Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt. Morgan
You have to remember that "early war" for the I.J.N. was 1937. By 1941 they were a highly seasoned force.
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Indeed, the Japanese were highly seasoned. They had practiced hard for years for a decisive battle with the US somewhere in the Central Pacific. Some of the their carrier pilots were already aces in the war in China, and they had gained valuable experience in shore bombardment and naval landings in the same conflict.
But ASW was always a blind spot with them. Escort management within the Imperial Navy was almost an incidental activity in prewar days. Those few officers charged with these matters handled it on a part time or indirect basis. There was no central agency for realistic and comprehensive maritime planning. Just a few months before Pearl Harbor, the only Japanese institution still conducting ASW instruction was the Navy Torpedo School, with a heavy emphasis on attacking with torpedoes, not defending against them. Even there, anti submarine research was the part time domain of one officer.
Like the US naval submariners, the Japanese ASW forces started the war pretty green.