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Tsukahara Nizhizo (Tsukahara Nishio) was the commander of 11 Air Fleet, Japan's land-based naval air forces, when war broke out in the Pacific. He made the bold decision not to use the small carriers of Carrier Division 4 against the Philippines, but rely solely on land-based aircraft. This was made possible by training the Zero pilots to coax an amazing 12 hours' endurance from their aircraft. On the other hand, Tsukahara considered the Pearl Harbor operation to be a dangerous diversion of forces from the Southern Operation: "He considered Operation Hawaii one of those campaigns which, if successful, would be cited as brilliant but, if unsuccessful, would be called stupid and foolish." (Prange 1981).
An
old friend and former classmate of Nagumo, he persuaded his
friend to divert part of 1 Air Fleet's aircraft to 11 Air Fleet until overridden by Yamamoto.
Tsukahara's aircraft ran riot over the Philippines, Borneo, and the Netherlands East Indies during the first few months of the war. Eventually arriving at Rabaul, Tsukahara led the air assault on Guadalcanal before becoming so sick with malaria, dengue fever, and dysentery that he had to return to Japan in December 1942. He was a member of the board of inquiry regarding Fukudome Shigeru.
| 1887-4-3 | born | |
| 1908-11-21 |
Midshipman |
Graduates from Naval Academy, standing 20th in a class of 191. Assigned to CA Soya |
| 1909-8-2 | Iwate |
|
| 1909-12-1 | AC Okinoshima | |
| 1910-1-15 | Ensign | |
| 1910-12-1 | Gunnery School Basic Course | |
| 1911-4-20 | Torpedo School Basic Course | |
| 1911-8-4 | BB Shikishima | |
| 1911-12-1 | Lieutenant junior
grade |
|
| 1912-12-1 | Sasebo
Sailor Corps |
|
| 1913-5-24 | DD Yudachi | |
| 1914-3-23 | CA Aso | |
| 1914-12-1 | Lieutenant | Naval College B-Course |
| 1915-5-26 | Naval College Majored Course | |
| 1915-12-13 | DD Umikaze | |
| 1916-4-28 | Mogami |
|
| 1916-12-1 | AR Kanto | |
| 1917-8-9 | CA Chitose |
|
| 1918-11-9 | BC Ibuki | |
| 1918-12-1 | Naval College A-Course | |
| 1920-12-1 | Lieutenant
commander |
Staff, 2 Fleet |
| 1921-2-25 | Yokosuka
Air Group |
|
| 1922-4-15 | Staff, Naval Educational Command |
|
| 1922-12-1 | Navy General Staff |
|
| 1924-12-1 | Commander | |
| 1925-4-1 | Trip to Europe, U.S. | |
| 1926-1-15 | Executive officer, Hosho |
|
| 1927-4-5 | Staff, Educational Bureau, Naval Air
Command |
|
| 1929-11-30 | Captain | Commander, Oi |
| 1931-12-9 | Attendant to Plenipotentiary, Geneva conference | |
| 1932-11-28 | Chief, Administration Burea, Air Arsenal |
|
| 1933-10-20 | Commander, Akagi | |
| 1934-11-1 | Chief, Administration Bureau, Naval Air
Command |
|
| 1935-11-15 | Rear admiral |
|
| 1937-12-1 | Commander, Carrier Division 2 |
|
| 1937-12-15 | Commander, 2 Combined Air Squadron |
|
| 1938-12-15 | Commander, 1 Combined Air Squadron |
|
| 1939-11-15 | Vice admiral |
|
| 1940-4-15 | Commander, Chinkai Guard
District |
|
| 1941-9-10 | Commander, 11
Air Fleet |
|
| 1942-12-1 | Director, Naval Air Command |
|
| 1944-3-1 | Vice chief, Naval General Staff |
|
| 1944-7-29 | Director, Naval Air Command | |
| 1944-9-15 | Commander, 1
Naval District |
|
| 1945-5-1 | Supreme War Council |
|
| 1945-5-15 | Admiral | |
| 1945-10-15 | Retires | |
| 1966-1-10 | Dies |
References
Materials
of IJN (accessed 2008-2-18)
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