Masashi Kobayashi

Marasmi Kobayashi (misspelled as"Marashi" by the official historians) was a Japanese military commander. He graduated from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1906 and the Imperial Japanese Naval College in 1917, with a specialty in Navigation. He lived in the United States between 1925 to 1928, serving as assistant naval attache. He returned to the United States in 1932 and served as the naval attache until 1934.

In 1936 he commanded the IJN Yamashiro, a battleship. Afterwards, he became chief of staff of the 4th Fleet. He was promoted to vice admiral in October of 1941. On 1 April 1943 he took command of 4th Fleet. His headquarters was mainly on Truk, but prior to the US attack, had briefly established a temporary headquarters on Kwajalein. Following the successful US assault on Kwajalein, he was replaced, perhaps for health reasons. He served on the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff until May of 1944, when he was placed in the Naval Reserve. He died in 1977.

References and further reading

*"The Marshall Islands" by Gordon L. Rottman (2004) ISBN 1-84176-936-3