Nomura Naokuni

Admiral Nomura Naokuni

Nomura Naokuni ( Japanese 野村 直 邦 ; born May 15, 1885 in Kagoshima Prefecture ; † December 12, 1973 ) was a Japanese admiral in the Imperial Navy , who was among other things Minister of the Navy for five days in July 1944 .

Life

Training and uses as an officer

Nomura Naokuni began as a midshipman and participants of the 35th course his education at the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy (Kaigun Heigakkō) . After completing his training, he was promoted to ensign at sea on November 20, 1907 and initially transferred to the protected cruiser Itsukushima and on July 28, 1908 to the light cruiser Kashima . There he was promoted to lieutenant at sea (Shōi) on December 25, 1908 and was then used briefly on the destroyer Yayoi from April 29, 1909, and on the destroyer Kamikaze since May 25, 1909 . He then became an officer at the Yokosuka naval base on November 16, 1909 and attended the basic course at the Naval Artillery School from December 25, 1909, and the basic course at the torpedo school from April 20, 1910. Once finished, it was on July 31, 1910. Naval Base Kure added and on September 1, 1910 officer on the the Satsuma class belonging battleship on which he also on December 1, 1910. Lieutenant (Chui) was promoted. He then became an officer on October 18, 1911 on the unprotected cruiser Tatsuta , on December 11, 1911 on the cruiser Chiyoda and on January 22, 1912 on the gunboat Manshu . After serving as an officer in the naval staff from March 28 to September 27, 1912, he became an officer on the armored cruiser Aso . Then he attended from December 1, 1912 the B course of the naval college (Kaigun Daigakkō) and since May 24, 1913 the advanced course of the torpedo school.

After his promotion to lieutenant captain ( Daii ), Nomura Naokuni was relocated to the destroyer Yayoi as an officer on December 1, 1913 . Then he was on February 18, 1915 equipment officer at the naval shipbuilding command (Kaigun Kansei Honbu) and then on April 4, 1915 officer on the destroyer Kashiwa . On December 1, 1916, he took over his first command of the ship, as the commander of the destroyer Shirakumo belonging to the class of the same name . After that he was used between December 1, 1917 and December 1, 1918 as an officer in the staff of the 2nd and 1st squadrons and then completed the A course at the Naval College from December 1, 1918 and December 1, 1920.

Uses as a staff officer

As a sea captain, Nomura Naokuni was in command of the heavy cruiser Haguro between 1931 and 1933

During this time, Nomura Naokuni was on December 1, 1919 to Korvettenkapitän (Shōsa) and was from December 1, 1920 to November 26, 1921 only a staff officer in the 1st submarine squadron. He was then transferred to the General Staff of the Navy (Kaigun Gunreibu) on November 26, 1921 , but already switched to the staff of the Naval Training Command (Kaigun Kyoiku Honbu) on December 10, 1920 . He then worked from August 10, 1922 until he was recalled on September 25, 1924, as naval resident in Germany . He received his promotion to frigate captain (Chūsa) on December 1, 1924, and then took over the post of commander of the 16th submarine unit from January 15 to October 20, 1925. After an assignment between October 20, 1925 and April 15, 1927 as an officer in the staff of the Naval Shipbuilding Command, he became the envoy's companion at the Preparatory Disarmament Conference of the League of Nations in Geneva .

After his return, Nomura Naokuni was promoted to sea captain (Daisa) on October 10, 1928 and took over the post of commander of the submarine escort ship Chogei . He then went back to Germany on May 1, 1929, and served there until June 1, 1931 as a naval attaché to the Japanese legation. At the same time he belonged to the delegation of the envoy at the London Naval Conference from November 12, 1929 . After returning to Japan, he became commander of the heavy cruiser Haguro on October 10, 1931 and then commander of the battleship Kaga between February 24 and October 20, 1933 . After a brief employment as a member of the Kure Marine District, he became director of the submarine school on November 15, 1933.

Promotion to Admiral and Minister of the Navy

After his promotion to Rear Admiral (Shōshō) , Nomura Naokuni took over the post of commodore of the 2nd submarine squadron on November 15, 1934 and was then Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet between November 15, 1935 and November 16, 1936 ( Rengō Kantai) as well as Chief of Staff of the 1st Fleet. On November 16, 1936, he was reassigned to the General Staff of the Navy, where he assumed the post of Head of Department 3 (Gunreibu Daisan Bu) from December 1, 1936 to April 25, 1938 and, from November 20, 1937, as a member of the Naval Department of the United General Staff. He then served between April 25, 1938 and October 26, 1939 as a naval attaché at the embassy in China and at the same time as head of the Navy's special operations office.

In this position, Nomura Naokuni was promoted to Vice Admiral (Chūjō) on November 15, 1938 and, after a brief interim use in the General Staff of the Navy, took over the post of Commander-in-Chief of the 3rd Combined Fleet on November 15, 1939, which he held until September 30 1940 held. After a new assignment in the General Staff of the Navy and in the Navy Ministry, he was on a trip to Europe between November 13, 1940 and March 1, 1943 . On December 17, 1941, he met the German Vice Admiral Kurt Fricke and discussed naval operations with him. At a further meeting on March 27, 1942, Fricke emphasized the importance of the Indian Ocean for the Axis powers and expressed the wish that the Japanese attack the northern routes in the Indian Ocean. Fricke advocated that the Axis powers should put a stronger focus on Ceylon , the Seychelles and Madagascar . There should be more focus on these routes than on Australia . The successes of the Japanese in Southeast Asia ultimately contributed to a threat to the Allied supply routes between Europe, Asia and Africa, whereupon the British reacted with the occupation of Madagascar through Operation Ironclad between May 5 and November 8, 1942.

On August 9, 1943, he was appointed a member of the Navy Council and was from October 20, 1943 to July 17, 1944 Commander-in-Chief of the Kure Marine District. As such, he received his promotion to Admiral (Taisho) on March 1, 1944 . On July 17, 1944 Nomura Naokuni took over from Admiral Shimada Shigetaro the post as Minister of the Navy in the cabinet of Prime Minister Tōjō Hideki . Only five days later he lost this ministerial office on July 22, 1944 after Prime Minister Koiso Kuniaki formed a new cabinet to Admiral Yonai Mitsumasa . Thereupon on July 22, 1944 he was again a member of the Marinerate and was then between August 2, 1944 and May 1, 1945 Commander in Chief of the Maritime Escort Fleet (Kaijo Goei Sotai) . At the same time he was from August 2 to September 15, 1945 in personal union also commander-in-chief of the Yokosuka naval district and a member of the admiralty committee. Most recently, between May 1 and October 10, 1945, he was again a member of the Naval Council and chief adviser to the United General Staff for Shipbuilding. After being on hold from October 10, 1945, he was retired on October 15, 1945.

Web links

• Entry on Imperial Japanese Navy

Individual proof

1. ^ Leonard Charles Frederick Turner, HR Gordon-Cumming, JE Betzler (eds.): War in the Southern Oceans: 1939-1945 , Oxford University Press, Cape Town 1961, p. 116

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