Chuichi Nagumo

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Chuichi Nagumo
25 March 1887 – 6 July 1944
Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
Place of birth	Yamagato, Honshū, Japan
Place of death	Northern Mariana Islands
Allegiance	Imperial Japanese Navy
Years of service	1908–1944
Rank	Vice Admiral
Unit	Carrier Striking Task Force among others
Commands	1st Air Fleet 3rd Fleet Sasebo Naval District Kure Naval District 1st Fleet Central Pacific Area Fleet 14th Air Fleet[1]
Battles/wars	World War II (Battle of the Eastern Solomons, Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, Indian Ocean Raid, Attack on Pearl Harbor, Attack on Darwin, Battle of Midway)
Awards	Order of the Rising Sun Gold and Silver Star (2nd class), Order of the Rising Sun Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (3rd class), Order of the Golden Kite (3rd class), Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure[1]

Chuichi Nagumo (Japanese: 南雲 忠一, Nagumo Chūichi, March 25, 1887–July 6, 1944) was a Vice Admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and Commander of the 1st Air Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy the longest amongst other fleets and posts. He was also member of the Fleet Faction group within the navy that wanted unlimited naval growth to build the most powerful navy in the world.

He was the fleet commander during the Bombing of Darwin and successful attack on Pearl Harbor (task force Carrier Striking Task Force) and number of other military campaigns around the world. He and others were later defeated at the Battle of Midway, and he committed suicide in Saipan at the end.

He specialty was in torpedo tactics and is regarded as a cautious and experienced admiral ^[2].

[edit] Brief background

After graduating from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1908, he held various commands, including the Naval War College. His specialty was in torpedo tactics. Through seniority and politics he rose in the IJN, until he gained control of a Japanese carrier striking force (the 1st Carrier Fleet) in April 1941. Many contemporaries and historians have doubted his suitability for this command, given his lack of familiarity with naval aviation. While commanding this force, Nagumo commanded the effective attack on Pearl Harbor, and fought well in the early 1942 Pacific War campaigns. His Indian Ocean raid, on the British Eastern Fleet, was a success, with the sinking of a British aircraft carrier, two cruisers and two destroyers, causing Admiral Sir James Somerville to retreat to East Africa. However, he lost four carriers in the turning point of World War II in the Pacific, the Battle of Midway. This led to much criticism, mainly because many Japanese citizens felt that Nagumo had not put forth a whole-hearted effort during the battle. Afterwards, he commanded carriers in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, then he was moved to naval base command in Japan in November 1942 . He was put again in command of naval forces in March 1944 in the Marianas, and in the final stages of the U.S. capture of Saipan, committed ritual suicide rather than surrender.

[edit] Specialty

Chuichi Nagumo was born in Yamagato, Honshū, Japan in 1887. He joined the Japanese Navy in 1908, and by 1917 he was at the helm of his first commission, a destroyer. His specialty was torpedo and destroyer tactics. In the 1920s, Nagumo was part of a mission to tour and study naval warfare in Europe and the United States. Upon his return to Japan in 1929, Nagumo was promoted to the rank of Captain and served at the Naval Academy. When Japan's eyes looked upon Manchuria, the energetic Nagumo was commissioned the light cruiser Naka to command the 11th Destroyers Division. He later commanded the battleship Yamashiro and the heavy cruiser Takao. As a Rear Admiral, Nagumo commanded the 8th Cruiser Division to support Japanese Army movements in China from the Yellow Sea. As an officer of the militaristic Fleet Faction, he also received a boost in his career from political forces.

[edit] In the navy

Rank insignia (Vice Admiral) of Chuichi Nagumo

As the war started to rage in Europe, Nagumo, at the time the head of the Naval War College in Tokyo, was promoted to the rank of vice admiral in preparation for Japan's entry into the global conflict. By this time, he had visibly aged, physically and mentally. Physically, he suffered from arthritis, perhaps from his younger days as an athletic kendo fencer. Mentally, he had become an officer who spent every ounce of his effort going over tactical plans of every operation he was involved in. Very soon after his promotion he was named the commander of the Japanese First Air Fleet. Admiral Nishizo Tsukahara had some doubts with this appointment; he commented, "Nagumo was an officer of the old school, a specialist of torpedo and surface maneuvers.... He did not have any idea of the capability and potential of naval aviation." At home, Nagumo did not receive a loving description, either. One of his two sons described him as a brooding father who was obsessed (and later disappointed) with pressuring his sons to follow his foot steps into the navy. Contrastingly, Nagumo's junior officers in the navy viewed him as precisely the father figure that his sons failed to do.

