Oikawa Koshirō

Admiral Oikawa Koshirō (November 1940)

Oikawa Koshirō ( Japanese. 及 川 古 志 郎 ; * February 8, 1883 in Niigata Prefecture ; † May 9, 1958 ) was a Japanese admiral in the Imperial Navy , who was Minister of the Navy between September 1940 and October 1941 .

Life

Training and uses as an officer

Oikawa Koshirō grew up in Iwate Prefecture and began as a midshipman and participant in the 31st course his training at the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy (Kaigun Heigakkō) . After he had completed his training, he was promoted to ensign at sea on December 14, 1903 and first transferred to the protected cruiser Itsukushima and on January 4, 1904 to the armored cruiser Izumo , which shortly afterwards was deployed in the Russo-Japanese War at Port Arthur came. On March 5, 1904 he was transferred to the cruiser Chiyoda , with which he took part in the naval battle at Tsushima from May 27 to May 28, 1905 and was promoted to lieutenant at sea (Shōi) on September 10, 1904 . After his promotion to first lieutenant at sea (Chūi) on August 5, 1905, he became an officer in the 20th  Torpedo Boat Group and one year later on August 7, 1906, an officer on board the transport ship Anegawa , before being used in the November 26, 1906 Torpedo training center took place.

On January 15, 1908 Oikawa Koshirō was first acting section officer and after his promotion to lieutenant captain ( Daii ) on September 25, 1908 section officer on the light cruiser Katori . He attended from May 25, 1909 the B course of the naval college (Kaigun Daigakkō) and since November 24, 1909 the advanced course of the torpedo school. Subsequently, on May 23, 1910, he became a section officer on the unit line ship Mikasa (ship) and on December 1, 1910, commander of a torpedo boat of the 16th  torpedo boat group, and on April 28, 1911 to December 1, 1912, commander of the Shirakumo class belonging to the Shirakumo class Destroyer Asashio . He was temporarily from November 1 to December 1, 1911 at the same time commander of the Harusame class destroyer Asagiri and between December 1, 1912 and December 1, 1913 both commander of the Murakumo class destroyer Yugiri and instructor at the torpedo school.

Uses as a staff officer

Oikawa Koshirō was between 1915 and 1922 aide-de-camp of the aspirant to the throne and Crown Prince Hirohito for seven years

Subsequently, Oikawa Koshirō attended from December 1, 1913 to December 13, 1915 the A course of the naval college and was promoted during this time on December 1, 1914 to Corvette Captain (Shōsa) . He then acted between December 13, 1915 and December 1, 1922 as aide-de-camp of the aspirant Hirohito , who was formally installed as Crown Prince on November 2, 1916 . He was promoted to frigate captain (Chūsa) on December 1, 1919 and served between December 1, 1922 and December 1, 1923 as commander of the 15th destroyer group and again as an instructor at the torpedo boat school.

After his promotion to sea captain (Daisa) on December 1, 1923, Oikawa Koshirō took over the post of commander of the light cruiser Kinu and on January 10, 1914 as commander of the light cruiser Tama . He then moved to the General Staff of the Navy on December 1, 1924, where he was chief of Section 1 of Department 1 until December 1, 1926, before becoming chief instructor between December 1, 1926 and December 10, 1928 and thus Head of training at the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy.

Promotion to admiral

Vice Admiral Oikawa Koshirō held the post of director of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy (Kaigun Heigakkō) between 1933 and 1935

After his promotion to Rear Admiral (Shōshō) on December 10, 1928, Oikawa Koshirō was Chief of Staff of the Kure Naval District and then from June 18, 1930 to November 15, 1932 Chief of Department 1 (Gunreibu Daiichi Bu) of the General Staff of the Navy. After he was commodore of the 1st Naval Aviation Squadron between November 15, 1932 and October 3, 1933  , he replaced Vice Admiral Matsushita Hajime as director of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy on October 3, 1933 . He held this post until he was replaced by Vice Admiral Idemitsu Manbei on November 15, 1935 and was promoted to Vice Admiral (Chūjō) in this use on November 15, 1933 .

On November 15, 1935, Oikawa Koshirō was initially briefly transferred to the General Staff of the Navy, but took over the post of Commander-in-Chief of the 3rd Fleet on December 2, 1935. He then acted between December 1, 1936 and April 25, 1938 as director of the Naval Aviation Command (Kaigun Koku Honbu) and then from April 25, 1938 to May 1, 1940 as commander in chief of the China fleet (Shina Homen Kantai) . As such, he was again in personal union between April 25, 1938 and November 15, 1939, commander-in-chief of the 3rd Fleet and was promoted to Admiral (Taisho) on November 15, 1939 . Between May 1 and September 5, 1940, he was both commander-in-chief of the Yokosuka Marine District and a member of the Admiralty Committee.

Naval Minister

On September 5, 1940 Oikawa Koshirō took over from Admiral Yoshida Zengo the post as Minister of the Navy in the second cabinet of Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro . He also held this ministerial office in the third Konoe cabinet until he was replaced by Admiral Shimada Shigetaro on October 18, 1941 after Prime Minister Tōjō Hideki had formed a new cabinet . On January 7, 1941, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto wrote a memorandum to him as Minister of the Navy, in which the latter pointed out that in the event of a Pacific War, a wait-and-see strategy with classic naval battles for the Japanese Navy in the previous simulation games and maneuvers could not be won and therefore the sea-based air forces are to be expanded. A concentrated attack on the US fleet right at the start of the war would not only deal a severe blow to their morale and prevent attacks on Japan itself, but would also give the empire a window of six to twelve months to conquer Southeast Asia with its important raw material sources.

After leaving the ministerial office, he was a member of the Naval Council from October 18, 1941 to August 2, 1944. At the same time he was director of the Naval College (Kaigun Daigakkō) between October 10, 1940 and November 15, 1943 and from November 15, 1943 until his replacement by Admiral Nomura Naokuni on August 2, 1944, the first commander-in-chief of the maritime anti-aircraft fleet (Kaijo Goei Sotai ) .

Then Admiral Oikawa took over on August 2, 1944 from Admiral Shimada Shigetaro the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy (Kaigun Gunrei Bucho) , which he held until his replacement by Admiral Toyoda Soemu on May 29, 1945. After that, between May 29, 1945 and his transfer to the reserve on September 5, 1945, he was again a member of the Naval Council and was chairman of its science and technology committee between June 1 and September 9, 1945.

Web links

• Entry on Imperial Japanese Navy

Individual evidence

1. ↑ David Evans, Mark Peattie: Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941 , Naval Institute Press 2014, ISBN 978-1-61251-425-3 , pp. 475 f. ( Online on Google -Book preview, English).

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