In July 1944, the situation had become so desperate that the oiled-starved navy was forced to take such measures as cutting a hole in the bottom of sunken battleship MUTSU’s hulk and pumping out 580-tons of fuel oil for use by their ships in Operation Take ('Bamboo'). The Imperial Navy (IJN) was Japan’s largest consumer of fuel oil. Japan's Oil Refineries and Storage Centers, Bob Hackettīombing Japan's Oil Refineries and Storage Centers By Bob Hackettīy 1944, as outlined in my preceding six Special Features, American air attacks on Southeast Asian oil refineries and storage facilities under Japanese control, combined with air and submarine predation on shipping, had effectively cut off the flow of crude oil to the home islands.
