-scenes negotiations and a failed coup d'état , Emperor Hirohito gave a recorded radio address across the Empire on 15 August announcing the surrender of Japan to the Allies. On 28 August,

2744-422: The Japanese concept of haragei —"the art of hidden and invisible technique"—to justify the dissonance between their public actions and alleged behind-the-scenes work. However, many historians reject this. Robert J. C. Butow wrote: Because of its very ambiguity, the plea of haragei invites the suspicion that in questions of politics and diplomacy a conscious reliance upon this 'art of bluff' may have constituted

2842-669: The Japanese had suffered a string of defeats for nearly two years in the South West Pacific , India , the Marianas campaign , and the Philippines campaign . In July 1944, following the loss of Saipan , General Hideki Tōjō was replaced as prime minister by General Kuniaki Koiso , who declared that the Philippines would be the site of the decisive battle. After the Japanese loss of the Philippines, Koiso in turn

2940-460: The Japanese home islands. General Marshall supported the entry of the Red Army , believing that doing so would cause Japan to capitulate. McCloy had told Stimson that there were no more Japanese cities to be bombed and wanted to explore other options of bringing about a surrender. He suggested a political solution and asked about warning the Japanese of the atomic bomb. James Byrnes, who would become

3038-425: The Japanese merchant fleet, combined with the strategic bombing of Japanese industry , had wrecked Japan's war economy. Production of coal, iron, steel, rubber, and other vital supplies was only a fraction of that before the war. As a result of the losses it had suffered, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) had ceased to be an effective fighting force. Following a series of raids on the Japanese shipyard at Kure ,

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3136-914: The Minesweeping Division of the General Affairs Department of the Demobilization Agency and the Minesweeping Supervision Department, and after the Demobilization Agency closed. It was moved to the Minesweeper Division of the Minesweeper Department of the Ministry of the Navy. On the other hand, as the deterioration of maritime security due to the disappearance of the Japanese Navy became more serious, in 1948,

3234-720: The Pacific refused to surrender for months and years afterwards, some into the 1970s. The role of the atomic bombings in Japan's unconditional surrender, and the ethics of the two attacks, is debated . The state of war formally ended when the Treaty of San Francisco came into force on 28 April 1952. Four more years passed before Japan and the Soviet Union signed the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956 , which formally brought an end to their state of war. By 1945,

3332-403: The Route Enlightenment Department of each district were abolished, and a minesweeping section was set up in the security department. The National Safety Agency Guard was renamed on July 1, 1954, to the Maritime Self-Defense Force. Minesweeping ships JDS Sōei Maru , JDS Yū Chidori and since the 7th Navy Warfare Force and the 1st Mine Warfare Force was formed as a unit under the direct control of

3430-477: The Secretary. On January 18, 1955, one Bluebird-class minesweeper was acquired and recommissioned as JDS Yashima , and on March 15, seven Albatross-class ( Ujishima-class ) vessels were received and the 11th. Formed 12 minesweepers. After receiving three more Bluebird-class vessels, the 21st Minesweeper was formed on January 16, 1956, and two Albatross-class vessels were added, and the 13th Mine Warfare Force

3528-664: The South to repel the inevitable US attack, thus leaving its Northern islands vulnerable to Soviet invasion. Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov , in Moscow, and Yakov Malik , Soviet ambassador in Tokyo, went to great lengths to assure the Japanese that "the period of the Pact's validity has not ended". At a series of high-level meetings in May, the Big Six first seriously discussed ending

3626-684: The Soviet Pacific coastline— Vladivostok in particular—could be blockaded by air and sea from Sakhalin island and the Kurile Islands . Acquiring these territories, thus guaranteeing free access to the Soya Strait , was their primary objective. Secondary objectives were leases for the Chinese Eastern Railway , Southern Manchuria Railway , Dairen , and Port Arthur . To this end, Stalin and Molotov strung out

3724-469: The Soviet Union could be persuaded to act as an agent for Japan in negotiations with the United States and Britain. After several years of preliminary research, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had authorized the initiation of a massive, top-secret project to build atomic bombs in 1942. The Manhattan Project , under the authority of Major General Leslie R. Groves Jr. employed hundreds of thousands of American workers at dozens of secret facilities across

