Chinkai Guard District

The Chinkai Guard District was the major navy base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in Korea under Japanese rule before and during World War II. Located in southern Korea, the Chinkai Guard District was responsible for control of the strategic Straits of Shimonoseki and for patrols along the Korean coastline and in the Sea of Japan.

History

The Guard Districts were naval bases, similar to the Naval Districts, with docking, fueling and resupply facilities, but typically lacked a shipyard or training school. They tended to be established by strategic waterways or major port cities for defensive purposes. In concept, the Guard District was similar to the United States Navy Sea Frontiers concept. the Guard District maintained a garrison force of ships and Naval Land Forces which reported directly to the Guard District commander, and hosted detachments of the numbered fleets on a temporary assignment basis.
The port of Chinkai in Korea was an area with long associations with Japan, having been the location of a Japanese fish trading settlement in the 15th and 16th centuries. More recently, it was the location where Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō assembled his Combined Fleet while waiting for the arrival of the Russian Baltic Fleet prior to the Battle of Tsushima in the Russo-Japanese War.
After the annexation of Korea by the Empire of Japan in 1910, the Imperial Japanese Navy built extensive port facilities, transforming the small town into a major naval port. The port was upgraded to a Guard District on April 1, 1916. After the Russo-Japanese War the port was briefly considered a backwater assignment. However, the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 re-established Jinhae as Japanese Empire's strategic port on mainland Asia. At the start of the Pacific War, Chinkai was home to destroyers Minekaze, Asagao, Fuyo, and Karukaya; Minesweeper Divisions 48 and 49; as well as Chinkai Naval Air Group. On the surrender of Japan, Chinkai was occupied by Destroyer Squadron 64 from the United States Navy led by the USS Harry E. Hubbard. It was repaired and continued to be used as a naval base during the Korean War. After the independence of Korea in 1945, the naval base was turned over to the Republic of Korea Navy, and remains a major naval base to this date.
A subsidiary naval base reporting to the Chinkai Guard District existed at Rashin,, on the east coast of Korea near the border with the Soviet Union.

Order of battle at time of the [attack on Pearl Harbor]

Chinkai Guard District
*Japanese destroyer Minekaze
*AP Ryotaku Maru
Chinkai Air Group
*6 × Kawanishi E7K Alf
Chinkai Guard Force
*Destroyer Division 32
**Japanese destroyer Asagao
**Japanese destroyer Fuyo
**Japanese destroyer Karukaya
*Minesweeper Division 48
*Minesweeper Division 49
*Rashin Base Force

List of Commanders

Commanding Officer

Vice-Admiral Kujuro Yamaguchi
Vice-Admiral Kichitaro Togo
Vice-Admiral Hiromi Tadokoro
Vice-Admiral Tomojiro Chisaka
Vice-Admiral Kazuyoshi Yamaji
Admiral Saburo Hyakutake
Vice-Admiral Shozo Kuwashima
Vice-Admiral Kikuo Matsumura
Vice-Admiral Taro Inutsuka
Vice-Admiral Naotaro Nagasawa
Vice-Admiral Junichi Kiyokawa
Vice-Admiral Kanjiro Hara
Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai
Admiral Koichi Shiozawa
Vice-Admiral Hisao Ichimura
Vice-Admiral Seizaburo Kobayashi
Vice-Admiral Tsugumatsu Inoue
Vice-Admiral Keitaro Hara
Vice-Admiral Jugoro Arichi
Vice-Admiral Sonosuke Kobayashi
Admiral Nishizo Tsukahara
Vice-Admiral Ikuta Sakamoto
Vice-Admiral Eiji Goto
Vice-Admiral Takazumi Oka
Vice-Admiral Gisaburo Yamaguchi

Chief of Staff

Rear-Admiral Tsuneha Sano
Rear-Admiral Heigo Teraoka
Rear-Admiral Yasuzo Torisaki
Rear-Admiral Chikateru Takasaki
Rear-Admiral Naojiro Honshuku
Rear-Admiral Sunao Matsuzaki
Rear-Admiral Kentaro Kojima
Vice-Admiral Yoshinobu Shishido
Rear-Admiral Kohei Ochi
Rear-Admiral Junichi Mizuno
Vice-Admiral Sadaichi Matsunaga
Vice-Admiral Tamotsu Takama
Rear-Admiral Shigeki Ando
Rear-Admiral Keiichi Onishi
Rear-Admiral Katsuya Sato
Rear-Admiral Chitoshi Ishizuka
Rear-Admiral Haruo Katsuta