Manchukuo Imperial Navy

Manchukuo Imperial Navy
Naval Ensign and War Flag of the Manchukuo Imperial Navy
Active	15 April 1932 – November 1939
Country	Manchukuo
Branch	Manchukuoan Armed Forces
Type	Navy
Role	Coastal and river defense.
Commanders
Commander in Chief	Emperor Pu Yi

The Manchukuo Imperial Navy (Chinese: 満州帝國海軍 Mǎnzhōu Dìguó Hǎijūn) was the navy of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. As Manchukuo had very little coastline, the leadership of the Japanese Kwantung Army regarded the development of a navy to have a very low military priority, although it was politically desirable to create at least a nominal force as a symbol of the legitimacy of the new regime.

When the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Manchuria in 1931, they were accompanied by a detachment from the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), which provided for coastal defense. However, the main naval requirement for Manchuria was the defense of its extensive border river system with the Soviet Union. Immediately after the Manchurian Incident of 1931, Kuomingtang Northeastern Navy Vice-Minister Shen Hung-lieh and Fleet Commander Hsien Kung-che deserted their posts. Local Kuomintang commander Captain Yin Tsu-Ch'ien met with Japanese forces and agreed to turn over his fleet of five river gunboats to the Imperial Japanese Navy in Harbin on 15 February 1932. This flotilla formed the core of the Sungari River Defense Fleet (江防艦隊) under the State of Manchuria.

The Manchukuo Imperial Navy was established on 15 April 1932, by the proclamation of the "Manchukuoan Armed Forces Act" by Emperor Pu Yi, who also assumed the role of supreme commander. The flagship of the fleet was the destroyer Hai Wei, formerly the Kashi, a Momo-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. However, coastal defense for Manchukuo remained largely in the hands of the IJN 3rd China (North) Fleet.