Imperial Japanses Navy, The

A latecomer on the international naval scene, Japan did not begin to build up her navy until the 1870's. Relying first on foreign-built warships, the Japanese spared no effort to acquire the necessary knowledge to construct their own vessels and, within a few decades, the new Imperial Japanese Navy was already a highly efficient force.

This narrative is the result of 15 years of painstaking research work and represents the first extensively detailed and accurate survey of the Imperial Japanese Navy from its inception to its destruction in 1945, spanning a period of some 70 years of Japanese warship development. The authors have had access to many hitherto unpublished documents and files from Japanese, American and British sources, and their highly detailed narrative is illustrated by several hundred select photographs and accurate line drawings.

Hardcover book includes dust jacket and slipcover.