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Prince Komatsu Teruhisa was a cousin of the
Empress and former dean of the Naval Staff College. He was commander
of 1 China
Fleet at the commencement of the Pacific war. In March 1942
he became commander
of 6
Fleet and was widely thought by his colleagues to have botched the submarine deployments for the
battle of Midway.
However, the failure of his boats to reach their assigned patrol line in time to spot the approaching American carriers was apparently predicted by the Navy General Staff officer for submarines, who was aware of the poor material condition of the boats in 5 Submarine Squadron. Komatsu's family
connections, and the successful sinking of Yorktown by I-168, probably saved him from being scapegoated for the Midway debacle.
Komatsu
shifted the emphasis of Japanese submarine operations away from attacks
on warships and towards commerce raiding. Had this strategy been driven home, it might have caused the Allies considerable difficulty protecting their long, vulnerable lines of communication.
In June 1943 he was replaced by Takagi Takeo, taking command of 3 Naval District (Sasebo). He never held a sea command again. After the surrender he was elevated to the House of Councillors.
| 1888-8-12 | born (Prince Teruhisa) | |
| 1909-11-19 |
Midshipman |
Graduates from Naval Academy, standing 26th in a class of 179. Assigned to CA Aso |
| 1910-7-20 | BB Satsuma | |
| 1910-12-15 | Ensign |
|
| 1911-8-4 | Gunnery
School Basic Course |
|
| 1911-12-20 | Torpedo
School Basic Course |
|
| 1912-4-24 | BB Kawachi | |
| 1912-12-1 | Lieutenant junior grade |
|
| 1913-8-11 |
House of Peers |
|
| 1913-9-20 | CA Soya | |
| 1914-5-27 | BC Kurama | |
| 1914-12-1 | 1 Naval District |
|
| 1915-12-13 | Lieutenant | Navy College B-course |
| 1916-6-1 | Gunnery School Advanced Course |
|
| 1916-12-1 | Kongo | |
| 1917-9-11 | Yugure | |
| 1917-12-1 | Urakaze | |
| 1918-6-19 | Yamashiro | |
| 1918-12-23 | 1 Naval District | |
| 1919-12-1 | Navy College A-course |
|
| 1921-12-1 | Lieutenant commander |
|
| 1922-12-1 | Staff, Battleship Division 2 |
|
| 1923-11-10 | Instructor, Navy College |
|
| 1925-1-12 | On leave for private study in Britain |
|
| 1925-12-1 | Commander | |
| 1927-12-1 | Instructor, Navy College |
|
| 1928-12-10 | Executive officer, Isuzu | |
| 1929-11-15 | Executive Officer, Nagato | |
| 1930-12-1 | Captain | Commander, Itsukushima |
| 1931-11-14 | Commander, Jingei | |
| 1932-12-1 | Commander, Kiso | |
| 1933-11-15 | Navy General Staff |
|
| 1934-11-15 | Commander, Nachi | |
| 1935-12-2 | Instructor, Navy College |
|
| 1936-12-1 | Rear Admiral |
Commander, Submarine Squadron 1 |
| 1937-12-1 | Commandant, Submarine School |
|
| 1938-11-15 | Chief Instructor, Navy College |
|
| 1940-11-15 | Vice Admiral |
Commander, Ryojun Guard
District |
| 1941-7-5 | Commander in Chief, 1 China
Fleet |
|
| 1942-3-16 | Commander in Chief, 6 Fleet |
|
| 1943-6-21 | Commander in Chief, 3 Naval District |
|
| 1944-11-4 | Director, Navy Academy |
|
| 1945-1-15 | Navy General Staff |
|
| 1945-5-21 | Retires |
|
| 1970-11-5 | Death |
References
Materials
of IJN (accessed 2008-2-18)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007-2008, 2012 by Kent G. Budge. Index