3822-463: The Soviets into the war against Japan. Tōgō had been outspoken about ending the war quickly. As a result of these meetings, he was authorized to approach the Soviet Union, seeking to maintain its neutrality, or (despite the very remote probability) to form an alliance. In keeping with the custom of a new government declaring its purposes, following the May meetings the Army staff produced a document, "The Fundamental Policy to Be Followed Henceforth in

3920-612: The US military and the Ground Self-Defense Force . Conducted command and staff activities related to actions (including support such as supply to the landing force) and amphibious operations. In March 2016, Major General Yuasa, who was the training controller on the Japanese side in the Dawn Blitz 13 exercise, became the commander of the Mine Warfare Force, and on July 1, the 1st Transport Corps and

4018-434: The United States has sustained heavy losses" in Operation Ketsugō . In June, the Emperor lost confidence in the chances of achieving a military victory. The Battle of Okinawa was lost, and he learned of the weakness of the Japanese army in China, of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria, of the navy, and of the army defending the Home Islands. The Emperor received a report by Prince Higashikuni from which he concluded that "it

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4116-418: The United States insist upon unconditional surrender, the Japanese Empire has no alternative but to fight on with all its strength for the honor and existence of the Motherland. The Emperor proposed sending Prince Konoe as a special envoy, although he would be unable to reach Moscow before the Potsdam Conference . Satō advised Tōgō that in reality, "unconditional surrender or terms closely equivalent thereto"

4214-430: The United States, and on 16 July 1945, the first prototype weapon was detonated during the Trinity nuclear test . As the project neared its conclusion, American planners began to consider the use of the bomb. In keeping with the Allies' overall strategy of securing final victory in Europe first, it had initially been assumed that the first atomic weapons would be allocated for use against Germany. However, by this time it

4312-452: The advantage of the Soviets to help Japan maintain her international position, since they have the United States as an enemy in the future. On 9 June, the Emperor's confidant Marquis Kōichi Kido wrote a "Draft Plan for Controlling the Crisis Situation," warning that by the end of the year Japan's ability to wage modern war would be extinguished and the government would be unable to contain civil unrest. "... We cannot be sure we will not share

4410-402: The air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth." Late on 8 August 1945, in accordance with the Yalta agreements, but in violation of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact , the Soviet Union declared war on Japan , and soon after midnight on 9 August 1945, the Soviet Union invaded the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo . Hours later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb , on

4508-422: The beach. If this did not drive the Allies away, they planned to send another 3,500 kamikazes along with 5,000 Shin'yō suicide motorboats and the remaining destroyers and submarines—"the last of the Navy's operating fleet"—to the beach. If the Allies had fought through this and successfully landed on Kyūshū, 3,000 planes would have been left to defend the remaining islands, although Kyūshū would be "defended to

4606-511: The bitter end, Japan's leaders (the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War , also known as the "Big Six") were privately making entreaties to the publicly neutral Soviet Union to mediate peace on terms more favorable to the Japanese. While maintaining a sufficient level of diplomatic engagement with the Japanese to give them the impression they might be willing to mediate, the Soviets were covertly preparing to attack Japanese forces in Manchuria and Korea (in addition to South Sakhalin and

4704-481: The cabinet posts. Thus, the Army and Navy could prevent the formation of undesirable governments, or by resignation bring about the collapse of an existing government. Emperor Hirohito and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal Kōichi Kido also were present at some meetings, following the Emperor's wishes. As Iris Chang reports, "... the Japanese deliberately destroyed, hid or falsified most of their secret wartime documents before General MacArthur arrived." For

4802-472: The class was to be USS Adjutant (AMS-60). However, the name Adjutant was canceled and the ship was transferred to the Portuguese Navy as Ponta Delgada (M 405). The first ship commissioned by the US Navy was Bluebird . This is where the US ships got their class name. With slight changes in design, some of the ships are referred to by other class names, such as Falcon class, Redwing class, Albatross class, or even under Adjutant class. While in

4900-450: The control, so from the aspect of cooperation between Japan and the United States It was more rational for the Japanese side to have a similar system. In addition, in support activities for the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake , the 4th Maritime Disaster Unit, which is a Minesweeping Group, entered deep into the bay by taking advantage of the characteristics that the draft is shallow and it can turn around quickly and that foreign substances in

4998-449: The crew of the new frigates, which has a minesweeping function. In addition, the Mine Warfare Force Command was relocated to the new Maritime Operations Center, a new government building of the Self-Defense Fleet Command completed in the Funakoshi area . Surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, ending

