Fig. 1

Fig 2

Welcome to the interactive map exhibit. Below is a link to the map which is currently hosted on an external website. The map is an interactive exhibit of the data in “Japanese Naval and Merchant Shipping Losses During World War II by All Causes.” The map also depicts Japanese sea lines of communication (SLOC) which connected the Japanese empire’s possessions throughout the Pacific as well as key oil production sites (Fig 1).

The data depicted can be augmented via a collapsible menu in the upper right corner which divides the campaign into ten periods: Dec, 1941- Dec, 1942, Jan-Jun 1943, Jul - Dec, 1943, Jan-Mar, 1944, Apr-Jun, 1944, Jul-Sep, 1944, Oct-Dec, 1944, Jan-Apr, 1945, May-Jun, 1945, Jul-Aug, 1945. These periods were determined to reflect major turning points in the conflict: the results of major operations, or the increases in attrition rates suffered by the merchant fleet.

These periods were determined to reflect major turning points in the conflict: the results of major operations, or the increases in attrition rates suffered by the merchant fleet.The data can be interrogated by simply clicking any datapoint. The sinking events are symbolized via their respective sinking agent, Allied aircraft, submarine, mine or surface craft. Vessels which were sunk by multiple agents (ie aircraft and surface craft) were symbolized to the sinking agent which best reflected the operation which caused their sinking. This map is an ongoing project. Some data points may contain locational anomalies due to human error and the proximity of the sinking event to shore. Obvious errors have been corrected using contemporary data.