Q&A ยท 1:28:18-1:28:55

Did Japanese torpedo doctrine preserve Jeune Ecole ideas?

Japanese enthusiasm for torpedoes resembles Jeune Ecole thinking, but the wider doctrine never cleanly displaced battle-fleet warfare.

Question

Did the Japanese Navy retain Jeune Ecole thinking through its enthusiasm for torpedoes?

Short answer

There is a family resemblance, but Jeune Ecole never fully triumphed, and later missiles mostly replaced guns rather than vindicating the whole doctrine.

Notes

The viewer links Japan's torpedo emphasis to the French Young School, or Jeune Ecole. The recurring idea of defeating a stronger fleet by a different technical route remained influential. Jeune Ecole never truly triumphed as a complete naval system, however. Even the missile age is better understood as a new weapon replacing the gun than as proof that the original doctrine won.