Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC) was a United States inter-service agency set up to analyze and assess Japanese naval and merchant marine shipping losses caused by U.S. and Allied forces during World War II.

Background

In January 1943, JANAC was formed by General George Marshall, the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, and Admiral Ernest J. King, the Chief of Naval Operations and Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH), to assess enemy naval and merchant shipping losses during World War II.[1] The objectives of JANAC were as set forth in the following joint Army–Navy directive:

By agreement between Chief of Staff and Commander-in-Chief, a Committee composed of 4 Navy and 3 Army members is appointed to meet from time to time at the call of the senior member to study and evaluate reports of loss or damage of enemy Naval and Merchant vessels from all causes, except those cases considered by the Anti-Submarine Warfare Assessment Committee of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet. Findings of the Anti-Submarine Warfare Assessment Committee will be included in the overall evaluation of enemy losses without further review. Periodic reports of the Committee will be submitted jointly to the Chief of Staff and Commander-in-Chief.[1]

JANAC consisted of representatives of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army, and the Army Air Forces, with a joint Army–Navy secretariat, under the chairmanship of Rear Admiral Walter S. DeLany.[1] Following the war, Rear Admiral Jerauld Wright succeeded Delany as JANAC chairman.[2]

Methodology & results

JANAC used the following sources to compile information on Japanese vessel losses during World War II:[1]

  • Prisoner of War Reports
  • Captured Enemy Documents
  • United States and Allied Intelligence Sources
  • Naval Shipping Control Authority for Japanese Merchant Marine (SCAJAP)
  • Ariyoshi's Final List (Japanese)
  • Ariyoshi's List (Japanese)
  • Shipowners' List (Japanese)
  • Naval Ministry List (Japanese)
  • United States Mine Warfare Report
  • United States and Allied Action Summaries
  • United States Photographic Intelligence
  • United States Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS) Reports

The assessment of losses, unanimously agreed to by all JANAC members of the committee, was published in 1947, which included:

  • All Naval vessels known or believed to have been lost.
  • All merchant vessels of 500 or more gross tons known or believed to have been lost.

JANAC provided a detailed chronology of Japanese naval and merchant marine losses cross-indexed in the appendix of its final report, including a separate summary about losses caused by U.S. submarines.[1] JANAC noted that a negligible number of vessels were not assessed because of insufficient information as to the cause of loss.[3]

Sinking Agent Naval Vessels Merchant Vessels Total Vessels
No. Tonnage No. Tonnage No. Tonnage
TOTALS: 686 1,965,646 2,346 8,618,109 3,032 10,583,755
United States (U.S.): 611 1,822,210 2,117 7,913,858 2,728 9,736,068
Submarines 201 540,192 1,113 4,779,902 1,314 5,320,094
Surface Warships 112 277,817 11 43,349 123 321,166
Army Aircraft 70 62,165 240 639,667 310 701,832
Carrier Aircraft 161 711,236 359 1,390,241 520 2,101,477
Land-based Navy-Marine Aircraft 11 13,402 88 218,718 99 232,120
Army-Navy-Marine Aircraft 9 48,750 23 114,306 32 163,056
Navy Shore Batteries 2 2,770 — — 2 2,770
Mines 19 17,995 247 591,660 266 609,655
Aircraft and Other Agents 26 147,883 32 132,710 58 280,593
Unknown Agents — — 4 3,305 4 3,305
Allied Forces: 45 69,636 73 211,664 118 281,300
United Kingdom (U.K.) 28 50,365 42 87,981 70 138,346
Netherlands 7 8,099 15 57,471 22 65,570
Australia 5 6,892 8 24,910 13 31,802
China — — 3 14,327 3 14,327
Soviet Union 2 1,660 2 8,233 4 9,893
New Zealand 2 2,095 — — 2 2,095
Netherlands and Australia — — 2 8,303 2 8,303
Netherlands and India — — 1 10,439 1 10,439
Australia and India 1 525 — — 1 525
U.S. and Allied Forces: 10 14,864 12 57,923 22 72,787
U.S. and Australia 4 7,550 7 37,072 11 44,622
U.S., Australia, and Netherlands — — 2 16,362 2 16,362
U.S. and U.K. 5 5,102 2 3,500 7 8,602
U.S. and New Zealand 1 2,212 — — 1 2,212
U.S., U.K., and Netherlands — — 1 989 1 989
Marine Casualties: 13 50,338 97 268,948 110 319,286

Legacy

Submarine service

JANAC significantly altered wartime estimates for Japanese losses inflicted by the U.S. Navy's submarine service. At the end of World War II, Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood and his COMSUBPAC staff had estimated that approximately 4,000 ships had been sunk, totalling 10 million tons lost. JANAC revised this total to 1,314 enemy vessels and 5.3 million tons sunk.[4] JANAC estimates of Japanese losses revised wartime claims downward for most war patrols carried out by the submarine service during World War II as noted in the following table of the revised list of top ten submarines based upon the total tonnage sunk as determined by JANAC.[5]

