Jinichi Kusaka

Infobox Military Person
name= Jinichi Kusaka
lived=7 December 1888 - 24 August 1972 [Nishida, Hiroshi, "Imperial Japanese Navy"]
placeofbirth=Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan
placeofdeath=


caption= Vice Admiral Jinichi Kusaka
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=navy|Empire of Japan
serviceyears=1909-1945
rank=Vice Admiral
commands="Kitakami", "Fusō"
Naval Gnnery School
Imperial Japanese Navy Academy
11th Air Fleet
Southeast Area Fleet
unit=
battles=World War II
oNew Guinea campaign
oGuadalcanal campaign
oSolomon Islands campaign
awards=
family=
laterwork=nihongo|Jinichi Kusaka|草鹿任一|Kusaka Jinichi|extra= 7 December 1888 - 24 August 1972, was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Fellow Admiral Kusaka Ryunosuke was his cousin.

Biography

A native of Ishikawa Prefecture, Kusaka graduated from the 37th class of the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy, ranked 21st in a class of 179 cadets. He served as midshipman on the cruisers "Soya" and "Chiyoda", and after being commissioned as ensign was assigned to the cruiser "Tokiwa" and battleship "Aki". As a lieutenant during World War I, he served on "Asama", followed by "Kashima" and destroyer "Hamakaze", but was not on any combat missions. After the end of the war, he attended the Naval War College (Japan), emerging in 1921 as a lieutenant commander. He was assigned to the battleship "Hiei" as Vice Chief Gunnery Officer, and to "Yamashiro" and "Nagato" as Chief Gunnery Officer.

After Kusaka's promotion to captain on 1 December 1930, he was sent overseas to the United States and Europe for one year. After his return, he received his first command, the cruiser "Kitakami". He was subsequently captain of the battleship "Fusō". On 1 December 1936 Kusaka was promoted to rear admiral, and became commandant of the Naval Gunnery School. On 15 November 1940, he was promoted to vice admiral.

At the beginning of the Pacific War Kusaka commanded the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy. On 28 September 1942 he took command of the 11th Air Fleet located at the major Japanese base of Rabaul on New Britain in the South Pacific. [Frank, "Guadalcanal", p. 288.] Throughout the Guadalcanal campaign Kusaka's air units battled the Allied Cactus Air Force for control of the air around Guadalcanal, a battle that the Allied air forces eventually won. The 11th Air Fleet also supported Japanese military operations in the New Guinea Campaign.

On December 24, 1942 all naval forces in New Guinea and Solomon Islands area were combined into the newly designated Southeast Area Fleet with Kusaka in command. As commander, Kusaka directed the employment of naval ships and combat personnel involved in the fighting against Allied forces advancing up the Solomon Islands chain and New Guinea and New Britain towards Rabaul. [Frank, p. 498.]

On 6 September 1945, Kusaka, acting as the senior officer for Japanese naval forces in the Rabaul area, along with Lieutenant General Hitoshi Imamura, the senior Imperial Japanese Army commander for the area, surrendered Rabaul to Allied forces. [Sakaida, "Siege of Rabaul", p. 87-88.]

References

Books

*cite book
last = Altobello
first = Brian
authorlink =
year = 2000
chapter =
title = Into the Shadows Furious
publisher = Presidio Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-89141-717-6
*cite book
last = Bergerud
first = Eric M.
authorlink =
year = 2000
chapter =
title = Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific
publisher = Westview Press
location = Boulder, CO, USA
id = ISBN 0-8133-3869-7
*cite book
last = D'Albas
first = Andrieu
authorlink =
year = 1965
title = Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II
publisher = Devin-Adair Pub
location =
id = ISBN 081595302X
*cite book
last = Frank
first = Richard B.
authorlink = Richard B. Frank
year = 1990
title = Guadalcanal : The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle
publisher = Penguin Group
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-14-016561-4
*cite book
last = Gailey
first = Harry A.
authorlink =
year = 1991
chapter =
title = Bougainville, 1943-1945: The Forgotten Campaign
publisher = University Press of Kentucky
location = Lexington, Kentucky, USA
id = ISBN 0-8131-9047-9- neutral review of this book here: [http://www.sonic.net/~bstone/archives/030504.shtml]
*cite book
last = Miller
first = Thomas G.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1969
chapter =
title = Cactus Air Force
publisher = Admiral Nimitz Foundation
location =
id = ISBN 0-934841-17-9
*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
coauthors =
year = 1958
chapter =
title = The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February 1943", vol. 5 of "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
publisher = Little, Brown and Company
location = Boston
id = ISBN 0-316-58305-7 Online views of selections of the book: [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0785813063]
*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
coauthors =
year = 1958
chapter =
title = Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier", vol. 6 of "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
publisher = Castle Books
location =
id = 0785813071
*cite book
last = Sakaida
first = Henry
authorlink =
year = 1996
title = The Siege of Rabaul
publisher = Phalanx
location = St. Paul, MN, USA
id = ISBN 1-883809-09-6

External links

*cite web
last = Naval History via Flix
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
url = http://navalhistory.flixco.info/G/121794x19846(a5557z1naZJinichi%20Kusaka)/259869/j0.htm
title = Kusaka Jinichi
accessdate = 2006-12-08
*cite web
last = Nishida
first = Hiroshi
url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px37.htm#v008
title = Imperial Japanese Navy
accessdate = 2006-12-08
*cite web
last = Rentz
first = John
authorlink =
year = 1952
month =
url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-CSol/USMC-M-CSol-5.html
title = Marines in the Central Solomons
publisher = Historical Branch, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
language = English
accessdate = May 30
accessyear = 2006

Notes