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.
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.
Attack on Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941, major Japanese tactical victory; destruction of much of the
United States Navy (USN) battleship fleet, strategically inconclusive)
Attack on Sydney Harbour (31 May–8 June 1942, Japanese tactical victory, strategically inconclusive)
Battle of Midway (5 June 1942, major US victory; IJN loses four carriers, while USN loses one carrier)
Battle of Savo Island (9 August 1942, major Japanese tactical victory against Allies; IJN sinks four heavy cruisers without loss, strategically inconclusive)