Shintarō Hashimoto

Infobox Military Person
name= Shintarō Hashimoto
lived= 11 May 1892 - 16 May 1945 [Nishida, "Imperial Japanese Navy".]
placeofbirth=Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
placeofdeath= Strait of Malacca, near Penang


caption=
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=navy|Empire of Japan
serviceyears=1913-1945
rank=Vice Admiral
commands="Nashi","Chikuma", "Hyūga"
Torpedo School
Cruiser Division 5
unit=
battles=World War II
oKota Bahru
oTokyo Express
oOperation Ke
oBattle of the Malacca Strait
awards=
family=
laterwork=|nihongo|Shintarō Hashimoto|橋本 信太郎|Hashimoto Shintarō|extra= 11 May 1892 - 16 May 1945, was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Biography

Hashimoto was born in Wakayama prefecture. He graduated from the 41st class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1913. He was ranked 43rd in a class of 118 cadets. As a midshipman, he was assigned to the cruisers "Asama" and "Chikuma". On receiving his commission as ensign, he was assigned back to "Chikuma", then to "Yahagi".

After attending torpedo school and naval artillery school, Hashimoto served on the destroyer "Kamekaze". He was promoted to lieutenant in 1919, and served on the destroyer "Kaede", as executive officer on destroyer "Hasu", chief torpedo officer on destroyer "Okikaze" and (in 1923), captain of the destroyer "Nashi".

After graduating from the 24th class of Naval War College (Japan) in 1924 and his promotion to lieutenant commander, Hashimoto was assigned to the staff of the Kure Naval District. He was promoted to commander in 1930. Hashimoto served as commander of various destroyer task forces through the 1930s, winning promotion to captain in 1935. He was Chief of Staff of the Ryojun Guard District from 1937-1939, and assumed command of the cruiser "Chikuma" from 1939-1940 and battleship "Hyūga" from 1940-1941. He was promoted to rear admiral on 15 October 1941.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hashimoto was in command of Destroyer Division 3 (DesRon3), covering landings of Japanese forces in Malaya. From August until late-November, 1942, he commanded Tokyo Express missions during the Guadalcanal Campaign. In January 1943, Hashimoto's destroyers participated in “Operation Ke”, and successfully evacuated 11,700 surviving Japanese troops from Guadalcanal.

From March to October 1943, Hashimoto received a shore assignment and became Commandant of the Torpedo School. Assigned a combat command again in November 1943, he was promoted to vice admiral on 15 October 1944.

From his flagship, the cruiser "Haguro", he commanded Cruiser Division 5, which was defeated by Royal Navy warships during the Battle of the Malacca Strait on 16 May 1945. "Haguro" and the destroyer "Kamikaze" were in the Bay of Bengal off the northern tip of Sumatra attempting to transport food and supplies to the Japanese garrison in the Andaman Islands when they were ambushed by five British destroyers. During the battle, "Haguro" was hit repeatedly by torpedoes and gunfire. When she sank, Admiral Hashimoto was not among the survivors.

References

Books

*cite book
last = Fuller
first = Richard
year = 1992
title = Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai
publisher = Arms and Armour Press
location = London
id = ISBN 1854091514
*cite book
last = Lacroix
first = Eric
authorlink =
coauthors = Linton Wells
year = 1997
chapter =
title = Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-87021-311-3
*cite book
last = Winton
first = John
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1969
chapter =
title = The Forgotten Fleet
publisher = Michael Joseph Ltd
location =
id = ISBN 0718106431
*cite book
last = Winton
first = John
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1981
chapter =
title = Sink the Haguro
publisher = Saunders of Toronto Ltd
location =
id = ISBN 0854221522

Web

*cite web
last = Chen
first = Peter
coauthors =
year = 2004-2007
url = http://ww2db.com/ship_spec.php?ship_id=87
title = "Haguro"
work = World War II Database
accessdate = 2007-02-22
*cite web
last = Hackett
first = Bob
coauthors = Sander Kingsepp
year = 1997 - 2006
url = http://www.combinedfleet.com/haguro_t.htm
title = HIJMS Haguro: Tabular Record of Movement
work = (Combinedfleet.com)
accessdate = 2007-02-22
*cite web
last = Hough
first = Stan
coauthors =
year = 1998
url = http://www.stanhough.com/Vigilant.htm
title = H.M.S. VIGILANT. 1945
work = Stan Hough
accessdate = 2007-02-22- Firsthand account of the battle by a member of HMS "Vigilant's" crew.
*cite web
last = Kemble
first = Mike
coauthors =
year = 2003
url = http://www.mikekemble.com/ww2/haguro.html
title = The Sinking of the Haguro
work = World War II Research Index
accessdate = 2007-02-22- Fairly detailed account of the battle
*cite web
last = Muir
first = Dan
coauthors =
year =
url = http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Pacific/OOB_WWII_Loss_Haguro.htm
title = Order of Battle, Battle off Penang (Loss of IJN Haguro)
work = (navweaps.com)
accessdate = 2007-02-22
*cite web
last = Nevitt
first = Allyn D.
coauthors =
year = 1998
url = http://www.combinedfleet.com/kamika_t.htm
title = IJN Kamikaze: Tabular Record of Movement
work = (Combinedfleet.com)
accessdate = 2007-02-22
*cite web
last = Nishida
first = Hiroshi
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year =
month =
url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px41.htm#v022
title = Imperial Japanese Navy
format =
work =
pages =
publisher =
language =
accessdate = 2007-02-25
accessyear =

Notes