Although Nagumo had plenty of critics in the navy, his seniority landed him the job of the commander of the mobile fleet that had been tagged for the task of attacking Pearl Harbor. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Combined Fleet, probably wished to assign the job to another admiral, perhaps one who had more experience with naval aviation, but strict rules of seniority left Yamamoto little choice. All Yamamoto could do was ensure the non-innovative Nagumo was surrounded by able lieutenants such as Minoru Genda and Mitsuo Fuchida.

When Nagumo's fleet struck, it became one of the most devastating attacks in the history of the American navy, disabling the entire Pacific Fleet's battle line with one swift strike. Despite the successful raid, Nagumo was largely criticized for his failure to launch the third wave of attack against Pearl Harbor, which might had destroyed the repair stations which would have rendered the greatest American naval base in the Pacific useless. Without Pearl Harbor, the United States would have no major advance base in the Pacific.

After Pearl Harbor, Nagumo was responsible for raids all across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. At the end of his trip into the Indian Ocean, Nagumo's personal score card saw five battleships, one carrier, two cruisers, seven destroyers, dozens of merchantmen, transports, and various other vessels. He was also responsible for downing hundreds of Allied aircraft from six nations. Destruction brought upon Allied ports also disabled or slowed Allied operations. All the while, he had lost no more than a few dozen pilots (although having 20-20 hindsight today, we understand these elite pilots lost would have significant consequences later in the war). After the raid in the Indian Ocean, Nagumo returned to Japan a national hero with an impressive resume:

[edit] Military accomplishments

• He had sailed from Kurile Islands to Pearl Harbor, then returned to the western portions of the South Pacific then Indian Ocean.
• He had destroyed five battleships, one carrier, two cruisers, seven destroyers, dozens of merchantmen, transports, and various other vessels.
• He was responsible for downing hundreds of Allied aircraft from six nations.
• He brought upon destruction on Allied ports, disabling or slowing Allied operations.
• The damages brought upon Allied forces were at a cost of no more than a few dozen pilots.

Although by now Nagumo's name was associated with the wild successes of the Japanese navy, Yamamoto still believed that the fleet carriers of the navy should be commanded by someone who was more daring and believed more in the strength of air power. Nagumo, however, had secured himself in his command based on his seniority over any other officer who had been available for Yamamoto to choose as a replacement. At the Battle of Midway, Nagumo's near-perfect record finally saw an end. With a combination of reasons such as Admiral Osami Nagano's insistence of a simultaneous Aleutian operation, Yamamoto's overly-complex fleet operations and virtually no access to intelligence as to the whereabouts of the American Navy, Nagumo saw a devastating loss of four fleet carriers at the conclusion of the battle.

Nagumo later sought revenge against the American advances in Guadalcanal, but actions there were largely indecisive, and in hindsight the actions there would slowly fritter away Japan's maritime strength.

[edit] Personal

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He was an avid wrestler and encouraged his two sons to enter naval service and was later disappointed that they didn't.

[edit] Suicide

After Guadalcanal, Nagumo was demoted to various unimportant posts before being given command of a small naval flotilla in the Marianas. On June 15, 1944, days after the failed Philippine Sea offensive by Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa cost Japan 500 Japanese aircraft, Nagumo and his Army peer General Yoshitsugu Saito attempted to defend the island of Saipan against the American juggernaut. On July 6, during the last stages of the Allied conquest of that island, Nagumo committed suicide for his failure to hold Saipan. His remains were later found by American Marines in the cave where he spent his last days as the commander of the Saipan defenders.^{[citation needed]}

Promotions

Midshipman - 21 November 1908

Ensign - 15 January 1910

Sublieutenant - 1 December 1911

Lieutenant - 1 December 1914

Lieutenant Commander - 1 December 1920

Commander - 1 December 1924

Captain - 30 November 1929

Rear Admiral - 15 November 1935

Vice Admiral - 15 November 1939

Admiral - 8 July 1944 (Posthumous)^{[citation needed]}

[edit] External links

• Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, IJN, (1886-1944)
• Beyond the Movie: Pearl Harbor