was a

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 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 ...

who served during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, and in 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 ...

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 ...

. Yamaguchi′s carrier force was part of 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 ...

. He subsequently participated in the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under Adm ...

, where he was killed in action, choosing to go down with the aircraft carrier when she was scuttled after being crippled by aircraft from and .

Biography

Early career

Yamaguchi was born in Koishikawa

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, and was the third son of a former

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

retainer of

Matsue Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Izumo Province in modern-day Shimane Prefecture.

. His given name "Tamon" was the childhood name of the medieval hero Kusunoki Masashige. He attended the

Kaisei Academy The Kaisei Academy (開成学園) is a preparatory private secondary school for boys located in the Arakawa ward of Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in 1871. The Kaisei Academy has since educated notable figures across many different fields and is ...

and was accepted into the 40th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, which he graduated in 1912, ranked 21st out of 144 cadets. His classmates included

Takijirō Ōnishi was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II who came to be known as the father of the ''kamikaze''. Early career Ōnishi was a native of Ashida village (part of present-day Tamba City) in Hyōgo Prefecture. He graduated fr ...

and

Matome Ugaki was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, remembered for his extensive and revealing war diary, role at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and kamikaze suicide hours after the announced surrender of Japan at the end of the war. ...

. As an ensign, 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 commissioning as a

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 sub ...

, he completed naval artillery and torpedo school training and was assigned to the 3rd Submarine Squadron in December 1916. He was dispatched to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

with the Japanese fleet as part of Japan's contribution to the

Anglo-Japanese Alliance The first was an alliance between Britain and Japan, signed in January 1902. The alliance was signed in London at Lansdowne House on 30 January 1902 by Lord Lansdowne, British Foreign Secretary, and Hayashi Tadasu, Japanese diplomat. A dip ...

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 ...

and participated in combat operations as an officer on the destroyer based on

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

from July 1918. He was promoted to the rank of captain in December of that year. In January 1919, he was assigned to a navigation unit with the naval squadron escorting

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...

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 received by the Japanese government as part of reparation payments from Germany at the end of

. He served in shore-based administrative assignments at

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 coasts of central and northern Honshū from the Kii Peninsula to Shimokita Peninsula. Its headquarters, a ...

(from July 1919),

Kure Naval District was the second of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the Seto Inland Sea, Inland Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coasts of southern Honshū from Wakayama prefecture, Wakayam ...

(from October 1919) and

Sasebo Naval District was the third of five main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the western and southern coastline of Kyūshū, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and Korea, as well as patrols in the East China Sea and t ...

(from December 1920). In March 1921, Yamaguchi was sent to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to attend

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

at the Navy's expense, and returned to Japan in May 1923. On his return to Japan, he was assigned to the battleship for six months, before serving as an instructor at the Submarine School from December 1923 to December 1924. He then attended the Naval Staff College, from which he graduated with honors in November 1926. From November 1927, he was assigned to the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff. Yamaguchi was promoted to commander in December 1928. Assigned to the Japanese delegation at the London Naval Conference 1930, he joined Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in vocal opposition to the terms of the disarmament treaty. After his return to Japan, he was assigned as

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

on the cruiser from July 1930. From November 1930, he was assigned to the staff of the Combined Fleet. He served as an instructor at the Naval Staff College from November 1932 and was promoted to the rank of

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 ...

in December of that year. Yamaguchi was the naval attaché to the Japanese embassy at

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

from June 1934 to November 1936. On his return to Japan, he received his first command, the cruiser from December 1936 to December 1937, followed by the battleship to December 1938.

World War II

With the start of the

, Ise was assigned to patrols off the southern Chinese coast. Yamaguchi was promoted to

on 15 November 1938. From December, he was the chief-of-staff of the

IJN 5th Fleet The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, active during the early portions of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and again in World War II, primarily in the Aleutian campaign, during which it was augmented and designated the Northern Area Force. ...

and from November 1939 was on the staff of the

IJN 1st Fleet The was the main battleship fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy. History First established on 28 December 1903, the IJN 1st Fleet was created during the Russo-Japanese War when the Imperial General Headquarters divided the Readiness Fleet into ...

. in January 1940, he became commander of the 1st Combined Air Group, and in this capacity directed a saturation bombing campaign in central China through 1940, including the

Bombing of Chongqing The bombing of Chongqing (, ja, 重慶爆撃), from 18 February 1938 to 23 August 1943, were massive terror bombing operations authorized by the Empire of Japan's Imperial General Headquarters and conducted by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Se ...

. In November 1940, Yamaguchi was reassigned to command the 2nd Carrier Division, consisting 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 ...

s and . In preparation for the

, Yamaguchi trained his flight crews ruthlessly, which led to many accidents and complaints; however, the training paid off after the start of combat operations. Following the successful strike against the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, Yamaguchi′s carrier force participated in the Battle of Wake Island. After the start of 1942, he was sent south to assist in the

Battle of Ambon The Battle of Ambon (30 January – 3 February 1942) occurred on the island of Ambon in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), as part of the Japanese offensive on the Dutch colony during World War II. In the face of a combined defense by Dutc ...

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 ...