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5096-422: The decisive naval Battle of Tsushima . In February 1945, Prince Fumimaro Konoe gave Emperor Hirohito a memorandum analyzing the situation, and told him that if the war continued, the imperial family might be in greater danger from an internal revolution than from defeat. According to the diary of Grand Chamberlain Hisanori Fujita , the Emperor, looking for a decisive battle ( tennōzan ), replied that it

5194-420: The direct control of the Secretary. In addition, along with the revision of the organization on June 1, 1951, the whole country was divided into nine coast guard zones, and a route enlightenment department was set up at the coast guard headquarters of each district, and minesweepers were distributed and deployed in each district. Meanwhile, in 1950, the Japanese Special Sweeping Corps was dispatched in response to

5292-410: The efficiency of minesweeping work, the 1st to 10th minesweeping forces were formed on November 1 and incorporated into each route enlightenment team, and on September 16, 1953, the route enlightenment team was in charge. As the operations were transferred to the new base corps and base guard, the route enlightenment corps was progressively disbanded. In addition, on October 16, the Second Staff Office and

5390-405: The exercises participation naval vessels escort fleet since it was the affiliation, the 2nd Convoy Group Commander (Major General Hideki Yuasa) became a training controller on the Japanese side. However, in the 7th Fleet, which is the counterpart on the US side, CTF 76 , which was in charge of amphibious operations, has put the anti-thunder warfare unit and the landing operation unit together under

5488-453: The fate of Germany and be reduced to adverse circumstances under which we will not attain even our supreme object of safeguarding the Imperial Household and preserving the national polity." Kido proposed that the Emperor take action, by offering to end the war on "very generous terms." Kido proposed that Japan withdraw from the formerly European colonies it had occupied provided they were granted independence and also proposed that Japan recognize

5586-441: The formerly German islands in the Pacific and even Manchukuo . With the Emperor's authorization, Kido approached several members of the Supreme Council , the "Big Six." Tōgō was very supportive. Suzuki and Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai , the Navy minister , were both cautiously supportive; each wondered what the other thought. General Korechika Anami , the Army minister , was ambivalent, insisting that diplomacy must wait until "after

5684-406: The four Forces that make up the Self-Defense Fleet. In May 2013, the Ground Self-Defense Force of the Western Army Infantry Regiment with, Maritime Self-Defense Force is the United States Navy , Marine Corps Dawn Blitz 13 exercises ( Operation Dawn Blitz ) participated in. At this point, any of the Minesweeping Group and the convoy group amphibious warfare not fixed is either responsible for, all of

5782-479: The government as well, are convinced that our war strength still can deliver considerable blows to the enemy, we are unable to feel absolutely secure peace of mind ... Please bear particularly in mind, however, that we are not seeking the Russians' mediation for anything like an unconditional surrender. In reply, Satō clarified: It goes without saying that in my earlier message calling for unconditional surrender or closely equivalent terms, I made an exception of

5880-408: The high degree of training. Received high praise from home and abroad. But through this dispatch, from the fact that compared to the United States and Europe that the mechanization and automation of mine sweeping capability has lagged behind large it has been keenly aware of. Uwajima-class based on the design of the Royal Navy of Sandown-class . Construction of the Sugashima-class has introduced

5978-627: The independence of the Philippines , which Japan had already mostly lost control of and to which it was well known that the U.S. had long been planning to grant independence. Finally, Kido proposed that Japan disarm provided this not occur under Allied supervision and that Japan for a time be "content with minimum defense." Kido's proposal did not contemplate Allied occupation of Japan, prosecution of war criminals or substantial change in Japan's system of government, nor did Kido suggest that Japan might be willing to consider relinquishing territories acquired prior to 1937 including Formosa , Karafuto , Korea ,

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6076-447: The intended recipients. Fearing heavy casualties, the Allies wished for Soviet entry in the Pacific War at the earliest possible date. Roosevelt had secured Stalin's promise at Cairo , which was re-affirmed at Yalta . That outcome was greatly feared in Japan. Security concerns dominated Soviet decisions concerning the Far East. Chief among these was gaining unrestricted access to the Pacific Ocean . The year-round ice-free areas of

