Kōichi Shiozawa

Infobox Military Person
name= Kōichi Shiozawa
lived=5 March 1881 - 17 November 1943 [Nishida, Imperial Japanese Navy]
placeofbirth=Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan
placeofdeath=


caption= Japanese Admiral Koichi Shiozawa
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=navy|Empire of Japan
serviceyears=1904-1943
rank=Admiral
commands=
unit=
battles=Second Sino-Japanese War
awards=Order of the Rising Sun, 1st class
family=
laterwork=nihongo| Kōichi Shiozawa|塩沢 幸一|Shiozawa Kōichi|extra=5 March 1881 - 17 November 1943 was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The literary critic Rinsen Nakazawa was his older brother.

Biography

Shiozawa was born in Matsumoto city, Nagano prefecture. His family was distillers of the famed medicinal tonic "Yomeishu". He was a graduate of the 32nd class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1904, ranking 2nd out of 192 cadets. Famed admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was in the same class.

He served as midshipman on the submarine tender "Karasaki maru" and battleship "Asahi". As an ensign, he was assigned to the destroyer "Hibiki", as a sub-lieutenant, to the "Mikasa", and following his promotion to lieutenant in 1909, to the "Sagami" followed by the "Tone".

After graduating from the 13th class of the Naval War College (Japan) in 1914, he was promoted to lieutenant commander, and was assigned as a naval observer to the United Kingdom from 1917-1919. He served as part of the Royal Navy crew on the "HMS Resolution" and "HMS Royal Oak" in combat operations in World War 1 against the German Navy in 1917, as part of Japan's contribution under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. After his return to Japan, he served in a number of staff positions, and was promoted to captain in 1923. He became captain of the heavy cruiser "Furutaka" in 1926. In late 1926 to early 1927, he again served as naval attaché to the United Kingdom. On his return in 1928, he was promoted to rear admiral.

Shiozawa was Chief of Staff of the IJN 1st Fleet from 30 October 1929 to 1 December 1930, and commander of the 1st China Expeditionary Fleet to June 1932.

At the time of the First Shanghai Incident of January 1932, Shiozawa was in command of a cruiser, four destroyers and two aircraft carriers anchored in the Yangtze River off the international city of Shanghai. They had come to protect Japanese citizens from attacks by Chinese mobs. In response, Nationalist forces moved into the Chinese suburb of Chapei and skirmished with patrolling Japanese marines. With his men giving way to the more numerous Chinese forces, Shiozawa ordered planes from his carriers to drop bombs over densely populated Chapei. The attack killed or injured thousands of civilians, and earned Japan the condemnation of the League of Nations. [Jordan, China's Trial by Fire]

From December 1932, Shiozawa was commander of the Chinkai Naval District.

Shiozawa was promoted to vice admiral on 15 November 1933. He was Director of Naval Air Command from 1934-1935, Commander-in-chief of the Maizuru Naval District from 1936-1937. When the IJN 5th Fleet was formed on 1 February 1938 Shiozawa became its first Commander. During his command he oversaw the Amoy Operation and the Canton Operation from October to December 1938. From Jan 1939, he was Director of the Naval Shipbuilding Command.

Shiozawa was promoted to full admiral on 15 November 1939. He commanded the Yokosuka Naval District from 5 September 1940 to 10 September 1941.

In May 1943, following Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's death in action, Shiozawa, a life long friend, presided over his state funeral. [Agawa, The Reluctant Admiral] Shiozawa died a few months later, in November 1943 of an acute pancreas ailment.

References

Books

*cite book
last = Agawa
first = Hiroyuki
authorlink =
coauthors = Bester, John (trans.)
year = 1979
title = The Reluctant Admiral
publisher = Kodansha International
location = New York
id = ISBN: 4-7700-2539-4
*cite book
last = Jordan
first = Donald Allen
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2001
title = China's Trial by Fire: The Shanghai War of 1932
publisher = University of Michigan Press
location =
id = ISBN: 0-472-11165-5

External links

* cite news
author= Howard G. Chua-Eoan
title=A Distant Mirror
date=1989-09-04
work=Time Magazine
url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,958535-1,00.html
accessdate=2008-08-10
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,791158,00.html?promoid=googlep Time Magazine Nov. 29, 1943, Deaths]
*cite web
last = Nishida
first = Hiroshi
url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px32.htm#a001
title = Imperial Japanese Navy
accessdate = 2007-08-25

Notes