By Robert Moyse*
This essay was highly commended in the open division of the Chief of Navy’s 2019 Essay Competition. Details of the competition are here.
Introduction
In the Second World War the Japanese took one-sixth of the world’s surface in a little over six months with comparatively modest forces. Central to this economy of force was their mastery of archipelagic warfare, which confounded the allies initially, but ultimately the fragility of Japanese grand and military strategy proved fatal. For Australia there is more to be learned from the Japanese offensive than the Allied counteroffensive, as its scale and force densities were closer to those of today and Japan was the weaker protagonist, as Australia might be in a future conflict.
Furthermore, Japan, like Australia, depended on sea communication. The essay will examine what happened in the war, what lessons arose, what has changed and, finally, the implications for the RAN.
