Editing Combined Fleet (section)

==History==

===Sino-Japanese War (1894–95)===
The Combined Fleet was formally created for the first time on 18 July 1894 by the merger of the [[Standing Fleet]] and the Western Fleet. The Standing Fleet (also known as the Readiness Fleet) contained the navy's most modern and combat-capable warships. The Western Fleet was a reserve force consisting primarily of obsolete ships deemed unsuitable for front-line combat operations, but still suitable for commerce protection and coastal defense. Vice-admiral [[Itō Sukeyuki]] was appointed the first [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the Combined Fleet<ref>[http://navalhistory.flixco.info/H/169879x82985/8330/a0.htm/''Combined Fleet'']</ref> for the duration of the [[first Sino-Japanese War]] against China.

===Russo-Japanese War (1904–05)===
[[File:Togo Heihachiro in uniform.jpg|thumb|left|Admiral [[Tōgō Heihachirō]], commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during the [[Russo-Japanese War]].]]
The Combined Fleet was re-formed during the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904–05 to provide a unified overall command for the three separate fleets in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The [[1st Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)|1st Fleet]] was the main [[battleship]] force, which formed the backbone of the navy and was intended to be used in a traditional [[line of battle]] showdown with an equivalent enemy battleship fleet (''[[Kantai Kessen]]''). The [[2nd Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)|2nd Fleet]] was a fast, mobile strike force with [[armored cruiser]]s and [[protected cruiser]]s. The [[Third Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)|3rd Fleet]] was primarily a reserve fleet of obsolete vessels considered too weak for front-line combat service, but which could still be used in the operation to [[Battle of Port Arthur|blockade Port Arthur]]. Admiral [[Tōgō Heihachirō]] was [[commander-in-chief]] of the Combined Fleet during the Russo-Japanese War.

===Interwar years===
The Combined Fleet was not maintained as a permanent organization, but was temporarily created when necessary during fleet maneuvers or when called for by extraordinary circumstances. Thus, during the period from 1905 to 1924, the Combined Fleet was created only sporadically as the occasion or circumstances dictated, and disbanded immediately afterwards.

In 1924, the Imperial Japanese Navy declared in an edict on fleet organization that "for the time being" the Combined Fleet would be a standing organization consisting of the IJN 1st Fleet and IJN 2nd Fleet. As this was not intended to be "permanent" and since the commander of IJN 1st Fleet concurrently directed the Combined Fleet, the Combined Fleet was not given a Headquarters staff of its own.

From 1933, with the [[Mukden Incident]] and the increasing tension with China, a permanent HQ staff for the Combined Fleet was established. By the late 1930s, it included most of Japan's warships—only the base units, the [[Special Naval Landing Forces]], and the [[China Area Fleet]] lay outside the Combined Fleet.

===World War II===
[[File:Portrait of Yamamoto Isoroku.jpg|thumb|right|Admiral [[Isoroku Yamamoto]], commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during the early stage of the [[Pacific War]].]]
The Combined Fleet came under direct command of the [[Imperial General Headquarters]] in 1937. With the start of the [[Pacific War]] with the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] carried out by Combined Fleet's ''Kido Butai'' ([[1st Air Fleet]]), the Combined Fleet became almost synonymous with the Imperial Japanese Navy, under the command of admiral [[Isoroku Yamamoto]] till April 1943 when he died after [[Operation Vengeance|his plane was shot-down]] by [[United States Army Air Forces|US Army Air Forces]] over [[Bougainville Island]].  It comprised the battleships, [[aircraft carrier]]s, [[aircraft]], and the components that made up the main fighting strength of the IJN. It was first mobilized on the whole for the [[Battle of Midway]].  After the devastating carrier losses at Midway and in the [[Solomon Islands campaign]], the navy re-organized into a number of "Area Fleets" for local operational control of various geographic zones. The Combined Fleet then evolved into more of an administrative organization.

As the war situation deteriorated for the Japanese and the territories controlled by the "Area Fleets" fell one after another to the [[United States Navy]], the [[Imperial General Headquarters]] and the [[Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff]] acted to force the American fleet into a "decisive battle" in the [[Philippines]] per the ''[[Kantai Kessen]]'' philosophy.  In the resultant [[Battle of the Philippine Sea]] and the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]] the Japanese fleet was severely depleted.  The remnants of the Combined Fleet fled to [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]], but further operations were hindered by lack of fuel and air cover.  By the time of the final suicide mission of the [[Japanese battleship Yamato|battleship ''Yamato'']] in [[Operation Ten-Go]], the Combined Fleet had ceased to exist as an effective combat force.