Special Naval Landing Forces


The Special Naval Landing Forces, were the marine troops of the Imperial Japanese Navy and were a part of the IJN Land Forces. They saw extensive service in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific theatre of World War II.

History

Before the late 1920s the IJN did not have a separate marine force, instead it used naval landing forces or rikusentai formed from individual ships's crews, who received infantry training as part of their basic training, for special and/or temporary missions.
In the late 1920s the navy began to form Special Naval Landing Forces as standing regiments. These forces were raised at — and took their names from — the four main naval districts/bases in Japan: Kure, Maizuru, Sasebo, and Yokosuka. These SNLF units saw action in China from 1932 in the January 28 Incident and at the Battle of Shanghai in naval operations along the China coast and up the Yangtze River and its tributaries during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Soon, they became involved in successful Japanese seaborne assaults throughout South East Asia.
Other SNLF were later raised from IJN personnel in China, at Hankow, and Shanghai, for service in Canton and on the Yangtze River. On 7 December 1941 there were 16 SNLF units, this increased to 21 units during the war. The strengths of each SNLF ranged from the prewar peak of 1,200 to a later 650 personnel. There was also a special detachment in the Kwantung area, garrisoning the ports of Dairen and Ryojun.
Initially, the SNLF was not a marine force, but was instead sailors who had basic infantry training and were employed in landings during the Russo-Japanese War and the Boxer Rebellion. Soon their training and equipment were improved upon drastically, and their forces were given a variety of other operations as well. In 1941, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Yokosuka SNLF were converted to parachute units. They conducted more combat drops than Japanese Army parachute units during World War II. The SNLF paratroopers were successfully used during the attack on Celebes and the Battle of Manado. Aside from the paratroopers, there were also elite squads who conducted reconnaissance and raid operations.
From that point onward, the Landing Forces were influential in Japan's expansion of territories during World War II, and their tactics of surprising their enemies through sea invasions proved effective. The original SNLF personnel were well-trained, high-quality troops with good morale and they performed well against opposition across Southeast Asia. However, like all landing forces they often experienced heavy casualties when faced with determined resistance, such as at the invasion of Timor and the Battle of Milne Bay. This was due to their unwillingness to surrender, and when completely out of ammunition, they would often resort to hand-to-hand fighting with their swords and bayonets. To combat highly defended positions in the Pacific, the Landing Forces created new tactics and techniques, that would later be adopted by the Allies in their sea-borne invasions.
The SNLF gained the distinction of being the first foreign forces to establish a foothold on American soil since the War of 1812, when 500 troops landed on Kiska Island, Alaska without opposition on June 6, 1942 and occupied the island as part of the Aleutian Islands Campaign during World War II. After a year of occupation, with reinforcements from thousands of Imperial Japanese Army soldiers, they completely evacuated on July 28, 1943 two weeks before Allied forces landed.
In a well known last stand in 1943, 2,619 men of the 7th Sasebo SNLF and 2,000 base personnel at the Battle of Tarawa accounted for over 3,000 U.S. Marine Corps casualties.

SNLF Units

Infantry Units

See article:Japanese marine paratroopers of World War II
''See article:Imperial Japanese Navy Armor Units

