Ōminato Guard District

Ōminato Air Field
IATA: none – ICAO: RJSO
Summary
Airport type		Military
Operator		Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
Location		Mutsu, Japan
Elevation AMSL		24 ft / 7 m
Coordinates		41°13′58″N 141°07′56″E / 41.23278°N 141.13222°E / 41.23278; 141.13222Coordinates: 41°13′58″N 141°07′56″E / 41.23278°N 141.13222°E / 41.23278; 141.13222
Map
RJSO Location in Japan
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
04/22	600	1,969	Concrete
Source: Japanese AIP at AIS Japan[1]

The Ōminato Guard District (大湊警備府, Ōminato Keibifu^?) was the major navy base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in northern Honshu before and during World War II. Located in Mutsu Bay, (at the present-day city of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, the Ōminato Guard District was responsible for control of the strategic Tsugaru Strait between Honshu and Hokkaidō and for patrols along the Hokkaidō, Karafuto and Kurile Islands coastlines.

History

In the organizational structure of the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1886, the Japanese Empire was divided into five operational districts, with the Hokkaidō-Ōshu area forming Naval District 5, with its nominal headquarters in Muroran, Hokkaidō. However, the area was given a low priority in funding, and remained largely a paper organization under overall command of the Yokosuka Naval District.

On June 12, 1895, the nominal headquarters of Naval District 5 was transferred from Muroran to the more sheltered port of Ōminato, although facilities and infrastructure were very minimal.

After the Russo-Japanese War, when the strategic importance of control of the Tsugaru Straits came into focus, and with Japan's acquisition of Karafuto Prefecture, more investment was made in securing Japan's northern frontiers. Ōminato was one of eleven designated third echelon naval ports, or yokobu (要港部^?) located around Japan. In December 1905 it was made independent of Yokosuka. Although Muroran, Asahikawa and Wakkanai bases reported to Ōminato, it was not raised to full Naval Districts (鎮守府^?) headquarters status, but continued as Ōminato yokobu. A wireless station was completed in 1913.

On October 9, 1913, the Inazuma-class destroyer IJN 4th Fleet Incident (in which the fleet was caught in a typhoon, with loss of several ships and damage to many more), Ōminato received the destroyers Hatsuyuki and Yugiri for emergency repairs.

On November 20, 1941, Ōminato was finally raised to the status of a Guard District. The Guard Districts (警備府, Keibifu^?)^[2] In concept, the Guard District was similar to the United States Navy Sea Frontiers concept. the Guard District maintained a small garrison force of ships and Naval Land Forces which reported directly to the Guard District commander, and hosted detachments of the numbered fleets on a temporary assignment basis.

After the start of the Pacific War, Ōminato became the home port of the IJN 5th Fleet. The diversionary attack on Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands during the Battle of Midway was launched from Ōminato.

Ōminato was bombed several times in the closing days of the war: July 14, July 15 and July 28, followed by a large attack from August 8–10, 1945, which destroyed several ships. American forces landed from the USS Panamint (AGC-13) to accept the surrender of the base from the Imperial Japanese Navy on September 9, 1945.

The base facilities were used by the United States Navy during the occupation of Japan, and are currently in use by the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force.

Order of Battle at time of the attack on Pearl Harbor

• Ōminato Guard District
  • Escort ship Ishigaki
  • Escort ship Kunashiri

• Ōminato Air Group
  • 8 × Mitsubishi A5M Claude
  • 8 × Mitsubishi B5M Mabel
  • 8 × Kawanishi E7K Alf
  • Destroyer Division 1
    • Kamikaze
    • Numakaze
    • Nokaze
    • Namikaze
  • Minesweeper Division 27
    • Auxiliary minesweeper No. 1 Tamazono Maru
    • Auxiliary minesweeper No. 2 Tamazono Maru
    • Auxiliary minesweeper Sonobe Maru
    • Auxiliary minesweeper Yoshino Maru
    • Auxiliary minesweeper Chōyō Maru
    • Auxiliary minesweeper No. 2 Chōyō Maru
• Ōminato Local Defense Squadron
  • Destroyer Okikaze
  • Escort ship Hachijō
  • Auxiliary gunboat Chitose Maru
  • Auxiliary minelaying gunboat No.2 Shinkō Maru
  • Auxiliary submarine chaser Zuikō Maru
  • Icebreaker Ōtomari