Ship JANAC figures Wartime Estimates
War Patrols Ships Sunk Tonnage Ships Sunk Tonnage Tonnage Ratio
Flasher (SS-249) 6 211⁄2 104,564[6] 231⁄2 153,800 0.65
Rasher (SS-269) 8 18 99,901 19 137,200 0.73
Barb (SS-220) 12 171⁄3 97,579[7] 28 197,900 0.48
Tang (SS-306) 5 (lost) 24 93,824 31 227,324 0.41
Silversides (SS-236) 14 23 90,080 26 143,700 0.63
Spadefish (SS-411) 5 21 88,091 21 122,790 0.63
Trigger (SS-237) 12 (lost) 18 1/3 89,892[8] 25⅓ 183,900 0.47
Drum (SS-228) 13 15 80,580 19 118,000 0.68
Jack (SS-259) 9 15 76,687 17 115,000 0.67
Snook (SS-279) 9 (lost) 17 75,473 16 105,800 0.71

JANAC also revised the achievements of individual submarine commanding officers as noted in the following table.[9]

Commanding Officer JANAC figures Wartime Estimates
War Patrols Ships Sunk Tonnage Ships Sunk Tonnage Tonnage Ratio
Richard H. O'Kane 5 24 93,824 31 227,800 0.41
Slade D. Cutter 4 19 71,729 21 142,300 0.51
Dudley W. Morton 6 (killed in action) 19 54,683 17 100,000 0.55
Eugene B. Fluckey 5 161⁄3 95,360 25 179,900 0.53
Samuel D. Dealey 6 (killed in action) 16 54,002 201⁄2 82,500 0.65
Reuben T. Whitaker 5 141⁄2 60,846 181⁄2 111,500 0.55
Gordon W. Underwood 3 14 75,386 14 89,600 0.81
Royce L. Gross 7 14 65,736 131⁄2 80,500 0.82
Charles O. Triebel 8 14 58,837 13 83,330 0.71
John S. Coye, Jr. 6 14 38,659 14 71,700 0.54

Although JANAC tended to revise downward wartime estimates, one noteworthy exception involved the fifth war patrol of Archerfish (SS-311) under the command of Commander Joseph F. Enright. Archerfish was credited with sinking a 24,000-ton Hiyō-class aircraft carrier during the war, but JANAC determined he had actually sunk the 66,000-ton carrier Shinano, making this the most successful submarine patrol of the Pacific War.[10]

Battle of Midway

JANAC also addressed wartime claims made by the U.S. Army Air Force regarding the sinking of the Japanese aircraft carriers Kaga, Akagi, Hiryū, and Sōryū during the Battle of Midway by giving sole credit to the U.S. Navy.[11]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Foreword". JANAC. Hyperwar.com. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  2. ↑ Key Jr, David M. (September 2001). Admiral Jerauld Wright: Warrior among Diplomats. Manhattan, Kansas: Sunflower University Press. ISBN 1-55750-217-X., pp. 236–240
  3. ↑ "Contents". JANAC. Hyperwar.com. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  4. ↑ Blair Jr., Clay (2001). Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan. Philadelphia: Lippincott. pp. 876–878. ISBN 1-55750-217-X.; hereafter referred to as Silent Victory
  5. ↑ Data compiled from Silent Victory, Appendices E, F, J & K
  6. ↑ Blair and Roscoe agree at 100,231 tons. Neither included 1/2 credit for Tosan Maru at 8,666 tons shared with Crevalle
  7. ↑ Blair and Roscoe agree at 96,628 tons. Neither included 1/3 credit for Hikoshima Maru at 2,854 tons shared with Picuda and Queenfish
  8. ↑ Blair and Roscoe agree at 88,091 tons. Neither included 1/3 credit for Takane Maru at 10,021 tons shared with Salmon and Sterlet
  9. ↑ Data compiled from Silent Victory, Appendix G
  10. ↑ Blair. Silent Victory, p. 777 - 780; Appendix I
  11. ↑ Key 2001, p. 239

Bibliography

Primary Sources

  • Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC) (1947), Japanese Naval and Merchant Shipping Losses During World War II by All Causes, Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, NAVEXOS P-468
  • Special Research History – Navy Department Library – Naval Historical Center:
    • SRH-163 - Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC), Miscellaneous Memoranda, 1943–1947
    • SRH-164 - Memoranda from COMINCH, (F-20) to Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC), 1944–1945
    • SRH-165 - Memoranda from Office of Naval Communications to Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC), 1943–1944
    • SRH-166 - Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC), Memoranda to Office of Naval Communication
    • SRH-167 - Memoranda from Army Signal Corps to Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC), 1945–1946
    • SRH-168 - Agenda Minutes/Assessments, Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC)

Secondary Sources

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