- Tamon Yamaguchi
Infobox Military Person
name= Tamon Yamaguchi
lived=17 August 1892 -4 June 1942 [Nishida, "Imperial Japanese Navy".]
placeofbirth=Shimane Prefecture ,Japan
placeofdeath=Pacific Ocean nearMidway Island
caption=Japanese Vice Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=navy|Empire of Japan
serviceyears=1912-1942
rank=Vice Admiral
commands="Isuzu", "Ise"IJN 5th Fleet , 2nd Carrier Division
unit=
battles=World War II
*Attack on Pearl Harbor
*Indian Ocean Raid
*Battle of Midway
awards=Order of the Rising Sun Order of the Sacred Treasures [ [http://navalhistory.flixco.info/H/169913x19846/259869/a0.htm Yamaguchi Tamon ] at navalhistory.flixco.info]Order of the Golden Kite (1st class)
family=
laterwork=Vice Admiral nihongo|Tamon Yamaguchi|山口 多聞|Yamaguchi Tamon|extra=17 August ,1892 -4 June 1942 was an admiral in theImperial Japanese Navy inWorld War II and a student ofPrinceton University (1921-1923).Biography
Born in
Shimane prefecture , Yamaguchi graduated from the 40th class of theImperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1912, ranked second out of 144 cadets. As amidshipman , he served on thecruiser "Soya" andbattleship "Settsu". After his commissioning as an ensign, he was assigned to the cruiser "Chikuma" and battleship "Aki".Yamaguchi attended
naval artillery andtorpedo school from 1915-1916, and was then assigned to thedestroyer "Kashi".By 1918, Yamaguchi had been promoted to
lieutenant and was assigned to a navigation unit with the naval squadron escorting Germansubmarine s received by the Japanese government as part ofrepatriation payments from Germany at the end ofWorld War I . He then traveled to theUnited States and attendedPrinceton University from 1921-1923. On his return to Japan the following year, he served on the battleship "Nagato" for six months, before graduating from theNaval War College (Japan) with honors in 1924. Yamaguchi was promoted tolieutenant commander in 1924.A member of the
Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff in 1927, Yamaguchi was promotedcommander the next year and later assigned to the Japanese delegation at theLondon Naval Conference in 1929-1930. On his return to Japan, he was assigned asexecutive officer to "Yura".Promoted to
captain in 1932, Yamaguchi was thenaval attaché toWashington, DC from 1934-1937. On his return to Japan, he was assigned as captain to the cruiser "Isuzu" (1936-1937), followed by the battleship "Ise" (1937-1938).Promoted to
rear admiral on15 November 1938 , he was Chief of Staff for theIJN 5th Fleet from 1938-1940 until his eventual appointment as commander of theIJN 2nd Carrier Division , consisting of the "Sōryū" and "Hiryū".Yamaguchi's carrier force was part of the
attack on Pearl Harbor , and subsequently participated in theIndian Ocean Raid . During theBattle of Midway , Yamaguchi sparred with his superior officer, AdmiralChuichi Nagumo , upon a reconnaissance plane discovering a U.S. aircraft carrier (USS Yorktown) near Midway. At the time, the Japanese carriers' planes were armed with bombs, Nagumo wished to switch the armament to torpedoes, Yamaguchi demanded that no time be wasted and that the planes be launched to attack the American carrier with bombs. Nagumo rejected this, shortly afterward, American carrier aircraft destroyed all the Japanese carriers except Yamaguchi's carrier "Hiryū". Yamaguchi quickly ordered two successive attacks on the Yorktown which crippled it. Shortly afterward, another carrier air strike against "Hiryū" resulted in hits by aircraft from USS "Enterprise". Yamaguchi waskilled in action , choosing to go down with the sinking aircraft carrier. Legend has it that he and the captain of the Hiryū went down with the stricken carrier while calmly admiring the moon.Promotions
*Midshipman - 17 July 1912
*Ensign - 1 December 1913
*Sublieutenant - 13 December 1915
*Lieutenant - 1 December 1918
*Lieutenant Commander - 1 December 1924
*Commander - 10 December 1928
*Captain - 1 December 1932
*Rear Admiral - 15 November 1938
*Vice Admiral - 5 June 1942 (Posthumous) [Nishida, "Imperial Japanese Navy"]References
Books
*Fuchida, Mitsuo (with C.H. Kawakami and Roger Pineau), Midway - The Battle that Doomed Japan: The Japanese Navy's Story, Annapolis, 1955.
*cite book
last = Fuller
first = Richard
year = 1992
title = Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai
publisher = Arms and Armour Press
location = London
id = ISBN 1854091514External links
*cite web
last = Nishida
first = Hiroshi
url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px40.htm#v030
title = Imperial Japanese Navy
accessdate = 2007-08-25
*cite web
last = Chen
first = Peter
url = http://www.ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=39
title = WW2DB: Yamaguchi, Tamon
accessdate = 2007-08-25
*cite web
last =
first =
url = http://www.combinedfleet.com/officer.htm#yamaguchi
title = Combinedfleet.com, Yamaguchi, Tamon
accessdate = 2007-08-25
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/s300000/s301067c.htm Kita Renzo's famous painting of Yamaguchi's Last Moments]Notes
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