Hiroaki Abe

Infobox Military Person
name=Hiroaki Abe
lived=15 March 1889 - 6 February 1949 [Nishida, Materials of the IJN ]
placeofbirth=Yonezawa, Yamagata, Japan
placeofdeath=


caption= Hiroaki Abe
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
serviceyears=1911-1943
branch=navy|Empire of Japan
rank=Vice Admiral
commands="Jintsu", "Fusō"
Cruiser Division 8, Combat Division 11
unit=
battles=World War II
oAttack on Pearl Harbor
oBattle of Wake Island
oBattle of Midway
oBattle of the Eastern Solomons
oBattle of the Santa Cruz Islands
oNaval Battle of Guadalcanal
awards=
laterwork=nihongo|Hiroaki Abe|阿部弘毅|Abe Hiroaki|extra= 15 March 1889 -6 February 1949 was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Biography

Early career

Abe was born in Yonezawa city in Yamagata prefecture in northern Japan. He graduated from the 39th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1911, with a ranking of 26 out of a class of 148 cadets. As a midshipman, he served on the cruiser "Soya" and battleship "Mikasa". After his promotion to ensign on 1 December 1912, he was assigned to cruisers "Nisshin", "Chikuma", and then the battleship "Kongō".

After attending torpedo school and naval artillery school, he was promoted to sub-lieutenant and served on the destroyer "Akebono", followed by cruiser "Chitose" during World War I. However, it does not appear that Abe experienced combat during his tour of duty.

After the end of the war, he served in mostly staff positions until he was given his first command, the destroyer "Ushio" on 20 July 1922. He then commanded the destroyer "Hatsuyuki", and was promoted to lieutenant commander the following year on 1 December 1923. He was captain of the destroyer "Kaki" for one year in 1925.

Abe returned to the Naval War College (Japan) in 1926. He was promoted to commander on 10 December 1928, and captain on 1 December 1932. In 1936, he assumed command of the cruiser "Jintsu", and a year later, that of the battleship "Fusō".

Pacific War

On 15 November 1938, Abe was promoted to the rank of rear admiral. He was thus in command of Cruiser Division 8 (CruDiv8) during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the subsequent Battle of Wake Island.

During the Guadalcanal campaign, as commander of Combat Division 11 (BatDiv 3 and CruDiv 8), he led his ships as the vanguard group at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons 23-25 August, 1942) and the Battle of Santa Cruz October 26-28). He was promoted to vice admiral on 1 November 1942. [Dull, A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy ]

However, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (November 12 – 13), when assigned to bombard Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, he broke off his attack after encountering USN Rear Admiral Daniel Callaghan's Task Force 67.4 and losing his flagship, the battleship "Hiei" and two destroyers. His failure to aggressively push through his attack against what appeared to be an inferior enemy force created tremendous controversy, and he was relieved of his command by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.

Abe was forced to resign from the Imperial Japanese Navy soon afterwards (March 1943). He died in 1949.

His younger brother, Toshio Abe, was also a career navy officer, and was captain of the aircraft carrier "Shinano".

Notable Positions Held

Crewmember, BB "Kongo" - 27 May 1914 - 1 December 1914

Staff Officer, 3rd Fleet - 1 December 1919 - 10 November 1921

Chief Torpedo Officer, CL "Tama" - 10 May 1923 - 1 May 1924

Staff, Officer, DesRon 2 - 30 November 1929 - 31 October 1931

ComDesDiv 1 - 31 October 1931 - 16 May 1932

ComDesDiv 2 - 15 November 1932 - 15 November 1933

ComDesDiv 23 - 15 November 1933 - 15 November 1934

Commanding Officer, CL "Jintsu" - 1 December 1936 - 1 December 1937

Commanding Officer, BB "Fuso" - 1 December 1937 - 1 April 1938

ComDesRon 6 - 15 November 1940 - 21 July 1941

ComCruDiv 8 - 1 August 1941 - 14 July 1942

ComBatDiv 11 - 14 July 1942 - 20 December 1942

Dates of Promotions

Midshipman - 18 July 1911

Ensign - 1 December 1912

Sublieutenant - 1 December 1914

Lieutenant - 1 December 1917

Lieutenant Commander - 1 December 1923

Commander - 10 December 1928

Captain - 1 December 1932

Rear Admiral - 15 November 1938

Vice Admiral - 1 November 1942

References

Books

*cite book
last = Crenshaw
first = Russell Sydnor
authorlink =
year = 1998
chapter =
title = South Pacific Destroyer: The Battle for the Solomons from Savo Island to Vella Gulf
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-55750-136-X
*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 0-8159-5302-X
*cite book
last = Dull
first = Paul S.
authorlink =
year = 1978
chapter =
title = A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-87021-097-1
*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 = Kilpatrick
first = C. W.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1987
chapter =
title = Naval Night Battles of the Solomons
publisher = Exposition Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-682-40333-4
*cite book
last = McGee
first = William L.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2002
chapter = Operation TOENAILS
title = The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville--Pacific War Turning Point, Volume 2 (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in WWII)
publisher = BMC Publications
location =
id = ISBN 0-9701678-7-3
*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2002
chapter =
title = History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. 14: Victory in the Pacific, 1945
publisher = University of Illinois Press
location = Chicago
id = ISBN: 0252070658

External links

*cite web
last = Nishida
first = Hiroshi
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year =
month =
url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px39.htm#v002
title = Materials of IJN: Abe, Hiroaki
format =
work = Imperial Japanese Navy
pages =
publisher =
language =
accessdate = 2007-08-03
accessyear =

Notes