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Yamaguchi Tamon was born in Shimane prefecture and
graduated from the Naval Academy in 1912. He graduated from the Naval
Staff College in 1924 and attended the London Naval Conference
of
1929-1930. He served as the Japanese
naval attaché in the United
States
in 1934-1936, attending Princeton University, and he directed the
recruitment of John Farnsworth as a
spy. As commander of 1 Combined Air
Group, he directed the saturation
bombing campaign in central China
in 1940.
By the time war broke out in the Pacific, Yamaguchi was a rear admiral in command of Carrier Division 2. Though not an aviator, he was probably Japan's best carrier admiral, and won the respect and friendship of Yamamoto. He was widely regarded in the Imperial Navy as Yamamoto's logical successor.
Yamaguchi was a staunch supporter of the Pearl Harbor attack plan. When the initial plan left his carrier division out of the attack force, Yamaguchi got drunk, accosted Nagumo in his cabin, and got him in a headlock until Kusaka broke up the fight. After the attack took place, he pressed for additional raids on the dock facilities, which if successful would have been at least as disastrous for the Americans as the loss of warships and aircraft. Later Yamaguchi submitted a plan for the invasion of Oahu.
While returning from the raid, Yamaguchi was dispatched to support the second invasion attempt on Wake. This second attempt was successful, but Yamaguchi avoided a carrier duel with a superior American force only because of vacillation in the American command.
Yamaguchi's flagship, Hiryu,
escaped
the initial disaster at the Battle
of Midway and launched the counterattack
that crippled Yorktown.
However, Hiryu was mortally stricken by a second
American strike, and
Yamaguchi felt it his duty to go down
with the ship.
Yamaguchi was an impulsive and highly aggressive
commander who put much stock in rigorous training. He nonetheless quickly won
over his aviators. By contrast with Nagumo, he was always careful of
his appearance.
| 1892-8-17 | born | |
| 1912-7-17 | Midshipman | Graduates from Naval Academy, standing 2nd in a class of 144. Assigned to CL Soya |
| 1913-5-1 | BB Settsu | |
| 1913-12-1 | Ensign | |
| 1914-5-27 | CL Chikuma | |
| 1915-2-1 | BB Aki | |
| 1915-12-13 | Lieutenant junior grade |
Gunnery School Basic Course |
| 1916-6-1 | Torpedo School Basic Course | |
| 1916-12-1 | Submarine Division 3 |
|
| 1918-5-1 | Staff, 2 Special Task Fleet | |
| 1918-7-5 | DD Kashi |
|
| 1918-12-1 | Lieutenant | |
| 1919-1-17 | Temporary Submarine Division |
|
| 1919-2-1 | AR Kanto |
|
| 1919-7-24 | Yokosuka
Guard Unit |
|
| 1919-10-8 | Kure
Guard Unit |
|
| 1919-12-1 | Torpedo School Advanced Course | |
| 1920-12-1 | Sasebo
Guard Unit |
|
| 1921-2-25 | Resident in U.S. |
|
| 1923-6-15 | BB Nagato |
|
| 1923-12-1 | Instructor, Submarine School |
|
| 1924-12-1 | Lieutenant
commander |
Naval College A-Course |
| 1926-12-1 | Staff, Submarine Squadron 1 |
|
| 1927-11-15 |
Navy General Staff |
|
| 1928-12-10 | Commander | |
| 1929-9-17 | Trip to U.S. | |
| 1929-11-12 | Attendant to Plenipotentiary, London conference | |
| 1930-7-1 | Executive officer, CL Yura |
|
| 1930-11-15 | Staff, Combined Fleet |
|
| 1932-11-15 | Instructor, Naval College | |
| 1932-12-1 | Captain | |
| 1934-6-1 | Attache, U.S. | |
| 1936-12-1 | CO, Isuzu | |
| 1937-12-1 | Commander, BB Ise | |
| 1938-11-15 | Rear admiral |
|
| 1938-12-1 | Staff, 5 Fleet |
|
| 1938-12-15 | Chief of staff, 5 Fleet | |
| 1939-11-15 | Staff, 1 Fleet |
|
| 1940-1-15 | Commander, 1 Combined Air Flotilla |
|
| 1940-11-1 | Commander, Carrier Division 2 |
|
| 1942-6-5 | Vice admiral |
Killed
in action |
References
Materials
of IJN (accessed 2008-3-1)
Peattie (2001)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007-2009 by Kent G. Budge. Index
