, 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 ...

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 opposing ...

Biography

Although born into the Kondō family of

Shizuoka city is the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and the prefecture's second-largest city in both population and area. It has been populated since prehistoric times. the city had an estimated population of 690,881 in 106,087 households, an ...

Shizuoka Prefecture, Kimura was adopted by a family in Tottori city,

Tottori prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the least populous prefecture of Japan at 570,569 (2016) and has a geographic area of . Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hiro ...

soon after birth, and considered Tottori his official residence. He was a graduate of the 41st 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 ...

, but was a mediocre student, placing 107 out of 118 cadets. Kimura served his cadet duty on the , making a cruise to

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

and to the west coast of 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 territori ...

. Commissioned as a midshipman on 9 December 1913, he transferred to on his return in 1914. After he was commissioned as an

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, he was assigned to the battleship and . After completing required coursework in

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 ...

warfare and

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 ...

, he was posted to the South Pacific in the closing stages of

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 ...

. On his return to Japan in 1918, he was posted to the . After his promotion 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 ...

in 1920, he commanded numerous

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s and

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s. In 1926, after he 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 ...

, he was given command of the destroyer . He subsequently captained the destroyers , , , ,

river gunboat A river gunboat is a type of gunboat adapted for river operations. River gunboats required shallow draft for river navigation. They would be armed with relatively small caliber cannons, or a mix of cannons and machine guns. If they carried mor ...

s , , destroyer , Destroyer Group 16, Destroyer Group 21, Destroyer Group 8, auxiliary seaplane tender ''Kagu Maru'', auxiliary oiler ''Shiretoko'', and cruisers and . He was promoted to commander in 1932 and to captain in 1937. Kimura was captain of ''Suzuya'' 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 ...

. He later assisted in the rescue of the crew of the after that cruiser had been hit and sunk by American bombers during 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 ...

. On 1 November 1942, Kimura was promoted to Rear Admiral. He subsequently served in a number of staff positions, and was also commander of Desron3, with , , , , ''Yukikaze'', , , and . He was assigned to escort eight transports with 6000 soldiers of the

IJA 51st Division The was an infantry Division (military unit), division of the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . It was formed on 10 July 1940 at Utsunomiya, Tochigi, simultaneously with 52nd Division (Imperial Japanese Army), 52nd, 54th Division (I ...

and 400 marines from Rabaul to

Lae Lae () is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River and at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is the main land transport corridor between the Highl ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

. In the

Battle of the Bismarck Sea The Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2–4 March 1943) took place in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during World War II when aircraft of the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked a Japanese convoy carrying troop ...

on 3–4 March 1943,

US 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 ...

and

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

bombers inflicted severe damage on the Japanese convoy, sinking all of the transports and four destroyers. Admiral Kimura was wounded by machine gun fire in the shoulder and stomach, and his flagship, ''Shirayuki'', was among the four destroyers sunk during the engagement. He, and most of his crew, were rescued by ''Shikinami''. After recovering from his injuries, Kimura, with an augmented DesRon 1, was assigned to cover the withdrawal of Japanese troops from

Kiska Island Kiska ( ale, Qisxa, russian: Кыска) is one of the Rat Islands, a group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about long and varies in width from . It is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permission is require ...

in the

Aleutians The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large vo ...

. When poor weather threatened the withdrawal operations, Kimura disobeyed orders and remained on station until the last man was recovered. Still in command of DesRon 1, Kimura sortied from Pescadores, Formosa on 22 October 1944 to join Vice Admiral

Kiyohide Shima was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Biography A native of Miyazaki prefecture, Shima was a graduate of the 39th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1911, ranking 69th out of 148 cadets. As a midshipman, h ...

's Second Striking Force in the battle of Surigao strait, transferring his flag from when she was disabled by a torpedo fired by Lieutenant (jg) Mike Kovar's PT-137. Afterward, in 1944, he was assigned to escort reinforcements to

Leyte Island Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

and Mindoro Island in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. In December 1944, Kimura led a raiding force of cruisers , , and the destroyers (flagship), , , , , and from Cam Ranh Bay to bombard the American beachhead in Mindoro in the Philippines on the night of 26 December 1944. On 1 April 1945, Kimura became commandant of the Anti-submarine Warfare School, and the Hofu Naval Communications School. He was promoted to Vice Admiral on 1 November 1945, a few days before he entered the reserves on 10 November. Kimura had a postwar career in the salt industry, and died of stomach cancer in 1960, aged 68.

References

Books

* * * ** * *

External links

Brad Manera,(Military Historian, Australian War Memorial, 2003, ''Battle of the Bismarck Sea, 2-4 March 1943''

* *

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimura, Masatomi 1891 births 1960 deaths People from Shizuoka (city) Military personnel from Tottori Prefecture Japanese admirals of World War II Imperial Japanese Navy admirals attack on Pearl Harbor Battle of Midway Deaths from stomach cancer Deaths from cancer in Japan