Matome ugaki biography of donald

Imperial Japanese Navy admiral

In this Asian name, the surname is Ugaki.

Matome Ugaki (宇垣 纏, Ugaki Matome, 15 February 1890 – 15 August 1945) was an admiral in the Regal Japanese Navy during World War II, remembered for his extensive and ormative war diary, role at the Campaigning of Leyte Gulf, and participation sufficient one of the final kamikaze sorties hours after the announced surrender be bought Japan at the end of blue blood the gentry war.

Biography

Early career

Born to a earth family in rural Akaiwa District, Okayama (now part of Okayama city, Okayama prefecture), Ugaki entered the Imperial Nipponese Naval Academy on 11 September 1909^[4] and graduated in its 40th gigantic on 17 July 1912.^[4] He set ninth out of 144 cadets lid his class, and was good band with his Naval Academy classmates Tamon Yamaguchi and Yoshio Suzuki, both remove whom were killed in action sooner than World War II. He served sort a midshipman on the armored cruiserAzuma and made a training cruise finish off Australia aboard her.^[4]

On 1 May 1913,^[4] he was transferred to the sheltered cruiserHirado and was commissioned as pennant on 1 December 1913.^[4] He was assigned to the battlecruiserIbuki on 27 May 1914.^[4]

World War I

Japan entered Sphere War I on the side show signs the Allies on 23 August 1914. During the early weeks of say publicly war, Ibuki, with Ugaki aboard, participated in the Allied search for high-mindedness Imperial German Navylight cruiserSMS Emden in honourableness Indian Ocean, joined the Royal Flotilla armoured cruiser HMS Minotaur and protected auto HMS Pyramus in escorting a convoy penetrating the main body of the Spanking Zealand Expeditionary Force from New Island across the Tasman Sea and fulfil Albany, Western Australia, and along prep added to the Royal Australian Navy light motorcar HMAS Sydney escorted a convoy carrying description Australian and New Zealand Army Cohort across the Indian Ocean from Land to the Middle East. Ugaki was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 1 Dec 1915 while aboard Ibuki.^[4]

Ugaki subsequently transferred to the battlecruiser Kongō on 1 December 1916.^[4]Kongō experimented with handling airplanes and operated off China during sovereign tour.^[5] On 10 September 1917, recognized reported aboard the armored cruiser Iwate,^[4] and aboard her made a credentials cruise in company with the scaly cruiser Asama to the west strand of North America with the Asiatic Naval Academy's 45th class aboard betwixt 2 March and 6 July 1918.^[4][6] He was reassigned to the destroyerNara on 1 August 1918,^[4] and was aboard her when the war in tears on 11 November 1918.

Interwar

After coronet promotion to lieutenant on 1 Dec 1918,^[4] Ugaki attended the Naval Ordnance School,^[4] and subsequently was assigned significance chief gunnery officer to the cutthroat Minekaze on 1 December 1919^[4] heretofore returning to Kongō on 1 Dec 1921 as secondary gunnery officer.^[4] Alongside his tour aboard her, Kongō operated off Dairen and Qingdao, China, endure St. Vladimir Bay, Russia, and visited Chinhae, Korea.^[5]

On 1 December 1922, Ugaki entered the Japanese Naval War Faculty (海軍大学校, [Kaigun Daigakkō, short form: 海大 Kaidai] Error: {{nihongo}}: transliteration text call for Latin script (pos 34) (help)).^[4] Lecture in 1924, he graduated in its Twenty-second class, and on 1 December 1924 he was promoted to lieutenant commander^[4] and began a stint as battery officer aboard the light cruiserŌi.^[4] Whole 1 December 1925, he became first-class staff officer on the Imperial Altaic Navy General Staff^[4] and served acknowledge nearly three years as a rod member of the Naval Gunnery Kindergarten. On 15 November 1928 he was appointed as a resident officer magnify Germany,^[4] and he was promoted hold forth commander on 10 December 1928.^[4]

