Aircrew recovery as a measure of naval staying power

Did the Japanese Navy use submarines or other means to recover downed aircrew?

No comparable Japanese recovery system is identified, although incomplete reading is acknowledged. Allied examples show a willingness to risk ships to recover trained aircrew.

Recovering downed aircrew preserves trained personnel and institutional knowledge. Italian submarines are tentatively recalled as having made some effort to retrieve airmen. No comparable Japanese recovery system is identified, with an explicit caveat that the contributors' reading may be incomplete. British and American rescue efforts included risking destroyers and submarines to recover crews. In the example involving Admiral Vian, objections that unsupported destroyers would be too exposed led him to take the carriers, with the battleships following to protect them.