Seiichi Itō

Infobox Military Person
name= Seiichi Itō
lived=26 July 1890 - 7 April 1945 [Nishida, Imperial Japanese Navy ]
placeofbirth= Miyama, Fukuoka, Japan
placeofdeath=north of Okinawa


caption=Admiral Itō Seiichi
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=navy|Empire of Japan
serviceyears= 1911 -1945
rank=Vice Admiral
commands="Kiso","Mōgami","Atago","Haruna" CruDiv7 Chief of Staff, Combined Feet IJN 2nd Fleet
unit=
battles=World War II
Battle of the East China Sea
awards=
family=
laterwork=nihongo|Seiichi Itō|伊藤 整一| Itō Seiichi" |extra=26 July 1890 - 7 April 1945 was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and commander of the battleship "Yamato" on its final mission towards the end of World War II.

Biography

Early career

Born in Miike County Takada Town (present day Miyama City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Itō graduated from the 39th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1911.　He was 15th in a class of 148 cadets, and served as midshipman on the "Aso" and "Aki".

His rise through the ranks was regular and rapid: ensign on 1 December 1912, sub-lieutenant on 1 December 1914, and lieutenant on 1 December 1917.

Itō returned to the Naval War College (Japan) in 1923, graduating from the 21st class as a lieutenant commander. Itō visited the United States from May-December 1927, and was promoted to commander on his return. He became captain on 1 December 1931 and was assigned as naval attache to Manchukuo from March 1932 to November 1933. Along with Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Itō, well aware of the disparity and resources and industrial strength between the United States and Japan, was an outspoken proponent of maintaining good relations with the United States.

Later career

In November 1933, Itō was given his first command: the cruiser "Kiso". On November 1935, he was re-assigned to command the "Mōgami" and in April 1936, the "Atago". In December 1936, Itō was assigned command of the battleship "Haruna".

On 15 November 1938 Itō became a rear admiral and was appointed Chief of Staff to the IJN 2nd Fleet. The following year, he was named chief of the Navy Ministry's Personnel Bureau. After serving for two years, Itō commanded Cruiser Division 8 (CruDiv 8) in November 1940 until his appointment as Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet in April 1941.

In September of that year, Itō became Vice Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff and was promoted to vice admiral a month later on 15 October 1941.

Itō was placed in command of the IJN 2nd Fleet based on the Inland Sea in December 1944. In the last months of the war, Ito commanded the last major offensive by the Imperial Japanese Navy (Operation Ten-Go) when, in April 1945, he led the battleship "Yamato" on its final sortie accompanied by one light cruiser and eight destroyers in an attempt to destroy US naval forces near Okinawa. Itō was killed in the resulting Battle of the East China Sea when "Yamato" was sunk by US carrier aircraft on 7 April 1945. [Hara, Japanese Destroyer Captain ]

Itō was posthumously promoted to full admiral.

References

Books

*cite book
last = Feifer
first = George
year = 2001
chapter = Operation Heaven Number One
title = The Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb
publisher = The Lyons Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-58574-215-5
*cite book
last = Hara
first = Tameichi
authorlink = Tameichi Hara
year = 1961
chapter = The Last Sortie
title = Japanese Destroyer Captain
publisher = Ballantine Books
location = New York & Toronto
id = ISBN 0-345-27894-1 — First-hand account of the battle by the captain of the Japanese cruiser "Yahagi".
*cite book
last = O’Connor
first = Raymond
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1969
title = "The Japanese Navy in World War II
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location = Annapolis, Maryland
id = — Anthology of articles by former officers of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Air Defense Force
*cite book
last = Spurr
first = Russell
year = 1995
title = A Glorious Way to Die: The Kamikaze Mission of the Battleship Yamato, April 1945
publisher = Newmarket Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-55704-248-9
*cite book
last = Yoshida
first = Mitsuru
authorlink = Mitsuru Yoshida
coauthors = Richard H. Minear
year = 1999
title = Requiem for Battleship Yamato
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location = Annapolis, Maryland
id = ISBN 1-55750-544-6 — A first-hand account of the battle by "Yamato"'s only surviving bridge officer.

External links

*cite web
last = Nishida
first = Hiroshi
authorlink =
url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px39.htm#a001
title = Materials of IJN: Ito, Seiichi
format =
work = Imperial Japanese Navy
accessdate = 2007-08-03

Notes