6174-412: The last" regardless. The strategy of making a last stand at Kyūshū was based on the assumption of continued Soviet neutrality. Japanese policy-making centered on the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War (created in 1944 by earlier Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso ), the so-called "Big Six"—the Prime Minister , Minister of Foreign Affairs , Minister of the Army , Minister of the Navy , Chief of

6272-442: The leader of the Soviet Union, to mediate a settlement between the Allies and Japan; and the hardliners who favored fighting one last "decisive" battle that would inflict so many casualties on the Allies that they would be willing to offer more lenient terms. Both approaches were based on Japan's experience in the Russo–Japanese War , forty years earlier, which consisted of a series of costly but largely indecisive battles, followed by

6370-400: The main force of the Mine Warfare Force. As a result of these measures on September 1, 1961, the 2nd Mine Warfare Force was formed. On this occasion, a plan to set up a minesweeper fleet of the same rank as the escort fleet was also considered, but this did not happen, the first minesweeper group responsible for mine sweeping remained the same, and the newly established second minesweeper group

6468-410: The mid-depth range, and the Yaeyama-class , which has the ability to deal with deep mines, were built in the 61st medium-term defense. On the other hand, the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Persian Gulf in 1991, was the first overseas dispatch for actual missions after the war, but the Prime Minister received the first special certificate of the Self-Defense Forces, and foreign navies praised

6566-499: The minesweeping area was largely cleared, the 1st Mine Warfare Force was also incorporated into the Self-Defense Fleet. During this period, underwater disposal teams were being formed in each district unit due to the need for mine hunting , but in 1965, an underwater disposal team consisting of seven members was set up at the Mine Warfare Force Command. The 1976 degrees was built from Hatsushima-class in, remote control of an unmanned underwater vehicle ( ROV ) mine disposal device S-4

6664-479: The most part, Suzuki's military-dominated cabinet favored continuing the war. For the Japanese, surrender was unthinkable—Japan had never been successfully invaded or lost a war in its history. Only Mitsumasa Yonai, the Navy minister, was known to desire an early end to the war. According to historian Richard B. Frank : Although Suzuki might indeed have seen peace as a distant goal, he had no design to achieve it within any immediate time span or on terms acceptable to

6762-421: The negotiations with the Japanese, giving them false hope of a Soviet-mediated peace. At the same time, in their dealings with the United States and Britain, the Soviets insisted on strict adherence to the Cairo Declaration, re-affirmed at the Yalta Conference, that the Allies would not accept separate or conditional peace with Japan. The Japanese would have to surrender unconditionally to all the Allies. To prolong

6860-448: The new Secretary of State on 3 July, wanted to use it as quickly as possible without warning and without letting the Soviets know beforehand. On 30 June, Tōgō told Naotake Satō , Japan's ambassador in Moscow, to try to establish "firm and lasting relations of friendship." Satō was to discuss the status of Manchuria and "any matter the Russians would like to bring up." Well aware of the overall situation and cognizant of their promises to

6958-400: The only major warships in somewhat fighting order were six aircraft carriers, four cruisers, and one battleship, of which many were heavily damaged and none could be fueled adequately. Although 19 destroyers and 38 submarines were still operational, their use was also limited by the lack of fuel. Faced with the prospect of an invasion of the Home Islands, starting with Kyūshū , and

7056-416: The perpendiculars with an overall length of 144 ft (44 m). They had a beam of 27 ft (8.2 m) with a 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) draft . Half of the US ships used four Packard 300 hp (220 kW) diesel engines . The rest and most of the ships built for use by foreign nations used two General Motors 440 hp (330 kW) 8-268A diesel engines. The first ship of

7154-594: The prospect of a Soviet invasion of Manchuria—Japan's last source of natural resources—the War Journal of the Imperial Headquarters concluded in 1944: We can no longer direct the war with any hope of success. The only course left is for Japan's one hundred million people to sacrifice their lives by charging the enemy to make them lose the will to fight. As a final attempt to stop the Allied advances,

7252-444: The quality has improved, such as the establishment of a minesweeping operation support team that manages data on mine tactics and waterway surveys and supports operations against mines. It is planned. In line with this, the name was changed from Minesweeper Flotilla to Mine Warfare Force, and from 2005, the group commander was upgraded to a designated assistant general, and in line with the escort fleet and submarine fleet. , Became one of

