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Every army or navy has officers who attain
high rank in spite of
being nonentities. Nishimura Shoji, a rear admiral at the
start of the Pacific
War, was described by historian Samuel Eliot Morison as “one
of the least
competent Japanese
flag officers.” Historian
Paul Dull is kinder, defending
Nishimura’s rush to sea in pursuit of nonexistent
submarines at
the
Battle of Balikpapan,
which left a Japanese
transport
force
at the mercy of an American
destroyer
force, as
a
reasonable decision based on what Nishimura knew at the time.
For one thing,
as John Prados pointed out, the Dutch
submarine K-17
had in
fact torpedoed
the Tsuruga Maru earlier
in the day. But even
Dull cannot hide the utter lack of imagination in Nishimura’s
robot-like march
into oblivion at Surigao
Strait, though Prados suggests
that
Nishimura, who had just lost his only son in a seaplane accident, was
operating
under a death wish. Roscoe (1953) suggests that Nishimura raced to his doom to avoid coming under the command of Shima Kyohide, who was commanding a smaller force but was senior by a few months.
Nishimura had considerable experience in destroyers prior to being promoted to rear admiral in in November 1940. He commanded Destroyer Squadron 4 when war broke out, which was at Magong preparing to sail with 2 Surprise Attack Force to seize Vigan, Luzon. In addition to the actions mentioned previously, he was present at the Battle of the Java Sea, the Midway operation, and the carrier battles of the Guadalcanal campaign.
1889-11-30 |
born in Akita prefecture |
|
1911-7-18 | Midshipman |
Graduates from Naval Academy, standing 21st in a class of 148. Assigned to CA Aso |
1912-3-29 | BB Mikasa | |
1912-12-1 | Ensign | CA Aso |
1913-12-1 | Hiei | |
1914-12-1 | Lieutenant junior
grade |
Gunnery School Basic Course |
1915-5-26 | Torpedo School Basic Course | |
1915-12-13 | DD Yugiri | |
1916-8-20 | CA Yakumo | |
1917-10-10 | Haruna | |
1917-12-1 | Lieutenant | Naval College B-Course |
1918-4-15 | Naval College Majored Course | |
1918-8-15 | Naval College Navigation Course | |
1918-12-1 | AP Seito | |
1919-7-20 | DD Kawakaze | |
1919-9-1 | DD Tanikaze |
|
1919-12-1 | DE Yamato | |
1920-12-1 | Kitakami | |
1921-12-1 | BB Hizen |
|
1922-4-8 | Yura | |
1923-5-15 | AO Sunosaki | |
1923-11-20 | Oi | |
1924-12-1 | Lieutenant
commander |
CA Nisshin |
1925-12-1 | Instructor, Engineering Academy | |
1926-10-25 | CA Nisshin | |
1926-11-1 | Commander, DD Kiku | |
1927-11-1 | Commander, DD-2 | |
1928-8-1 | Commander, Wakatake | |
1928-12-10 | Commander, Urakaze | |
1929-11-1 | Commander, Mikazuki | |
1929-11-30 | Commander | |
1930-11-15 | Commander, Shirakumo | |
1931-11-2 | Commander, Destroyer Division 26 |
|
1934-11-15 | Captain | Commander, Destroyer Division 19 |
1936-12-5 | Naval College Expert Course | |
1937-10-31 | Commander, Kumano | |
1939-5-18 | Commander, Haruna | |
1940-11-1 | Commander, Destroyer Squadron 4 | |
1940-11-15 | Rear admiral |
|
1942-6-20 | Staff, Combined Fleet |
|
1942-6-25 | Commander, Cruiser Division 7 |
|
1943-11-1 | Vice admiral |
|
1944-3-25 | Navy General Staff |
|
1944-9-10 | Commander, Battleship Division 2 |
|
1944-10-25 | Killed in action |
References
Materials
of IJN (accesssed 2008-2-18)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia (c) 2007-2008 by Kent G. Budge. Index