Tamon Yamaguchi

Infobox Military Person
name= Tamon Yamaguchi
lived= 17 August 1892 - 4 June 1942 [Nishida, "Imperial Japanese Navy".]
placeofbirth=Shimane Prefecture, Japan
placeofdeath=Pacific Ocean near Midway Island


caption=Japanese Vice Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=navy|Empire of Japan
serviceyears=1912-1942
rank=Vice Admiral
commands="Isuzu", "Ise"
IJN 5th Fleet, 2nd Carrier Division
unit=
battles=World War II
*Attack on Pearl Harbor
*Indian Ocean Raid
*Battle of Midway
awards= Order of the Rising Sun
Order of the Sacred Treasures [ [http://navalhistory.flixco.info/H/169913x19846/259869/a0.htm Yamaguchi Tamon ] at navalhistory.flixco.info]
Order of the Golden Kite (1st class)
family=
laterwork=
Vice Admiral nihongo|Tamon Yamaguchi|山口 多聞|Yamaguchi Tamon|extra= 17 August, 1892 - 4 June 1942 was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II and a student of Princeton University (1921-1923).

Biography

Born in Shimane prefecture, Yamaguchi graduated from the 40th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1912, ranked second out of 144 cadets. As a midshipman, he served on the cruiser "Soya" and battleship "Settsu". After his commissioning as an ensign, he was assigned to the cruiser "Chikuma" and battleship "Aki".

Yamaguchi attended naval artillery and torpedo school from 1915-1916, and was then assigned to the destroyer "Kashi".

By 1918, Yamaguchi had been promoted to lieutenant and was assigned to a navigation unit with the naval squadron escorting German submarines received by the Japanese government as part of repatriation payments from Germany at the end of World War I. He then traveled to the United States and attended Princeton University from 1921-1923. On his return to Japan the following year, he served on the battleship "Nagato" for six months, before graduating from the Naval War College (Japan) with honors in 1924. Yamaguchi was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1924.

A member of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff in 1927, Yamaguchi was promoted commander the next year and later assigned to the Japanese delegation at the London Naval Conference in 1929-1930. On his return to Japan, he was assigned as executive officer to "Yura".

Promoted to captain in 1932, Yamaguchi was the naval attaché to Washington, DC from 1934-1937. On his return to Japan, he was assigned as captain to the cruiser "Isuzu" (1936-1937), followed by the battleship "Ise" (1937-1938).

Promoted to rear admiral on 15 November 1938, he was Chief of Staff for the IJN 5th Fleet from 1938-1940 until his eventual appointment as commander of the IJN 2nd Carrier Division, consisting of the "Sōryū" and "Hiryū".

Yamaguchi's carrier force was part of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and subsequently participated in the Indian Ocean Raid. During the Battle of Midway, Yamaguchi sparred with his superior officer, Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, upon a reconnaissance plane discovering a U.S. aircraft carrier (USS Yorktown) near Midway. At the time, the Japanese carriers' planes were armed with bombs, Nagumo wished to switch the armament to torpedoes, Yamaguchi demanded that no time be wasted and that the planes be launched to attack the American carrier with bombs. Nagumo rejected this, shortly afterward, American carrier aircraft destroyed all the Japanese carriers except Yamaguchi's carrier "Hiryū". Yamaguchi quickly ordered two successive attacks on the Yorktown which crippled it. Shortly afterward, another carrier air strike against "Hiryū" resulted in hits by aircraft from USS "Enterprise". Yamaguchi was killed in action, choosing to go down with the sinking aircraft carrier. Legend has it that he and the captain of the Hiryū went down with the stricken carrier while calmly admiring the moon.

Promotions

*Midshipman - 17 July 1912
*Ensign - 1 December 1913
*Sublieutenant - 13 December 1915
*Lieutenant - 1 December 1918
*Lieutenant Commander - 1 December 1924
*Commander - 10 December 1928
*Captain - 1 December 1932
*Rear Admiral - 15 November 1938
*Vice Admiral - 5 June 1942 (Posthumous) [Nishida, "Imperial Japanese Navy"]

References

Books

*Fuchida, Mitsuo (with C.H. Kawakami and Roger Pineau), Midway - The Battle that Doomed Japan: The Japanese Navy's Story, Annapolis, 1955.
*cite book
last = Fuller
first = Richard
year = 1992
title = Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai
publisher = Arms and Armour Press
location = London
id = ISBN 1854091514

External links

*cite web
last = Nishida
first = Hiroshi
url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px40.htm#v030
title = Imperial Japanese Navy
accessdate = 2007-08-25
*cite web
last = Chen
first = Peter
url = http://www.ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=39
title = WW2DB: Yamaguchi, Tamon
accessdate = 2007-08-25
*cite web
last =
first =
url = http://www.combinedfleet.com/officer.htm#yamaguchi
title = Combinedfleet.com, Yamaguchi, Tamon
accessdate = 2007-08-25
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/s300000/s301067c.htm Kita Renzo's famous painting of Yamaguchi's Last Moments]

Notes