7350-416: The question of preserving [the imperial family]. On 21 July, speaking in the name of the cabinet, Tōgō repeated: With regard to unconditional surrender we are unable to consent to it under any circumstances whatever. ... It is in order to avoid such a state of affairs that we are seeking a peace, ... through the good offices of Russia. ... it would also be disadvantageous and impossible, from

7448-561: The scavenging boats of the route enlightenment department of each district maritime security headquarters became the Yokosuka District Force . It was incorporated into the Yokosuka District Force, Yokosuka , Hakodate , Seibu , Kure , Osaka , Tokuyama , Shimonoseki , and Sasebo Route Enlightenment Corps (Maizuru District Force , Maizuru , Niigata Route Enlightenment Corps). In order to improve

7546-531: The standpoint of foreign and domestic considerations, to make an immediate declaration of specific terms. American cryptographers had broken most of Japan's codes, including the Purple code used by the Japanese Foreign Office to encode high-level diplomatic correspondence. As a result, messages between Tokyo and Japan's embassies were provided to Allied policy-makers nearly as quickly as to

7644-458: The story (including Truman's own embellishments). On 18 June 1945, Truman met with the Chief of Army Staff General George Marshall , Air Force General Henry Arnold , Chief of Staff Admiral William Leahy and Admiral Ernest King , Navy Secretary James Forrestal , Secretary for War Henry Stimson and Assistant Secretary for War John McCloy to discuss Operation Olympic , part of a plan to invade

7742-516: The top of the list were Kyoto , Hiroshima , Yokohama , Kokura , and Niigata . Ultimately, Kyoto was removed from the list at the insistence of Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson , who had visited the city on his honeymoon and knew of its cultural and historical significance. Although the previous Vice President , Henry A. Wallace , had been involved in the Manhattan Project since the beginning, his successor, Harry S. Truman ,

7840-449: The unit, the minesweeping boats JS Yugeshima and JS Nagashima were decommissioned and the 101st Minesweeping Corps was abolished. The minesweeping business support corps was abolished, and the amphibious and Mine Tactical Support Corps, Amphibious and Mine Warfare Center (AMWC) was newly added. In addition to conventional minesweeping operations, the team will also develop tactics for amphibious warfare and provide education and training to

7938-430: The war . By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was incapable of conducting major operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent. Together with the United Kingdom and China , the United States called for the unconditional surrender of Japan in the Potsdam Declaration on 26 July 1945—the alternative being "prompt and utter destruction". While publicly stating their intent to fight on to

8036-552: The war against Japan once Germany was defeated. At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the United States had made substantial concessions to the Soviets to secure a promise that they would declare war on Japan within three months of the surrender of Germany. Although the five-year Neutrality Pact did not expire until 5 April 1946, the announcement caused the Japanese great concern, because Japan had amassed its forces in

8134-583: The war, but none of them on terms that would have been acceptable to the Allies. Because anyone openly supporting Japanese surrender risked assassination by zealous army officers, the meetings were closed to anyone except the Big Six, the Emperor, and the Privy Seal. No second or third-echelon officers could attend. At these meetings, despite the dispatches from Japanese ambassador Satō in Moscow, only Foreign Minister Tōgō realized that Roosevelt and Churchill might have already made concessions to Stalin to bring

8232-708: The war, the Soviets opposed any attempt to weaken this requirement. This would give the Soviets time to complete the transfer of their troops from the Western Front to the Far East, and conquer Manchuria , Inner Mongolia , northern Korea , South Sakhalin , the Kuriles , and possibly Hokkaidō (starting with a landing at Rumoi ). The leaders of the major Allied powers met at the Potsdam Conference from 16 July to 2 August 1945. The participants were

8330-519: The war, unhampered by existing policy, be speedily studied and that efforts made to implement them." It was agreed to solicit Soviet aid in ending the war. Other neutral nations, such as Switzerland , Sweden , and the Vatican City , were known to be willing to play a role in making peace, but they were so small they were believed unable to do more than deliver the Allies' terms of surrender and Japan's acceptance or rejection. The Japanese hoped that

8428-453: The water can be detected and avoided by the mine detector. However, it was active in relief activities such as searching and transporting goods. Since the spring of 2013, the Mine Warfare Force has begun preparations such as demonstrations related to amphibious warfare on the JS Hyūga , and on August 9, the Mine Warfare Force was ready to take charge of amphibious warfare. It was reported that it