List of commanders

Commanding Officer

• Vice-Admiral Baron Heiji Mochihara (12 Dec 1905 - 12 Mar 1907)
• Rear-Admiral Hokizo Okubo (12 Mar 1907 - 15 May 1908)
• Vice-Admiral Kunikane Taketomi (15 May 1908 - 28 Aug 1908)
• Vice-Admiral Chikakata Tamari (28 Aug 1908 - 1 Dec 1909)
• Vice-Admiral Tokuya Kamiizumi (1 Dec 1909 - 1 Sep 1911)
• Vice-Admiral Hideshiro Fujimoto (1 Sep 1911 - 9 Jul 1912)
• Vice-Admiral Tamotsu Tsuchiya (9 Jul 1912 - 24 May 1913)
• Admiral Sojiro Tochinai (24 May 1913 - 1 Dec 1913)
• Rear-Admiral Tsunekichi Uemura (1 Dec 1913 - 17 Dec 1914)
• Rear-Admiral Ichitaro Nakajima (17 Dec 1914 - 1 Apr 1916)
• Vice-Admiral Baron Mitsukane Tsuchiya (1 Apr 1916 - 1 Dec 1917)
• Vice-Admiral Toshitake Iwamura (1 Dec 1917 - 1 Dec 1919)
• Vice-Admiral Keizaburo Moriyama (1 Dec 1919 - 1 Oct 1920)
• Vice-Admiral Mitsuzo Nunome (1 Oct 1920 - 1 Dec 1921)
• Vice-Admiral Kōzō Satō (1 Dec 1921 - 1 Dec 1922)
• Vice-Admiral Koshiro Otani (1 Dec 1922 - 1 Jun 1923)
• Rear-Admiral Shokichi Oishi (1 Jun 1923 - 5 Feb 1924)
• Vice-Admiral Kosuke Shikama (5 Feb 1924 - 1 Dec 1925)
• Vice-Admiral Takashi Kanesaka (1 Dec 1925 - 1 Dec 1927)
• Vice-Admiral Yukichi Shima (1 Dec 1927 - 30 Nov 1929)
• Vice-Admiral Saburo Yasumi (30 Nov 1929 - 1 Mar 1931)
• Vice-Admiral Kiyohiro Ijichi (1 Mar 1931 - 1 Dec 1931)
• Vice-Admiral Togo Kawano (1 Dec 1931 - 15 Nov 1932)
• Vice-Admiral Hiroshi Ono (15 Nov 1932 - 15 Nov 1933)
• Vice-Admiral Choji Inoue (15 Nov 1933 - 15 Nov 1934)
• Rear-Admiral Chonan Yamaguchi (15 Nov 1934 - 7 Oct 1935)
• Rear-Admiral Katsuji Masaki (7 Oct 1935 - 16 Mar 1936)
• Vice-Admiral Teijiro Sugisaka (16 Mar 1936 - 1 Dec 1936)
• Rear-Admiral Haruma Izawa (1 Dec 1936 - 1 Dec 1937)
• Vice-Admiral Shosuke Shimomura (1 Dec 1937 - 15 Nov 1938)
• Vice-Admiral Shuichi Hoshino (15 Nov 1938 - 15 Nov 1940)
• Vice-Admiral Masakichi Okuma (15 Nov 1940 - 15 Sep 1942)
• Vice-Admiral Shiro Kawase (15 Sep 1942 - 1 Apr 1943)
• Vice-Admiral Yasuo Inoue (1 Apr 1943 - 15 Feb 1945)
• Vice-Admiral Eiji Goto (15 Feb 1945 - 15 Mar 1945)
• Vice-Admiral Kanji Ugaki (15 Mar 1945 - 30 Nov 1945)

Chief of Staff

• Rear-Admiral Kiyozo Oda (12 Dec 1905 - 22 Nov 1906)
• Vice-Admiral Junkichi Yajima (22 Nov 1906 - 20 Feb 1908)
• Vice-Admiral Tadamichi Kamaya (20 Feb 1908 - 7 Apr 1908)
• Rear-Admiral Shigetada Hideshima (7 Apr 1908 - 4 Mar 1909)
• Rear-Admiral Tsunematsu Kondo (4 Mar 1909 - 1 Dec 1910)
• Vice-Admiral Yasujiro Nagata (1 Dec 1910 - 22 Dec 1911)
• Rear-Admiral Teiichiro Shitsuda (1 Apr 1913 - 27 May 1914)
• Rear-Admiral Yushichi Kanno (27 May 1914 - 17 Jul 1915)
• Vice-Admiral Kenzo Kobayashi (17 Jul 1915 - 6 Nov 1916)
• Rear-Admiral Meiji Tojo (6 Nov 1916 - 18 Oct 1918)
• Rear-Admiral Kanichi Taketomi (18 Oct 1918 - 2 Dec 1919)
• Rear-Admiral Teiji Sakamoto (15 Mar 1922 - 6 Nov 1923)
• Rear-Admiral Kichisuke Komori (6 Nov 123 - 20 Aug 1926)
• Rear-Admiral Katsuji Masaki (10 Dec 1928 - 1 Dec 1931)
• Rear-Admiral Tokujiro Yokoyama (1 Dec 1931 - 15 Nov 1933)
• Rear-Admiral Takeo Sakura (15 Nov 1933 - 15 Nov 1935)
• Vice-Admiral Jiro Matsunaga (15 Nov 1935 - 1 Apr 1937)
• Rear-Admiral Namizo Sato (1 Apr 1937 - 15 Dec 1938)
• Rear-Admiral Tokuji Mori (15 Dec 1938 - 28 Nov 1940)
• Rear-Admiral Keishi Ishii (28 Nov 1940 - 10 Feb 1942)
• Vice-Admiral Takeo Kaizuka (10 Feb 1940 - 1 Jul 1943)
• Rear-Admiral Zensuke Kanome (1 Jul 1943 - 30 Nov 1945)

See also

• Kure Naval District
• Maizuru Naval District
• Sasebo Naval District
• Yokosuka Naval District

References

1. ^ AIS Japan
2. ^ http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/KYE/CINCPAC-11-45/index.html

• Prados, John (1995). Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-460-02474-4. 
• Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X. 

External links

• Wendel, Marcus. "Axis History Database". http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=7858. 
• Budge, Kent G.. "Pacific War Online Database". http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/J/a/Japanese_Ominato_Guard_District.html.