Ryusaku Yanagimoto

Infobox Military Person
name= Ryūsaku Yanagimoto
lived= 1 September 1894 - 5 June 1942 [Nishida, Imperial Japanese Navy]
placeofbirth=Hirado, Nagasaki, Japan
placeofdeath=Pacific Ocean


caption=Rear Admiral Ryūsaku Yanagimoto
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=navy|Empire of Japan
serviceyears=1917 - 1942
rank=Rear Admiral
unit=
commands= Sōryū
battles=
awards=Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class
laterwork=nihongo|Ryūsaku Yanagimoto|柳本柳作|Yanagimoto Ryusaku|extra=1 September 1894 - 5 June 1942 was captain of the "Sōryū" in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Biography

A native of Hirado, Nagasaki Prefecture, Yanagimoto graduated from the 44th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, placed 21 out of 95 cadets. As a midshipman, he was assigned to the cruiser "Tokiwa", battleship "Kirishima" and cruisers "Niitaka" and "Tsugaru" in 1917. Promoted to lieutenant in 1919, he subsequently was assigned to the battleship "Katori", followed by the "Ise". After attending advanced gunnery school, he was appointed chief gunnery officer on the "Asakaze" in 1923.

Yanagimoto graduated from the 25th class of the Naval Staff College in 1925, and was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1928, when he was assigned to serve as Vice Chief Gunnery officer on the "Hiei". He served in a variety of staff and shore positions from 1929 to 1933. Yanagimoto was sent to the United Kingdom as a military attaché in 1933, and promoted to commander later the same year. He returned to Japan in 1935, and after some staff assignments to 1937, he received his first command: the auxiliary seaplane tender "Notoro" on 1 December 1937. From 1938 through 1941, he was in administrative positions within the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff.

On 6 November 1941, Yanagimoto was given command of the aircraft carrier "Sōryū", on which he participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor in the opening stages of the Pacific War. He was subsequently at the Battle of Wake Island and the Indian Ocean raids. Yanagimoto was killed in action when "Sōryū" was sunk by United States Navy aircraft at the Battle of Midway. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of rear admiral.

References

Books

*cite book
last = Parshall
first = Johnathan
authorlink =
year = 2005
title = Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway
publisher = Potomac Books
location =
id = ISBN 1574889230
*cite book
last = Toland
first = John
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1970
chapter =
title = The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936-1945
publisher = Random House
location =
id = ISBN 0812968581

External links

*cite web
last = Chen
first = Peter
url = http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=161
title = Yanagimoto Ryusaku
format =
work = World War II Data Base
accessdate = 2007-11-03
*cite web
last = Nishida
first = Hiroshi
url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px44.htm#r040
title = Materials of IJN: Yanagimoto, Ryusaku
format =
work = Imperial Japanese Navy
accessdate = 2007-11-03

Notes