Unicorn emerged after a decade of recurrent Anglo-Japanese maritime confrontations, when war in the Far East was a practical contingency. In the Asama Maru incident, HMS Liverpool removed German merchant sailors from a Japanese liner close to Japan. The year before, HMS Birmingham and a sloop confronted Japanese forces over the liner Vincent de Paul at Qingdao. Gunboat attacks and armed standoffs made similar crises a regular feature of the 1930s. Germany and Italy were dangerous, but Britain could fight them near established infrastructure. Japan required the Royal Navy to project and sustain a fleet half a world from home.
Notable Point · 27:53-30:48
Why Japan was the Royal Navy's hardest planning case
The Asama Maru and Vincent de Paul confrontations illustrate the recurring friction that made Japan, rather than a European enemy, Britain's most difficult logistical case.