Matome Ugaki
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Matome Ugaki (宇垣纏; 1890-August 14, 1945?) was a Japanese admiral during World War II, most notably serving at the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Born in Okayama prefecture, Ugaki graduated from the Japanese Naval Academy in 1912. Promoted to lieutenant commander following his graduation from Naval Staff College in 1924, Ugaki later served as a resident officer in Germany from 1928 to 1930. After his promotion to Captain, Ugaki returned to Japan as an instructor at the Naval Staff College in 1932.
In 1935, Ugaki was assigned as a staff officer to the IJN Combined Fleet for a year before commanding a cruiser and a battleship before winning promotion to rear admiral in 1938.
Following Japan's entry into the Second World War in 1941, Ugaki was appointed Chief-of-Staff of the Combined Fleet under Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in which he served until 1943.
Promoted vice admiral, Ugaki commanded the IJN Battleship Division during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, commanding naval forces in the Sibuyan Sea on October 24 and off the coast of Sibuyan on October 25, 1944.
Recalled to Japan in February 1945, Ugaki was appointed commander of IJN Fifth Air Fleet based in Kyūshū and overseeing all naval aircraft in the province from his headquarters in a cave bunker to protect him from the growing threat of B-29 attacks. In March he launched the first wave of suicide bomber attacks against the US fleet anchored at Ulithi followed by Operation Ten-Go (Operation Heaven) in March, which involved hundreds of Kamikaze attacks against US Navy ships in the vicinity of Okinawa. Meanwhile, he gathered even more aircraft and hid them to be used the same fashion in defense of Kyushu against the expected allied invasion that was sure to come. Ugaki planned to hit the invasion forces with hundreds of aircraft and suicide boats in a few hours in Operation Ketsu-Go (Decisive Operation).
On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito made a radio announcement conceding defeat and calling for the military to lay down their arms. After listening to the announcement announcing Japan's surrender, Ugaki made a last entry in his diary noting that he had not received an "official" cease-fire order and then asked for volunteers to join him in one last attack against the Amercian fleet. The crews of 11 Susei (Comet) bombers all raised their hands. Ugaki had only asked for 5 aircraft, but the entire unit and its commander elected to go with him. Prior to boarding his aricraft, Ugaki posed for pictures and had his staff remove his rank insignia from his dark green uniform taking only his ceremonial short sword given to him by Admiral Yamamoto. The attack force took off as the sun set and arrived at the island of Iheyajima near Okinawa at 7:40 PM. The entire formation was shot down or crashed into the water except three that returned with reports of engine trouble. The next morning, the crew of LST-926 found the still smoldering remains of a cockpit with three bodies (the other aircraft in the attack only carried a crew of two). The third member wore a dark green uniform and a short sword was found nearby.
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 - 1 November 1942
[edit] Further reading
- Morison, Samuel Eliot, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II Vol. VII, Aleutains, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944. 15 Vol. Boston, 1947-1962
- Thomas, Evan, The Last Kamikaze, World War II Magazine, p28, March 2007