8526-535: Was all that Japan could expect. Moreover, in response to Molotov's requests for specific proposals, Satō suggested that Tōgō's messages were not "clear about the views of the Government and the Military with regard to the termination of the war," thus questioning whether Tōgō's initiative was supported by the key elements of Japan's power structure. On 17 July, Tōgō responded: Although the directing powers, and

8624-466: Was done. In September, a dual-purpose war staff member was dispatched to the Mine Warfare Force, and a liaison officer was dispatched from the Ground Self-Defense Force . In 2015, under the command of the Mine Warfare Force, participated in the Dawn Blitz 15 exercise and the US dispatch training, and in San Diego and the sea near it, a series of amphibious operations such as island defense training with

8722-487: Was enthralled by the successful report of the Trinity test, and those around him noticed a positive change in his attitude, believing the bomb gave him leverage with both Japan and the Soviet Union. Other than backing Stimson's play to remove Kyoto from the target list (as the military continued to push for it as a target), he was otherwise not involved in any decision-making regarding the bomb, contrary to later retellings of

8820-460: Was formed on October 1, 1959. Was done. The 1953 from the Atada-class minesweeper of domestic minesweeper deployed also initiated as beginning and 1954 was built from level No. 1-class minesweeper was incorporated into the 101st Mine Warfare Group. The Kasado-class minesweeper built from 1955 formed the 32nd to 40th Mine Warfare Force in place of the retired and transferred boats, and became

8918-499: Was incorporated into the Self-Defense Fleet and was in charge of general coordination of research and development and education and training for minesweeping. However, during this period, a plan was made to clear the remaining dangerous sea level, and along with the first minesweeper group based in western Japan, the second minesweeper group based in eastern Japan was also put into commercial minesweeping. In March 1969, when

9016-437: Was increasingly obvious that Germany would be defeated before any bombs would be ready for use. Groves formed a committee that met in April and May 1945 to draw up a list of targets. One of the primary criteria was that the target cities must not have been damaged by conventional bombing. This would allow for an accurate assessment of the damage done by the atomic bomb. The targeting committee's list included 18 Japanese cities. At

9114-576: Was not briefed on the project by Stimson until 23 April 1945, eleven days after he became president on Roosevelt's death on 12 April 1945. On 2 May 1945, Truman approved the formation of the Interim Committee , an advisory group that would report on the atomic bomb. It consisted of Stimson, James F. Byrnes , George L. Harrison , Vannevar Bush , James Bryant Conant , Karl Taylor Compton , William L. Clayton , and Ralph Austin Bard , advised by

9212-528: Was not just the coast defense; the divisions reserved to engage in the decisive battle also did not have sufficient numbers of weapons." According to the Emperor: I was told that the iron from bomb fragments dropped by the enemy was being used to make shovels. This confirmed my opinion that we were no longer in a position to continue the war. On 22 June, the Emperor summoned the Big Six to a meeting. Unusually, he spoke first: "I desire that concrete plans to end

9310-437: Was premature to seek peace "unless we make one more military gain". Also in February, Japan's treaty division wrote about Allied policies towards Japan regarding "unconditional surrender, occupation, disarmament, elimination of militarism, democratic reforms, punishment of war criminals, and the status of the emperor." Allied-imposed disarmament, Allied punishment of Japanese war criminals, and especially occupation and removal of

9408-605: Was replaced by Admiral Kantarō Suzuki . The Allies captured the nearby islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa in the first half of 1945. Okinawa was to be a staging area for Operation Downfall , the Allied invasion of the Japanese Home Islands . Following Germany's defeat , the Soviet Union began quietly redeploying its battle-hardened forces from the European theatre to the Far East, in addition to about forty divisions that had been stationed there since 1941 , as

9506-413: Was required to be restrained. The number of minesweepers was further reduced. The two minesweeping forces were consolidated into one, and the quantity was reduced, while the headquarters personnel that had been dispersed in the two minesweeping forces were integrated to form the group headquarters. In addition to strengthening the team by establishing a new chief of staff and increasing the number of staff,

9604-477: Was set up by the Military Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of the Navy on September 18, and 6 local minesweeping departments and 17 local minesweeping branches were set up on October 10. Then, the minesweeping force was revived. With the end of the war, the Ministry of the Navy was gradually reduced and dismantled, but under the command of Colonel Kyuzo Tamura , the minesweeping unit changed to

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