Mr. M. Kitigawa, Chief Japanese Merchant Marine Committee, subject: merchant shipping

“The United States submarines started at the very beginning to sink our ships.”

He says the rate of loses constantly increased after that.

Later air attacks, particularly from carrier task forces, added particularly to this loss.

By the middle of 1944, he says, they were in a desperate position for shipping.

Their total shipping losses were around 8,800,000 tons.

US submarines sunk about 2/3rds of that total. Air strikes and aerial mining accounted for the rest.

Merchant Marine losses for Japan were between 100,000 and 120,000 men.



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