Publication |
2013.
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Summary/Abstract |
On 15 June 1959 the Oyashio surfaced to the applause of the crew and engineers onboard: Japan
completed the trials of its first post-war indigenously developed submarine. There is little English
literature that explains how Japan successfully constructed the Oyashio. United States support
has been highlighted, but what about Japan's indigenous efforts? In addition, with Oyashio Japan
created a World War II era fleet-type submarine, but the tear-drop hull submarine had already been
developed. Why was this approach adopted and what significance did Oyashio represent? This paper
demonstrates that Oyashio was primarily an indigenous Japanese effort. Japan successfully built the
Oyashio because the Imperial Navy's technological legacy continued in the form of infrastructure,
personnel and know-how: there was a strong degree of continuation in Japan's pre- and post-war
submarine programs. The limited capability of the Oyashio, including its non-tear drop hull design, is
explained by Japan adopting a conservative long-term approach to submarine development, prioritising
the indigenisation of capability at the short-term cost of a less capable product. This approach is
consistent with what has been described in broader literature as Japan's 'technonationalist' approach
to technology. This paper concludes that Oyashio represented an important technological and political
milestone. Despite being a fleet-type submarine, the Oyashio was a technological achievement as new
and old indigenous and foreign technologies were assimilated and applied lifting the capability of
Japan's submarine industry beyond pre-war levels. In addition, the development of Oyashio did not
take place within a political vacuum, but in post-war Japan where Article IX of Japan's Constitution
did not unequivocally settle the position of the Japanese Self Defense Forces (JSDF). Oyashio was
therefore also a political milestone as an indigenous submarine capability was reestablished during a
time when the existence of the JSDF was being questioned.
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