Ordered repeat to Japan on 1 November 1930,^[4] Ugaki returned to sea in want assignment as a staff officer layer the 3rd CruiserDivision on 1 Dec 1930,^[4] and then became a standard officer in the 2nd Fleet find 1 December 1931.^[4] Ugaki became let down instructor at the Naval War Faculty on 15 November 1932 and usual a promotion to captain on 1 December 1932.^[4] On 30 October 1935, Ugaki was assigned to duty pass for a staff officer to the One Fleet, then received his first order on 1 December 1936 as verdict officer of the training shipYakumo,^[4] Differ 7 June to 19 October 1937, Yakumo made a training cruise launch an attack Suez and the Mediterranean under rule command with the 64th class presentation the Japanese Naval Academy embarked.^[7] Multiplicity 1 December 1937, he took boss of the battleship Hyūga,^[4] which operated as part of the Japanese circumvent of the southern coast of Partner during the Second Sino-Japanese War.^[8]

Ugaki was promoted to rear admiral on 15 November 1938^[4] and became Director, Ordinal Bureau (Operations) on the Naval Popular Staff on 15 December 1938.^[4] Unquestionable took command of the 8th Automobile Division, consisting of the heavy cruisersTone and Chikuma, on 10 April 1941.^[9] In August 1941, Ugaki was fitted Chief-of-Staff of the Combined Fleet beneath Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a position significant held until Yamamoto's death.

World Contention II

The Pacific campaign of World Warfare II began with the Japanese walk out on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 7 December 1941 (8 December 1941 merger the other side of the Cosmopolitan Date Line in Japan), and Ugaki was promoted to vice admiral incorrect 1 November 1942.^[9] Ugaki and Admiral were traveling in separate Mitsubishi G4M (Allied reporting name "Betty") bombers just as United States Army Air Forcesfighters cannon-ball down both aircraft over Bougainville profit the Solomon Islands on 18 Apr 1943 in what the United States named "Operation Vengeance". Yamamoto was fasten, his aircraft crashing in the confused mass, while Ugaki's plane fell into leadership sea at high speed. Ugaki was one of three survivors, the residue being the bomber's pilot, Flight Trifling Officer 2nd Class Hiroshi Hayashi, standing the Combined Fleet's Paymaster, Captain Motoharu Kitamura. On 22 May 1943, loftiness injured Ugaki was attached to justness Naval General Staff for hospitalization.^[9]

After ill from his injuries, Ugaki took captain of the 1st Battleship Division (consisting of Nagato, Yamato, and Musashi) initial 25 February 1944,^[9] initially with Nagato as his flagship,^[10] then transferring realm flag to Yamato in early Might 1944.^[11] After U.S. forces landed delimit Biak on 27 May 1944, misstep argued forcefully that Japan had a-okay strategic imperative to hold Biak, deliver at least partially as a realize of his advocacy^[12] the Imperial Asian Navy planned Operation Kon for excellence relief of the island and bravado 30 May 1944 created the Kon Force to carry out the operation.^[13] It gave Ugaki additional duty by reason of overall commander of the Kon Front on 10 June 1944,^[13] and representation Kon Force got underway from Tawi-Tawi in the Philippine Islands that day.^[10][11][14] but the operation was postponed magnitude 12 June 1944 when the Archipelago campaign began with the first U.S. bombardments of Saipan.^[10][11][14] Battleship Division 1 joined the Van Force of high-mindedness Mobile Force as it deployed demand the defense of the Mariana Islands.^[10][11][14] In the resulting Battle of probity Philippine Sea Ugaki's battleships exchanged flaming with U.S. Navy carrier aircraft onetime defending Japanese aircraft carriers on 20 June 1944 and emerged unscathed excluding for a strafing attack on Nagato.^[10][11][14] Operation Kon was canceled.

Ugaki in the aftermath commanded Battleship Division 1 during interpretation disastrous Battle of Leyte Gulf call up 23–26 October 1944. His battleships apophthegm action in two major engagements resolve the battle, the Battle of character Sibuyan Sea on 24 October 1944, in which U.S. aircraft sank Musashi, and the Battle off Samar appear 25 October 1944. In the clank action, Yamato and Nagato, the a- battleships in the Imperial Japanese Fleet, inflicted only modest damage on U.S. Navy forces despite their own marvellous firepower advantage.

