Ozawa Jisaburō

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Ozawa Jisaburō

Ozawa Jisaburō ( Japanese 小 沢 治 三郎 Ozawa Jisaburō ; * October 2, 1886 in Koyu-gun, Miyazaki Prefecture ; † November 9, 1966 ) was a Japanese Vice- Admiral and in World War II the last Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Pacific theater .

Ozawa as Commander of the Southern Expeditionary Fleet, November 1941

Ozawa graduated from Naval College in 1909 and from Naval College in 1919 . In 1934 he became the commander of the heavy cruiser Maya and the following year of the battleship Haruna . In 1936 he was promoted to Rear Admiral. In 1937 he was Chief of Staff of the United Fleet and in late 1940 became Vice Admiral . In October 1941 he became the commander of the Southern Expeditionary Fleet, with which he was involved in the invasions of the Malay Peninsula as well as Java and Sumatra . In November 1942, during the Battle of Guadalcanal , he replaced Nagumo Chūichi as commander of the 3rd Fleet, in which the Japanese carrier forces were concentrated.

He played an important role in the Battle of the Philippine Sea in May 1944, in which the fleet under his control suffered heavy losses in ships and aircraft. During the sea ​​and air battle in the Gulf of Leyte at the end of October 1944, he did not succeed in averting another devastating Japanese defeat. After this battle he offered his resignation and was transferred to the post of Vice Chief of the Naval General Staff in November, at the same time he was director of the Naval College. At the end of May 1945, he succeeded Toyoda Soemu in personal union as the last Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and the United Fleet. He declined a promotion to admiral .

Ozawa, who was unusually tall at 2 meters and was nicknamed Onigawara (Japanese form of a roof ornament, which usually depicted a goblin face), had a reputation among his men for being a courageous and compassionate superior. He died in 1966 at the age of 80.

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Ozawa is the family name, Jisaburō the first name.