8th Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)

The IJN 8th Fleet (第八艦隊, Dai-hachi Kantai^?) was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) established during World War II.

Established on 14 July 1942, the IJN 8th Fleet was a headquarters unit established to direct Japanese naval operations in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. The warship forces assigned to the 8th Fleet were known as the Outer South Seas Force and Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa was assigned as the first commander.

The first warships assigned to the 8th included the heavy cruiser Chōkai, Cruiser Division 6 (CruDiv6) which included the heavy cruisers Aoba, Kinugasa, Kako, and Furutaka, light cruisers Tenryū and Yubari, and four destroyers. On July 26, Mikawa, with his flag on Chōkai, led the force from Truk to Rabaul, New Britain where he established his headquarters. He detached CruDiv6 to Kavieng, New Ireland.

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