IJN/USN Doctrine Files

W. David Dickson has been called “the foremost Western expert on Japanese naval doctrine and carrier design” and was also an authority on communications and tactics. He was the author of The Battle of the Philippine Sea, and co-edited On Seas Contested, and To Crown the Waves. David passed away in 2017, and is missed by those in the naval history community who knew him.

The following documents are from David’s collection.

Japanese Navy Documents

Naval Operations Plans and Orders 1941-1944 Recovered from CA Nachi
Air Combat Regulations for SHO Operations

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Carrier Division 4 Doctrine

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Appendix 4
Combined Fleet Doctrine (1943)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
Cruiser Division Doctrine (1944)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Diversion Attack Force Doctrine

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Night Operations Force Doctrine (1 Jan 1944)
Battle Lessons Learned in the Greater East Asian War (Torpedoes)
Memorandum on Combined Fleet Orders
Battleship and Cruiser Doctrine, Imperial Japanese Navy, by W.D. Dickson

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

United States Navy Documents

U.S.F. 10(A) – Pacific Fleet Supplement (1944)

Part 1, Part 2
U.S.F. 16. Current Tactical Orders. Battleships (June 1938)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
U.S.F. 17. Current Doctrine. Battleships (October 1938)

Part 1, Part 2
U.S.F. 20. Current Tactical Orders. Cruisers (1941)

Part 1, Part 2
U.S.F. 21. Current Doctrine. Cruisers (1941)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Tactical Orders and Doctrine, Battleships and Cruisers, U.S. Navy, by W.D. Dickson

Part 1, Part 2

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