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 surrend ...

, and briefly served as Navy Minister in the 1940s.

Biography

Nomura was born in Hioki, Kagoshima prefecture. He graduated from the 35th 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 st ...

on 20 November 1907, ranked 43rd out of 172 cadets. He served his midshipman tour on the cruisers and . After commissioning 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 25 December 1908, he was assigned to the destroyers and . After completing

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

and basic

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, s ...

training, he was assigned to the battleship , and was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 1 December 1910. Nomura subsequently served on a large number of vessels in the early Japanese navy, including the gunboat , cruiser , the gunboat and cruiser . Promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 1 December 1913, he was assigned to the destroyer ''Yayoi'', followed by the destroyers , and his first command, the destroyer . Nomura 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 ran ...

on 1 December 1919. He graduated from the Naval Staff College with honors in 1920. He subsequently served in a number of staff positions, including that of

naval attaché A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includ ...

to Germany from August 1922 to September 1924. After his return to Japan, he was promoted to commander on 1 December 1924. In April 1927, Nomura was part of the Japanese delegation to the

Geneva Naval Conference The Geneva Naval Conference was a conference held to discuss naval arms limitation, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1927. The aim of the conference was to extend the existing limits on naval construction which had been agreed in the Washington N ...

. He became a captain on 10 December 1928, and assumed command of the

submarine tender A submarine tender is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally do not have the ability to carry large amounts of food, fuel, torpedoes, and ...

in December 1928. Nomura visited Germany again during most of 1929, and was part of the Japanese delegation to the London Naval Treaty talks. After his return to Japan, he assumed command of the cruiser , followed by the aircraft carrier from February 1932-October 1933. In 1934, he was Commandant of the Submarine School. Nomura was promoted to rear admiral on 15 November 1934. As rear admiral, he served in numerous staff positions within the

Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff The was the highest organ within the Imperial Japanese Navy. In charge of planning and operations, it was headed by an Admiral headquartered in Tokyo. History Created in 1893, the Navy General Staff took over operational (as opposed to adminis ...

, including head of Naval Intelligence in 1937. He was promoted to vice admiral on 15 November 1938. He served as commander in chief of the 3rd Fleet from November 1939-September 1940. Nomura was sent as naval liaison to Europe as part of Japan's participation in the

Tripartite Pact The Tripartite Pact, also known as the Berlin Pact, was an agreement between Germany, Italy, and Japan signed in Berlin on 27 September 1940 by, respectively, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Galeazzo Ciano and Saburō Kurusu. It was a defensive milit ...

from November 1940 to August 1943, and was stationed as

in Berlin. During his time in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, he was active in attempting to procure the latest in military technology for Japan, especially with regards to developments pertaining to submarines and aircraft. He returned to Japan on the U-boat , which was presented to Japan by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy as the . After his return to Japan, Nomura was briefly commander in chief of the

Kure Naval District was the second of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the Inland Sea of Japan and the Pacific coasts of southern Honshū from Wakayama to Yamaguchi prefectures, eastern and northern K ...

. On 1 March 1944, he was promoted to admiral. He served as Naval Minister in the cabinet of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Hideki Tōjō Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assista ...

for only five days, from 17–22 July 1944."World Battlefronts: Admirals' Week"
''Time'' magazine, July 24, 1944 In the final stages of the Pacific War, he served as commander in chief of the

Yokosuka Naval District was the first of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included Tokyo Bay and the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coasts of central and northern Honshū from the Kii Peninsula to Shimokita Peninsula. Its h ...

and of the Maritime Escort Fleet. He entered the reserves on 15 October 1945 and died at the age of 88 in 1973. Nomura was the center of a controversy in 1971, when he headed a group of Japanese war veterans in an attempt to recover the destroyer after it had been sold for scrap by the

Republic of China Navy The Republic of China Navy (ROCN; ), also called the ROC Navy and colloquially the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF). The service was formerly commonly just called the Chinese Navy during World W ...

. He only managed to recover the steering wheel.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Bio Entry on Naval History.com

''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine, July 24, 1944 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nomura, Naokuni 1885 births 1973 deaths Imperial Japanese Navy admirals Military personnel from Kagoshima Prefecture Japanese admirals of World War II Ministers of the Imperial Japanese Navy