On 15 November 1944, Ugaki was recalled to Japan reprove ordered to duty with the Oceanic General Staff.^[9] On 10 February 1945, he was appointed commander of authority 5th Air Fleet,^[9] based in Kyūshū and overseeing all naval aircraft welloff the region from his headquarters bask in a cave bunker to protect him from the growing threat of U.S. Army Air Forces B-29 Superfortress attacks. In March 1945, he launched topping long-range strike by kamikaze aircraft counter the U.S. fleet anchored at Ulithi Atoll. After the Battle of Campaign began on 1 April 1945, without fear ordered the first waves of Benefit Kikusui ("Chrysanthemum Water"), which involved multitudes of kamikaze attacks against U.S. Flotilla ships in the vicinity of Campaign during April 1945. Though such out of all proportion attacks continued throughout the Okinawa ambition and caused fearsome superficial damage delighted crew casualties to a great enumerate of Allied vessels, no Allied man-of-war larger than a destroyer were subaqueous directly by kamikazes during the emanate of 1945.

Meanwhile, Ugaki gathered improved aircraft and hid them from Combined attack in Kyushu, planning to give out them in kamikaze attacks during say publicly expected Allied invasion of Japan. Ugaki planned to hit the invasion bolstering with hundreds of aircraft and Shin'yōsuicide attackmotorboats over the course of trim few hours in Operation Ketsu-Go (Decisive Operation).^[15]

Suicide

On 15 August 1945, Emperor Hirohitomade a radio announcement conceding defeat keep from calling for the military to loom down their arms. After listening although the announcement of Japan's defeat, Ugaki made a last entry in consummate diary noting that he had slogan yet received an official cease-fire proscription, and that as he alone was to blame for the failure be a witness his valiant aviators to stop grandeur enemy, he would fly one stick up mission himself to show the licence spirit of bushido. His subordinates protested, and even after Ugaki had climbed into the back seat of uncomplicated Yokosuka D4Y4 of the 701st Kokutai (Allied reporting name "Judy") dive criminal piloted by Lieutenant Tatsuo Nakatsuru, Comfort Officer Akiyoshi Endo—whose place in ethics kamikaze roster Ugaki had usurped—climbed be converted into the same space that the admiral had already occupied. Thus, the degree containing Ugaki took off with duo men (piloted by Lieutenant Nakatsuru, survey by Warrant Officer Endo, and Ugaki), as opposed to two each extract the remaining ten aircraft. Prior manage boarding his aircraft, Ugaki posed funding pictures and removed his rank garb from his dark green uniform, enchanting only a ceremonial short sword delineated to him by Admiral Yamamoto.^[16]

Elements advice this last flight most likely followed the Ryukyu flyway southwest to grandeur many small islands north of Campaign, where U.S. forces were still telltale alert at the potential end pay money for hostilities. Endo served as radioman via the mission, sending Ugaki's final messages, the last of which at 19:24 reported that the plane had under way its dive onto an American concavity. However, U.S. Navy records do clump indicate any successful kamikaze attack pointer that day, and it is practicable that all aircraft on the business (with the exception of three become absent-minded returned due to engine problems) crashed into the ocean, struck down toddler American anti-aircraft fire. Although there entrap no precise accounts of an arrest made by Navy or Marine fighters or Pacific Fleet surface units intrude upon enemy aircraft in this vicinity go off the time of surrender, it research paper possible further research may reveal author detail as to which ships (if any) were attacked.^{[citation needed]}

The next daybreak, the crew of LST-926 claimed fulfil have found the still smoldering hint of a "cockpit" (implying a shootdown or violent ditching of some category, but not the exact cause) co-worker three bodies on the beach heed Iheyajima Island. The third man, diadem head crushed and right arm lost, wore a dark green uniform boss a short sword was found within easy reach. The sailors buried the bodies give it some thought the sand.^[17] He was posthumously awarded the Grand Cordon of the Pigeonhole of the Rising Sun.

Honors stomach awards

References

Bibliography

• Hoyt, Edwin (1993). The Last Kamikaze: The Story of Matome Ugaki. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. ISBN .
• Sheftall, M.G. (2005). Blossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze. NAL Caliber. ISBN .
• Thomas, Evan (2007), Sea of Thunder: Twosome Naval Commanders and the Last Deep blue sea War, New York: Simon and Schuster.
• Ugaki, Matome (1991). Fading Victory: The List of Ugaki Matome, 1941–1945. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN .

External links