Marquis was a vice admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Biography

Born in

Chiyoda, Tokyo is a special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Chiyoda City in English.Profile< ...

kuge The was a Japanese aristocratic class that dominated the Japanese Imperial Court in Kyoto. The ''kuge'' were important from the establishment of Kyoto as the capital during the Heian period in the late 8th century until the rise of the Kamakur ...

'' family of court nobility related to the

Fujiwara Fujiwara (, written: 藤原 lit. "''Wisteria'' field") is a Japanese surname. (In English conversation it is likely to be rendered as .) Notable people with the surname include: ; Families * The Fujiwara clan and its members ** Fujiwara no Kamatari ...

aristocracy, Daigo was a graduate of the '' Gakushuin'' Peers' school. He went on to graduate from the 40th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1912. His rank on entering was only 126th out of 150 cadets, but he improved his scores, so that he graduated at 17th out of 144. Daigo served as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

on the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

and

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

. As an ensign, he was assigned to the cruiser . After his promotion to sub-lieutenant in 1913, he took time out to attend a session of the House of Peers as was obligatory for members of his social class. He then returned to active service on the battleship and

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

. Daigo was promoted to lieutenant in 1918, and after taking courses in torpedo warfare, was assigned to

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s, serving on , and then becoming captain of , followed by . He also served on the cruiser in 1924. After promotion to lieutenant commander in 1924, he was captain of in 1926, and chief torpedo officer on the battleship later the same year. In the 1930s, Daigo was captain of a large number of cruisers in rapid succession: , , , , , and . He was promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

on 15 November 1940. Daigo commanded Submarine Squadron 5 (Subron 5), with his flag on the light cruiser at the start of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Subron 5 was covering the first wave of the

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

Invasion Force south of the Cape of Camau, French Indochina. On 9 December 1941, Subron 5 was ordered to pursue and sink the Royal Navy Force Z (battleship ,

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

and supporting

s). Although ''Yura'' received word from that the British ships were spotted, due to poor wireless reception, the signal was unclear and the British vessels were overwhelmed by torpedo bombers of the 22nd Air Flotilla from bases in Indochina before ''Yura'' and her submarines could take action. Subron 5 was then assigned to the invasion of Sarawak from 13–26 December, covering landings in Brunei, Miri, Seria, and

Kuching Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River ...

. The 2,500 men of the "Kawaguchi Detachment" and the No. 2 Yokosuka Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF) quickly captured Miri's airfield and oil fields. The operation was completed, and ''Yura'' returned to its base at

Camranh Bay Cam Ranh Bay ( vi, Vịnh Cam Ranh) is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in Khánh Hòa Province. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilome ...

, Indochina by the end of the year. Subron 5 was also part of the advance screening force for the Battle of Midway. Daigo became vice admiral on 1 November 1943. He was assigned command of the Eastern Attack Group which carried out midget submarine and merchant shipping attacks on the east coast of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Daigo was Commandant of the Naval Submarine School from 23 August 1944 and final Commander in Chief of the

IJN 6th Fleet The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) that during World War II, had primary responsibility for the command of submarine operations. History The 6th Fleet was formed on 15 November 1940, and was assigned general control of all IJN ...

from 1 May 1945. During these assignments, he was involved in the '' kaiten'' human-torpedo program. After the end of the war, Daigo was arrested by

SCAP SCAP may refer to: * S.C.A.P., an early French manufacturer of cars and engines * Security Content Automation Protocol * ''The Shackled City Adventure Path'', a role-playing game * SREBP cleavage activating protein * Supervisory Capital Assessment ...

authorities at the request of the Netherlands government, and was extradited to

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, where he was charged with war crimes in connection with the kidnapping, torture and massacre of 21,000 people (including women and children) by Japanese troops in Pontianak during the

Pontianak incidents The Pontianak incident consisted of two massacres which took place in Kalimantan during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies. One of them is also known as the Mandor Affair. The victims were from a wide variety of ethnic groups, and ...

. After being held for several months under severe conditions, he was found guilty in a closed military tribunal at Pontianak after only three hours of testimony, during which time he was not allowed to speak in his own defense. He was found guilty and executed with a rifle shot to the stomach on 6 December 1947. As Daigo was commander of submarine forces, (although from 8 November 1943 the 22nd Special Guard Division based at Balikpapan, Borneo fell nominally under his command), his connection (if any) with the events in Pontianak from 23 April 1943 – 28 June 1944 remain very unclear. Whereas other "Class B" war criminals found guilty of professional negligence for atrocities committed by junior staff under their nominal command were sentenced to several years in prison,Minear, Victor's Justice the speed and secrecy surrounding his trial, and the severity and brutality of his punishment, have created questions which remain unanswered.

Notable Positions Held

*Crewmember, BB ''Kongo'' - 1 December 1916 – 1 April 1917 *Chief Equipping Officer, SS ''RO-64'' - 15 January 1925 – 30 April 1925 *Commanding Officer, SS ''RO-64'' - 30 April 1925 – 1 December 1925 *Staff Officer, Yokosuka Naval District - 1 December 1925 – 1 March 1926 *ComSubDiv 9–1 December 1932 – 15 November 1933 *ComSubDiv 19–15 November 1933 – 15 November 1934 *Commanding Officer, CL ''Yubari'' - 15 November 1934 – 25 May 1935 *Commanding Officer, CL ''Naka'' - 25 May 1935 – 15 November 1935 *Commanding Officer, CL ''Kuma'' - 15 November 1935 – 1 December 1936 *Commanding Officer, CA ''Takao'' - 1 December 1936 – 3 June 1938 *Commanding Officer, CA ''Ashigara'' - 3 June 1938 – 1 December 1938 *ComSubRon 5–20 October 1941 – 10 July 1942 *Acting Commanding Officer, Kure SubRon - 31 August 1942 – 1 April 1943 *ComSubRon 11–1 April 1943 – 20 October 1943 *Commander-in-Chief, 6th Fleet - 1 May 1945 – 15 September 1945

Dates of Promotion

*Midshipman - 17 July 1912 *Ensign - 1 December 1913 *Sublieutenant - 13 December 1915 *Lieutenant - 1 December 1918 *Lieutenant Commander - 1 December 1924 *Commander - 30 November 1929 *Captain - 15 November 1934 *Rear Admiral - 15 November 1940 *Vice Admiral - 1 November 1943

Ancestry

References

Books

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External links

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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daigo, Tadashige Imperial Japanese Navy admirals Japanese admirals of World War II 1891 births 1947 deaths Kazoku People from Chiyoda, Tokyo Japanese people convicted of war crimes Executed military personnel People executed by the Netherlands by firearm Japanese people executed abroad Executed Japanese people People executed for war crimes