However, encouraged by the aggressive attitude of Imperial Japanese Navy and in order to secure rights and interests in the territories under Japanese occupation: the leased territory of Jiaozhou and the South Sea Islands, it dispatched successively, since February 7, 1917, the first special duty fleet of Imperial Japanese Navy to the area around Indian Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope, the second special duty fleet to the Mediterranean, and the third special duty fleet to the area around the South Pacific Ocean and the east coast of Australia.
しかし、日本海軍の積極的な姿勢と占領した膠州湾租借地と南洋諸島の利権確保のため、1917年2月7日から順次日本海軍第一特務艦隊をインド洋、喜望峰方面、第二特務艦隊を地中海、第三特務艦隊を南太平洋、オーストラリア東岸方面へ派遣した。