, was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Biography

A native of Niigata Prefecture, Koyanagi was a graduate of the 42nd class of the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in 1914. He served his

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 ...

duty 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 ...

. Commissioned a sub-lieutenant in 1915, he was assigned to the cruiser . After completing torpedo and gunnery schools, he served on the crew of the cruiser 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 ...

s , and . After graduation from the Navy Staff College in 1926 and his promotion to lieutenant commander, he was assigned his first command: the destroyer . He served as an instructor from 1929–1938, specializing in destroyer operations and torpedo warfare, before returning to sea again as the commander of ''Iwate''. In October 1940, he became

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. ...

of the cruiser . At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Koyanagi was

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 ...

of the battleship , and he commanded her during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. 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 ...

in December 1942. Later, Koyanagi commanded Destroyer Squadron 10 (DesRon 10) 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 ...

. He was appointed

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

of the IJN 2nd Fleet under Admiral

Takeo Kurita was a vice admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Kurita commanded IJN 2nd Fleet, the main Japanese attack force during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history. Biography Early life Takeo Kurita ...

in July 1943. A strong believer in the '' Kantai kessen'' naval doctrine of a decisive battle, Koyanagi criticized the battle plans for the

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fou ...

in October 1944, as the plan called for concentrating Japanese attacks on enemy transports rather than warships. During the Leyte campaign, he was aboard the

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 ...

''Atago'' with Kurita when the fleet was ambushed by the American

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 and . ''Atago'' was hit by four torpedoes from ''Darter'' and capsized at 05:53 on 23 October 1944. Koyanagi survived and transferred to the battleship with Kurita. He was later severely injured by fragments from a near miss on 26 October and hospitalized until August 1945. Surviving the war, Koyanagi was promoted to vice admiral on 1 November 1945, and retired 10 days later. After the war, Koyagani was interrogated by Lieutenant Commander James A. Field, Jr. of the United States Navy Reserve in Tokyo on 24 October 1945. Field noted that Koyanagi clarified questions that the U.S. Navy strategists had on the Japanese decision to go north rather than enter Leyte Gulf on the morning of 25 October.Interrogations Koyohagi ''USSBS n°35/149''
/ref> Koyanagi died on 6 August 1978.

References

Books

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External links

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World War II Data Base

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koyanagi, Tomiji 1893 births 1978 deaths Military personnel from Niigata Prefecture Japanese admirals of World War II Imperial Japanese Navy admirals Battle of Midway