- Shunsaku Kudō
in November, 1940.Rescue of 442 enemy sailors
On
March 2 ,1942 ,Lieutenant Commander Kudō ordered "Ikazuchi" to rescue 442 survivors from theRoyal Navy destroyer HMS|Encounter|H10|6 andUnited States Navy destroyer USS|Pope|DD-225|6. These ships had been sunk the previous day, along with HMS|Exeter|68|6, in theJava Sea betweenJava andBorneo , off theIndonesia n port ofSoerabaja . The survivors had been adrift for some 20 hours, in rafts and lifejackets or clinging to floats, many coated in oil and unable to see. Among the rescued was SirSam Falle , later a British diplomat.Citation
author = BBC News
author-link = British Broadcasting Corporation
title = Reunion for sailor saved by enemy
date = 2003-06-13
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/2986762.stm |accessdate = 2008-06-29 ] This humanitarian decision by Lieutenant Commander Kudō placed the "Ikazuchi" at risk of submarine attack, and interfered with her fighting ability due to the sheer numbers of rescued sailors. The action was later the subject of a bookCitation
last = Megumi
first = Ryuunosuke
author-link = :ja:惠隆之介
title = 敵兵を救助せよ!—英国兵422名を救助した駆逐艦「雷」工藤艦長
place = Tokyo, Japan
publisher = Soshisha Publishing Company
date = 2006-07-05
url = http://www.soshisha.com/book_search/detail/1_1499.html
isbn = 978-4-7942-1499-7] Citation
last = hisashi
title = Kudo Shunsaku and the Destroyer Ikazuchi
date = 2007-05-21
url = http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=120892&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
accessdate = 2008-06-29 . This forum discussion contains a brief summary of the 2006 Megumi book's account of the HMS Encounter and USS Pope rescues.] and a 2007 TV programme.Citation
first = James
title = The Untold story of Captain Kudo Shunsaku and the Destroyer Ikazuchi
date = 2007-05-19
url = http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=1772
accessdate = 2008-06-29 ] cite video
people = gyokai
title = 日本の武士道1 Japanese BUSIDO saved lives
medium = video
publisher = YouTube
url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRcOmYgdp4E | accessdate = 2008-06-29
year2 = 2007 In Japanese. See also [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QByCyliKXcI&feature=related part 2] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_SbowJUWV4&feature=related part 3] .] Citation
last = 伊勢
first = 雅臣
title = 駆逐艦「雷」艦長・工藤俊作
language = Japanese
date = 2006-08-13
year = 2006
url = http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~nippon/jogdb_h18/jog458.html
accessdate = 2008-06-29 . In Japanese. A summary of the 2007 television program.]Post-war life
After the war, Kudō left the navy and moved to
Kawaguchi, Saitama . In 1979, he died ofstomach cancer .References
Persondata
NAME=Kudō, Shunsaku
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=工藤俊作 (Japanese)
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Japanese naval officer
DATE OF BIRTH=birth date|1901|1|7|df=y
PLACE OF BIRTH=Higashiokitama District, Yamagata ,Japan
DATE OF DEATH=death date|1979|1|12|df=y
PLACE OF DEATH=Kawaguchi, Saitama ,Japan
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