Service dress

The uniforms of SNLF troops were exactly the same as those worn by members of the Imperial Japanese Navy Land Forces. The single exception was the SNLF Paratroopers, who had their own specialized uniforms.
On board ship the sailors of the SNLF wore their standard IJN blue or white uniforms but when on land the SNLF wore a uniform similar to that of the Imperial Japanese Army. Originally they wore their shipboard dress during ground combat as well, but in the mid 1930s it was replaced with a specialized land uniform. The land uniform consisted of a green single breasted tunic with a stand and fall collar with three buttons which ran down the front, which is often referred to as Rikusenfuku. These uniforms were also worn by regular Naval troops temporarily deployed on land. The SNLF usually wore this uniform with the collar open over the IJN's white trimmed teeshirt, or a heat resistant button-up shirt later in the war. Towards the closure of the war, the uniform was replaced by a similar four button green uniform known as the Class III, which was intended to be the standard combat dress for all members of the Imperial Japanese Navy. In the final stages of the war, what was left of the SNLF could be seen wearing the previously mentioned uniforms, a green five button work uniform or even just a button-up undershirt and trousers. Officers wore their uniform with a shirt and tie, sometimes opting to not wear the tie during combat and in hot conditions. The tie was originally dark blue but was later changed to green. Green long trousers or pantaloons were worn as standard along with the wool puttees or canvas gaiters for enlisted and leather gaiters for officers. All, except mounted troops, wore this uniform with horsehide, pigskin or leather ankle-boots.
SNLF Paratroopers wore two types of green uniform made from rip stop parachute silk with built in bandoleers and cargo pockets, being better designed than other paratrooper models of the time.
Originally green rank insignia was used for SNLF officers. These were worn on either shoulder boards or collar tabs. Enlisted men wore red on green, or red on blue round ratings on the upper sleeves. Later the standard black Japanese Naval collar rank was adopted and worn by officers. The enlisted men went to a black on yellow shield rating. During the war most enlisted men wore a cloth name tag affixed above their left breast pocket bearing information such as their name, rank and unit.
The ankle boots had either a hobnailed hard leather sole with metal heel J-cleat or a rubber sole with rubber cleats. When off duty, sailors could wear tabis, although they sometimes wore them in combat as well.
SNLF officers were not usually issued uniforms so they had to procure their own, thus there was a wide variety in the details, color and texture of their uniforms, with uniform colors ranging from pale to dark green. Collars were stiffer and materials were of a higher quality.

Headgear

The first helmets used by the SNLF was a mix of three models. These included two variations of an adrian-styled army helmet, the first which had a metal anchor on the front and was nicked-named the "star vent" helmet as it had several open vents on the top in the shape of a star. The second variation was an improved star vent helmet with a metal sakura attached above the vents to prevent rainwater from entering the helmet. The third helmet was a navy-designed prototype helmet bearing some resemblance to the Brodie helmet, and was extensively utilized during the January 28 incident. On top of these helmets, Army issue Type 90 helmets were also occasionally seen in use during the early to mid 1930s. In 1932 the IJN adopted their own version of the IJA's Type 90 helmet and gave it the designation of Type 2. The previously aforementioned star vent, sakura and navy prototype helmets were then grouped under the designation of Type 1. The Type 1 star vent and sakura helmets continued to be sporadically used by rear units until about 1941. The new Type 2 helmet was officially called tetsubo but was called tetsukabuto by troops. It was made in the shape of a dome with a short protruding rim all the way around it evenly, unlike the frontally flared rim on the IJN's Type 1 helmets. This helmet was made of a thin inferior chrome-molybdenum steel with many proving to be fragile, being easily pierced by shrapnel and/or gunfire. An anchor for the IJN was fixed to the front with two bendable prongs attached to the back of the badge. They passed through a slit in the front of the shell and were then bent over to secure the badge to the helmet. The helmet and anchor were then painted in an earth brown color. Late into the war the IJN simplified their helmet production and removed the metal anchor from the design, replacing it with a rivet and a yellow anchor painted on the front. A tan cover known as a first pattern was adopted around the middle of 1938, it featured a two layer, fiber reinforced olive linen cover with a wool/felt two piece anchor sewn on the front. The second pattern cover had a one piece embroidered anchor insignia sewn on the front. The third pattern was further simplified with a bevo woven anchor insignia sewn onto its front. Nets were then used to add a camo effect. The helmet was secured to the head by an elaborate set of straps descended from those of the Kabuto samurai helmet, although IJN helmet tapes were tied differently from the way the IJA tied them. It was also able to be worn over a field cap, which was commonly done in the field for comfort. Camouflage nets were widely worn over the helmet especially in the Southern theatre and Pacific island campaign.

Other Items

The SNLF carried a variety of items, some of it IJN produced material and others being borrowed from the IJA.

Heavy weapons