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Oikawa Koshiro was a member of the Navy General Staff who pushed ratification of the London Naval Treaty in the 1930s, putting him firmly in the Treaty Faction.
By 1936, Oikawa commanded Japan’s
3 Fleet. When a Japanese
pharmacist was murdered in Shanghai
that year, he sent a strong
note of protest to the Chinese that
unfortunately helped escalate the incident into a pitched battle for
the city. Oikawa became a full admiral in 1939 and served as navy
minister in
1940. Though a strong proponent of Japanese southern expansion, and
skeptical that the United States
would actually go to war, he was opposed to the October 1941 deadline for a diplomatic settlement, and instructed the naval attaché to the United States
to work hard with the Japanese ambassador, Nomura, to prevent a war. He
also opposed war with Russia in
early
1941. He was dropped from the cabinet when Tojo came to power on 18 October
1941.
Oikawa established Maritime
Escort Fleet in November
1943,
when the American submarine threat began to be
serious. He became chief of the Navy General Staff in late 1944, but
resigned in May 1945 in protest over the Emperor's refusal to entertain peace
proposals, and he testified at the Tokyo
war
crimes trials.
Oikawa was handsome and erudite, in sharp contrast
with his
close colleague Nagano. He
was an able officer whose bland smile concealed his real thoughts.
Though
considered a Chinese scholar and gentleman, the impression of American
observers was that he was a “Prussian son of a b----.” He seems
to have been
somewhat pro-German, which
softened his opposition to war. A man who offered opinions rather than
stating convictions, he tried to please everyone, which
meant he stood up to no one. He put up little resistance to Onishi Takijiro's plans to begin using suicide tactics, asking only that the pilots involved be volunteers.
| 1883-2-8 | |
born |
| 1903-12-14
|
Midshipman | Graduates from Naval Academy, standing 76th in a class of 173. Assigned to CL Itsukushima |
| 1904-1-4 | |
CL Idzumo |
| 1904-3-5 | |
CL Chiyoda |
| 1904-9-10 | Ensign | |
| 1905-8-5 | Lieutenant junior grade |
Torpedo Boat Division 20 |
| 1906-8-7 | |
AP Anegawa |
| 1906-11-26 | |
Torpedo Training Center |
| 1908-1-15 | |
BB Katori |
| 1908-9-25 | Lieutenant | |
| 1909-5-25 | |
Naval College B-Course |
| 1909-11-24 | |
Torpedo School Advanced Course |
| 1910-5-23 | |
BB Mikasa |
| 1910-12-1 | |
Commander, Torpedo Boat Division 16 |
| 1911-4-28 | |
Commander, DD Asashio |
| 1912-12-1 | |
Commander, DD Yugiri |
| 1913-12-1 | |
Naval College A-Course |
| 1914-12-1 | Lieutenant
commander |
|
| 1915-12-13 | |
Aide-de-campe to Crown Prince |
| 1919-12-1 | Commander | |
| 1922-12-1 | |
Commander, Destroyer Division 15 |
| 1923-12-1 | Captain | Commander, CL Kinu |
| 1924-1-10 | |
Commander, CL Tama |
| 1924-12-1 | |
Chief, S1, N1, Navy General Staff |
| 1926-12-1 | |
Chief Instructor, Naval Academy |
| 1928-12-10 | Rear admiral |
Chief of staff, 2 Naval District |
| 1930-6-18 | |
Chief, N1, Navy General Staff |
| 1932-11-15 | |
Commander, Submarine Squadron 1 |
| 1933-10-3 | |
Director, Naval Academy |
| 1933-11-15 | Vice admiral |
|
| 1935-12-2 | |
Commander, 3 Fleet |
| 1936-12-1 | |
Director, Naval Air Command |
| 1938-4-25 | |
Commander, China Area Fleet |
| 1939-11-15 | Admiral | |
| 1940-5-1 | |
Commander, 1 Naval District |
| 1940-9-5 | |
Navy Minister |
| 1941-10-18 | |
Supreme War Council |
| 1943-11-15 | |
Commander, Maritime
Escort Fleet |
| 1944-8-2 | |
Chief of the Navy
General Staff |
| 1945-5-29 | |
Supreme War Council |
| 1945-9-5 | Retires |
|
| 1958-5-9 | |
Dies |
References
Materials
of IJN (accessed 2008-6-18)
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