, followed by the Bombing of Darwin in February. In March, his carriers supported Japanese forces in the Battle of Java, sweeping the Dutch East Indies of remaining Allied warships. In April, he crossed into the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

to support the large-scale raid against the Royal Navy at and near Ceylon. Yamaguchi returned to Japan briefly in late April for maintenance on his fleet. In June 1942, he was assigned to the Midway operation. During the battle, on 4 June 1942, Yamaguchi disagreed with the fleet commander, Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo. A reconnaissance plane discovered an American aircraft carrier () near Midway. At that moment, the Japanese planes had been armed for a second strike on Midway, with the "Kate" level bombers carrying bombs rather than torpedoes. Yamaguchi called for an immediate strike on the US ship, with the planes armed as they were, but Nagumo decided instead to wait until the planes had been re-armed. Shortly afterward, American carrier aircraft destroyed all the Japanese carriers except Yamaguchi′s flagship ''Hiryū''. Yamaguchi quickly ordered two successive attacks on ''Yorktown'' which crippled it. ''Hiryū'' was then destroyed by aircraft from , plus some orphaned ''Yorktown'' aircraft. Renzo Kita, Last Moment of Admiral Yamaguchi

Renzo Kita, Last Moment of Admiral Yamaguchi

Yamaguchi was killed in action, choosing to go down with the wrecked aircraft carrier. He and the captain of ''Hiryū'', Tomeo Kaku, summoned all officers and crew to the flight deck, and Yamaguchi addressed them, taking responsibility for the loss of ''Hiryū'' and ''Soryu''. He announced, "I shall remain on board to the end. I command all of you to leave the ship and continue your loyal service to His Majesty, the Emperor." Yamaguchi then led his men in three Banzai cheers for the Emperor. As the men began leaving, Kaku turned to Yamaguchi and said "I am going to share the fate of the ship, sir." The admiral agreed, and both men began calmly admiring the moon. Yamaguchi said to Kaku, "Let us enjoy the beauty of the moon." "How bright it shines," Kaku agreed, "It must be in its twenty-first day." Yamaguchi refused to allow his staff officers to stay with them. He asked Commander Ito for two last messages; the first was for Admiral Nagumo: "I have no words to apologize for what has happened. I only wish for a stronger Japanese Navy and revenge." The second was for Captain Toshio Abe, commanding the destroyer : "Scuttle the ''Hiryū'' with your torpedoes." All the men, including Yamaguchi and Kaku, then shared naval biscuits and water, in a farewell toast. As Commander Ito left, Yamaguchi handed him his cap as a keepsake for his family. Yamaguchi and Kaku were last seen on the bridge of the stricken carrier waving to the crew who were abandoning ship. Captain Abe carried out his final order and the torpedoed ''Hiryū''. One torpedo missed and the other struck near the bow without the typical plume of water, although the detonation was quite visible. ''Hiryū'' sank four hours later. Yamaguchi was posthumously promoted to the rank of vice admiral and awarded the Order of the Golden Kite, 1st class.

Decorations

* 1939 –

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

, 2nd class * 1945 – JPN Kinshi-kunsho 1Class BAR

Order of the Golden Kite, 1st class

Promotions

*Midshipman – 17 July 1912 *Ensign – 1 December 1913 *Sublieutenant – 13 December 1915 *Lieutenant – 1 December 1918 *Lieutenant Commander – 1 December 1924 *Commander – 10 December 1928 *Captain – 1 December 1932 *Rear Admiral – 15 November 1938 *Vice Admiral – 5 June 1942 (Posthumous)

In film and fiction

In the 1960 film '' Hawaii Midway Ocean Combat; The Storm in The Pacific (ハワイ・ミッドウェイ大海空戦太平洋の嵐)'', Yamaguchi was portrayed by

Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and '' ...

. In the 1970 film ''

Tora! Tora! Tora! ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' ( ja, トラ・トラ・トラ！) is a 1970 epic film, epic war film that dramatizes the Empire of Japan, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The film was produced by Elmo Williams and directed by Richard Fleischer, T ...

'', Yamaguchi was portrayed by Susumu Fujita. In the 1976 film '' Midway'', Yamaguchi was portrayed by Hawaiian actor John Fujioka. He appears in the 2009 manga series by Kouta Hirano, '' Drifters''. In the 2016 anime adaptation, he is voiced by Yutaka Nakano. In Toei's 2011 war film '' Isoroku'', Yamaguchi was portrayed by Hiroshi Abe. Yamaguchi (voiced by Yutaka Nakano) is one of the protagonists of the '' Drifters'' manga and anime. In the 2019 film '' Midway'', Yamaguchi is portrayed by Tadanobu Asano.

References

*Fuchida, Mitsuo (with C.H. Kawakami and Roger Pineau), Midway - The Battle that Doomed Japan: The Japanese Navy's Story, Annapolis, 1955. * *Peattie, Mark R., ''Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909-1941'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, *

External links

* * *
Kita Renzo's famous painting of Yamaguchi's Last Moments

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamaguchi, Tamon 1892 births 1942 deaths Captains who went down with the ship People from Tokyo Battle of Midway Imperial Japanese Navy admirals Japanese admirals of World War II Japanese military personnel killed in World War II Japanese military attachés Princeton University alumni Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun