The Japanese and Nauru

From The Past

/4 «onv v/<?vv on their World War I intentions

DID the Japanese Navy intend to occupy Nauru early in World War I? “Yes,” said Pacific Islands Year Book in its various editions over the years.

It says: “Soon after the British were re-estab lished on Nauru, a Japanese warship and troopship arrived to take possession of the island in the same way as other Japanese forces had already taken over the Mar shalls, Marianas and Carolines. When they found the Australians in possession they left.”

Nancy Viviani in her book Nauru (Ha waii University Press, 1970) said the same thing.

Now comes a researched “No” from Hiroshi Nakajima, executive director of The Pacific Society, writing in a recent edition of the Journal of The Pacific Society.

His evidence? He relies on Japanese records of an interview between the Brit ish Ambassador to Japan and Japanese Foreign Minister, Baron Kato, on Decem ber 1,1914, extracts from the Japanese Na val General Staffs Secret Naval Battle History, 1914-15 , and the Logbook and Operations Report of the Nitsshin in the Taisho War.

The Nitsshin was the warship which, the Year Book reported, arrived off Nauru with a troopship a transport ship, writes H. Nakajima.

Quoting from two notes of the ambas sador’s interview, H Nakajima writes: “In the note verbale the Japanese Government pointed out that ’all the is lands of the Marianne, Pelew, Caroline, and Marshall groups are now in occupa tion of the Japanese Naval forces’ and de sired ’that the contemplated Australian Expedition should not visit any of the Is land (sic) in the aforesaid groups.’ In the confidential note the Japanese Govern ment stated that ‘the Japanese National would naturally insist on the permanent retention of the German Islands north of the Equator and the Imperial Govern ment will have to rely upon the support of the British Government for the accom plishment of that object when the proper moment arrives.’ ”

It is inconceivable from the viewpoint of international faith that Japan, which made such definite representations to Britain with respect to the “German pos sessions north of the Equator”, should dis patch a warship to Nauru south of the equator with a view to occupying it on or after December 1. The same can be said of

an expedition preceding December 1, for the Japanese Government had already re ceived the communication from the Brit ish Ambassador to Japan on September 12 that “an Australian expedition is now on its way to take possession of islands of Yap and Nauru”.

As for Yap, it was occupied by the Jap anese Navy in the form of compliance with the British China Fleet Commander’s re quest. With respect to Nauru, however, the Anglo-Japanese understanding of Sep tember 12 should have still remained in force.

The note handed to the British Am bassador to Japan on December 1 was based on a Cabinet decision. This means that if a Japanese warship approached Nauru, whether before or after that date, with a view to occupying the island, the warship was acting arbitrarily on its own responsibility.

Referring to the Secret Naval Battle History, the writer records: The warship was the Nitsshin. She did not approach Nauru for the purpose of oc cupying it. She was in the south of Nauru to relay radio communication between Dai-Ni Naken Shitai (the Second South Seas Dispatched Squadron) headquarters in Truk and Dai-Ichi Naken Shitai (the First South Seas Dispatched Squadron) operating in the Fiji and New Caledonia area. She only rendezvoused with the transport ship Nakai Maru to get a supply of coal and water under the lee of Nauru Island.

The Nitsshin arrived off Nauru on the early morning of December 18 to get a supply of coal and water from the Nankai Maru which had already arrived at Nauru (Pleasant) Island on December 15. Be cause there was no port on Nauru, loading and unloading had to be carried out off the coast. The Nitsshin planned to take aboard coal and water under the lee of Nauru Is land. The operations report for the day reads as follows: “Arrived at Pleasant at 6:00 am. Im mediately laid the Nankai Maru aboard on the port side of our ship and replenish ing the coal and water. The sea in the area was too deep to permit anchoring. Our ship drifted southeastward. By sunset Pleasant Island had already disappeared beyond the horizon. Earlier, two naval officers and one naval surgeon had been sent ashore on a cutter for the purpose of an inspection on land (the British flag was already flying on the wireless telegraph pole), but they failed to return to this ship all day because the

distance from the island became very great. This ship, too, drifted all night long with the Nankai Maru kept alongside for coaling.

This coaling work was extremely dif ficult. The operations report for Decem ber 19 states: “Continued coaling all night, yet it did not end this morning. The interference by the long sea continued. Coaling became even more difficult as time passed. This whole coaling work ended at long last at 10:00 am. The work had been continued for 30 hours almost without sleep or rest to take up 900 tons of coal. It was because the coaling had to be done while drifting about in the sea and being subjected to the serious interference of the wind and waves.

Probably, the work encountered a diffi culty and took a long time unprecedented in the latest war.

“Drift distance: 31 odd nautical miles.”

It is true that the Japanese Navy’s war ship and transport-ship visited Nauru, but the visit was for coal and water replenish ment purposes and not for occupying the island as is written in the Year Book and Nancy Viviani’s Nauru.

In Australia wariness against Japan mounted from the last stage of World War I to the early years of the 19205. This gave rise to various speculations about Japa nese intentions. As a result, the fact that the Nitsshin took up coal and water from the Nankai Maru off Nauru was inter preted by somebody as the story of an ap proach to Nauru with the intention of occupying it. Probably, this conjectural account finally came to be accepted as a fact.

To return, the closing part of the op erations report for December 19 ends with the following statement based on the land ing of three naval officers staying ashore overnight: “The island is a well-known phos phate-producing place which turns out 210,000 tons of phosphate a year. The product has been mined by the Pacific Phosphate Co. of Britain. The Japanese merchant vessel Taiyo Maru lies at anchor for loading at South Port. The 430-foot wireless telegraph pole remained intact, but the wireless is not usable because the secondary batteries, etc, were destroyed by the Germans. There is one resident Japa nese doctor.”

This final statement suggests friendly contacts between Japanese Navy and Aus tralian Army officers. □