The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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Tanaka Raizo was born in Yamaguchi prefecture and
graduated from the
Japanese Naval Academy in 1913,
specializing in destroyers
and torpedo
warfare. He rose through the
ranks to command of battleship Kongo
before
becoming a rear admiral in command of Destroyer Squadron 2. When war
broke out, he was at sea with Legaspi Support Force, built
around light carrier Ryujo.
Tanaka led escort forces in the Netherlands East Indies and at Midway before distinguishing himself (in American eyes) for organizing the "Tokyo Express" from Rabaul to Guadalcanal. The Americans nicknamed him "Tenacious Tanaka" for his perseverance and skill at avoiding ambushes and defeating superior forces to land troops and supplies. However, he was bedeviled throughout the campaign by conflicting orders from 8 Fleet and 11 Air Fleet, and the Japanese high command found him a convenient scapegoat for the ultimate defeat in that campaign. He was relegated him to backwater duty in Burma in early 1943 for the remainder of the war. Here he was promoted to vice admiral and given command of 13 Auxiliary Base Force at Rangoon, which was eventually forced to retreat to Moulmein (1 May 1945) and then Bangkok.
In belittling the fighting power of the enemy lay a basic cause of Japan's setback and defeat in every operation of the Pacific war. Enemy successes were deprecated and alibied in every instance. It was standard practice to inflate our own capabilities to the consequent underestimation of the enemy's. This was fine for the ego but poor for winning victories.
(Kehn 2008)
Tanaka was a close friend of Goto Aritomo, with whom he shared his concerns about the divided command (between 8 Fleet and 11 Air Fleet) during the Guadalcanal campaign.
| 1892-4-27 | born in Yamaguchi prefecture |
|
| 1913-12-19 |
Midshipman |
Graduates from Naval Academy, standing 34th in a class of 118. Assigned to CA Adzuma |
| 1914-8-11 | BB Aki | |
| 1914-8-28 | CA Nisshin | |
| 1914-12-1 | Ensign | |
| 1915-10-1 | CA Kasagi | |
| 1916-8-21 | Kongo | |
| 1916-12-1 | Lieutenant junior
grade |
Torpedo
School Basic Course |
| 1917-6-1 | Gunnery
School Basic Course |
|
| 1917-12-1 | Hatsushimo | |
| 1918-5-1 | Staff, 2 Special Task Fleet | |
| 1918-7-5 | DD Kusunoki | |
| 1919-8-5 | Katori |
|
| 1919-12-1 | Lieutenant | Torpedo School Advanced Course |
| 1920-12-1 | AS Karasaki | |
| 1921-11-10 | Iwate | |
| 1923-3-20 | Shiokaze | |
| 1923-11-10 | Yura | |
| 1924-12-1 | Staff, Cruiser Division
5 |
|
| 1925-12-1 | Lieutanant commander |
Instructor, Torpedo School |
| 1927-11-1 | Staff, Cruiser Division 5 | |
| 1929-11-30 | Staff, 2 Naval District |
|
| 1930-11-21 | Commander, Tachikaze | |
| 1930-12-1 | Commander | |
| 1931-10-31 | Commander, Ushio | |
| 1932-12-1 | Staff, 1 Naval District |
|
| 1935-11-15 | Captain | |
| 1935-12-2 | Naval College |
|
| 1936-1-6 | Naval General Staff |
|
| 1937-1-7 | Commander, Destroyer Division 2 |
|
| 1937-12-1 | Commander, Jintsu | |
| 1938-12-15 | Chief of staff, Mako Guard District |
|
| 1939-11-15 | Commander, Kongo | |
| 1941-4-15 | Staff, 3 Fleet |
|
| 1941-5-1 | Commander, Submarine Squadron 6 |
|
| 1941-9-15 | Commander, Destroyer Squadron 2 | |
| 1941-10-15 | Rear admiral |
|
| 1942-12-29 | Naval
General Staff |
|
| 1943-2-5 | Commander, Maizuru
Guard Force |
|
| 1943-10-1 | Commander, 13
Auxiliary Base Force, Burma |
|
| 1944-10-15 | Vice Admiral |
|
| 1946-6-26 | Retires |
|
| 1969-7-9 | Dies |
References
CombinedFleet.com (accessed 2007-6-30)
Materials of IJN (accessed 2008-2-18)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007-2009, 2011, 2013 by Kent G. Budge. Index
