was an admiral in the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

Early career

Abe was born in Yonezawa city in

Yamagata prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Yamagata Prefecture has a population of 1,079,950 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 9,325 km² (3,600 sq mi). Yamagata Prefecture borders Akita Prefecture to the north, ...

in northern Japan. He graduated from the 39th class of the

Imperial Japanese Naval Academy The was a school established to train line officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was originally located in Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima in 1888. Students stu ...

in 1911, with a ranking of 26th out of a class of 148 cadets. 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 ...

, he served 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 ...

. After his promotion to

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

on 1 December 1912, he was assigned to the cruisers and , and the battleship . After attending

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

school and

naval artillery Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for naval gunfire support, shore bombardment and anti-aircraft roles. The term generally refers to tube-launched projectile-firi ...

school, he was promoted to sub-lieutenant and served on the

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 ...

, followed by the cruiser during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. However, it does not appear that Abe experienced combat during his tour of duty. After the end of the war, he served in mostly staff positions until he was given his first command on 20 July 1922; the destroyer ''Ushio''. He then commanded the destroyer , and was promoted to

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

the following year on 1 December 1923. He was captain of the destroyer for one year in 1925. Abe returned to the Naval Staff College in 1926. He was promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

on 10 December 1928, and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 1 December 1932. In 1936, he assumed command of the cruiser , and a year later, that of the battleship .

Pacific War

On 15 November 1938, Abe was promoted to the rank of

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 ...

. He was thus in command of Cruiser Division 8 (CruDiv8) during the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

, and the subsequent

Battle of Wake Island The Battle of Wake Island was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on Wake Island. The assault began simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor naval and air bases in Hawaii on the morning of 8 December 1941 (7 December ...

. During the

Guadalcanal campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in th ...

, as commander of Combat Division 11 (BatDiv 3 and CruDiv 8), he led his ships as the vanguard group at the

Battle of the Eastern Solomons The naval Battle of the Eastern Solomons (also known as the Battle of the Stewart Islands and, in Japanese sources, as the Second Battle of the Solomon Sea) took place on 24–25 August 1942, and was the third carrier battle of the Pacific ca ...

from 23–25 August 1942 and the

Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, fought during 25–27 October 1942, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Santa Cruz or Third Battle of Solomon Sea, in Japan as the Battle of the South Pacific ( ''Minamitaiheiyō kaisen''), was the fourt ...

from 26–28 October. He was promoted to vice admiral on 1 November.Dull, A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy However, during the

Naval Battle of Guadalcanal The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the Battle of the Solomons, the Battle of Friday the 13th, or, in Japanese sources, the , took place from 12 to 15 November 1942, and was t ...

on 12–13 November, when assigned to bombard Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, he broke off his attack after encountering and almost completely crippling in 40 minutes of intense combat

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

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 ...

Daniel Callaghan's Task Group 67.4 (TG 67.4). Abe lost his

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

, the battleship , which he ordered scuttled after it had been seriously damaged, as well as two destroyers. Abe himself was wounded – and his Chief-of-Staff (Captain Masakane Suzuki) was killed – by

machine-gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

fire from the , a destroyer that he sank afterwards. But he still had the undamaged battleship to bombard Henderson field and enough destroyers to finish off damaged allied vessels. His failure to aggressively push through his attack against an inferior enemy force created tremendous controversy, and he was relieved of his command by Admiral

Isoroku Yamamoto was a Marshal Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II until he was killed. Yamamoto held several important posts in the IJN, and undertook many of its changes and reor ...

. Abe was forced to resign from the Imperial Japanese Navy soon afterward in March 1943. He died in 1949. His younger brother, , was also a career navy officer, and was captain of the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

. Abe went down with ''Shinano'', when she was torpedoed and sunk by while performing trials.

Notable positions held

* Crewmember, BB ''Kongō'' – 27 May 1914 – 1 December 1914 * Staff Officer, 3rd Fleet – 1 December 1919 – 10 November 1921 * Torpedo Officer, CL ''Tama'' – 10 May 1923 – 1 May 1924 * Senior Staff Officer, DesRon 2 – 30 November 1929 – 31 October 1931 * ComDesDiv 1 – 31 October 1931 – 16 May 1932 * ComDesDiv 2 – 15 November 1932 – 15 November 1933 * ComDesDiv 23 – 15 November 1933 – 15 November 1934 * Commanding Officer, CL ''Jintsu'' – 1 December 1936 – 1 December 1937 * Commanding Officer, BB ''Fusō'' – 1 December 1937 – 1 April 1938 * Commanding Officer, Air Group 14 - 1 April 1938 - 15 December 1938 * Chief Instructor of the Naval Academy - 15 December 1938 - 1 November 1940 * ComDesRon 6 – 15 November 1940 – 21 July 1941 * ComCruDiv 8 – 1 August 1941 – 14 July 1942 * ComBatDiv 11 – 14 July 1942 – 20 December 1942

Dates of promotions

* Midshipman – 18 July 1911 * Ensign – 1 December 1912 * Sublieutenant – 1 December 1914 * Lieutenant – 1 December 1917 * Lieutenant Commander – 1 December 1923 * Commander – 10 December 1928 * Captain – 1 December 1932 * Rear Admiral – 15 November 1938 * Vice Admiral – 1 November 1942

References

Books

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Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abe, Hiroaki 1889 births 1949 deaths People from Yamagata Prefecture Japanese admirals of World War II Imperial Japanese Navy admirals Battle of Midway