Oka Takazumi

Oka Takazumi during the Tokyo trials

Oka Takazumi ( Japanese : 岡 敬 純 ; born February 11, 1890 in Osaka , Osaka Prefecture , Japanese Empire ; † December 4, 1973 ) was a Vice Admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy , who was briefly Vice Minister of the Navy in 1944. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Tokyo trials on November 12, 1948 for numerous war crimes , from which he was released in 1954.

Life

Training as a naval officer

Oka Takazumi completed an officer training at the Naval Officer School (Kaigun Heigakkō) , which he completed as a member of the 39th course in 1911 as the 52nd of 148 cadets. He was then transferred on July 18, 1911 as an ensign at sea on board the protected cruiser Soya and on March 29, 1912 on board the unit line ship Katori , where on December 1, 1912 he was promoted to lieutenant at sea . He was then transferred to the battle cruiser Hiei on January 15, 1914 and, after being promoted to lieutenant in the sea , completed the basic course at the torpedo school on December 1, 1914, and the basic course at the naval artillery school from May 26 to December 13, 1915. After a subsequent use on board the destroyer Uranami , he was transferred to the 1st submarine group at the Kure naval base on April 1, 1916 and to the 2nd submarine group there on December 1, 1916. He was then between June 9 and September 1, 1917 assistant to the staff of the 2nd Special Forces Fleet and from September 1 to December 1, 1917 an officer at the Yokosuka naval base . Then he completed after his promotion to Lieutenant on December 1, 1917 the first part of the course for staff officers at the Naval College (Kaigun Daigakkō) ,

Subsequently, Oka Takazumi attended the advanced course of the torpedo school on April 15, 1918 and was commander of a submarine of the 1st submarine group on December 1, 1918, and on November 1, 1919, commander of a submarine of the 13th U- Boot group before he was again commander of a submarine of the 1st submarine group on November 20, 1919. During these assignments he was temporarily an instructor himself at the torpedo school and was transferred to the 14th submarine group on May 29, 1920. He then became commander of the submarine SS 12 and instructor at the submarine school on December 1, 1920, before becoming acting first officer on June 1, 1921 and acting commander of the SS 29 submarine on November 15, 1921 has been. He then attended from December 1, 1921 the second part of the course for staff officers at the Naval College (Kaigun Daigakkō) , which he completed on October 15, 1923 as the 21st of his class with distinction. He was then briefly transferred to the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy on October 15, 1923.

Staff officer and time until World War II

Sea captain Oka Takazumi was the commander of the submarine escort ship Jingei between 1936 and 1937

After his promotion to corvette captain , Oka Takazumi became an instructor at the submarine school on December 1, 1923 and was then marine resident at the embassy in France between May 20, 1924 and July 13, 1925 and from July 13, 1925 to May 1, 1925. September 1926 officer in the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy, in which he dealt with questions relating to the Versailles Peace Treaty . He then acted from September 1 to December 1, 1926 as assistant chief of staff of the 1st submarine squadron and between December 1, 1926 and May 20, 1927 as the commander of the submarine Ro-61 , before he between May 20 and November 15, 1927 was again an officer at the Yokosuka naval base. From November 15, 1927 to October 25, 1932, he was seconded to the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy, to the Ministry of the Navy, and an instructor at the Navy College, where he was promoted to frigate captain on October 10, 1928 .

After that, Oka was between October 25, 1932 and April 1, 1934 the adjutant of the representative at the Geneva Disarmament Conference and was promoted to sea captain on November 15, 1933 . After his return he was seconded to the General Staff and the Navy Ministry between April 26 and November 15, 1934, and head of the Research Unit in the Ministry of the Navy from November 15, 1934 to December 1, 1936 , before he was appointed between December 1, 1936 and on December 1, 1937 was the commander of the submarine escort ship Jingei . After subsequent new posts in the Navy General Staff and in the Navy Ministry, he was from January 15, 1938 to October 10, 1939 head of Section 1 of the Department of Navy Affairs of the Navy Ministry.

World War II, Vice Admiral and convicted as a war criminal

The defendants in the Tokyo trial for war crimes in World War II

At the beginning of the Second World War Oka Takazumi was on October 10, 1939 chief of the department of the Naval General Staff and remained in this function until November 15, 1940, where he was promoted to Rear Admiral on November 15, 1939 . Subsequently, he acted between October 15, 1940 and July 18, 1944 as head of the Department of Naval Affairs of the Navy Ministry and as a member of the Admiralty Committee. It was in this use that he was promoted to Vice Admiral on November 1, 1942 . Thereupon he was between July 18 and August 5, 1944 Vice Minister of the Navy and also continued to be a member of the Admiralty Committee and, between July 18 and August 1, 1944, also acting head of the Department of Navy Affairs of the Navy Ministry. After a short-term secondment to the General Staff of the Navy, he acted from September 9, 1944 to April 20, 1945 as commander in chief of Chinkai Keibifu , the main naval base of the Japanese colony of Korea in Changwon . After a renewed secondment to the Naval General Staff, he was first put on hold on June 15, 1945 and transferred to the reserve on June 20, 1945.

Oka Takazumi was one of the main defendants of numerous war crimes in the Tokyo trials . He was charged for involvement as a leader, organizer, instigator or accomplice in planning or executing a joint plan or conspiracy to wage wars of aggression and war or wars in violation of international law, for waging an unprovoked war against China , for waging of a war of aggression against the United States , of waging a war of aggression against the British Commonwealth , of waging a war of aggression against the Netherlands , and thus found guilty on five of the ten counts. He was acquitted of the charges of ordering, authorizing, and allowing inhuman treatment of prisoners of war and others, as well as the willful and reckless neglect of the duty to take appropriate steps to prevent atrocities. On November 12, 1948, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for this. In 1954 he was released early from prison.

Web links

• Entry on the homepage of the Naval Officer School (Kaigun Heigakkō)

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Oka is the family name, Takazumi the first name.