Chūichi Nagumo | |
|---|---|
 Vice Admiral Nagumo (circa 1941–42) | |
| Native name | 南雲 忠一 |
| Born | 25 March 1887 |
| Died | 6 July 1944(1944-07-06) (aged 57)[1] |
| Allegiance |  Empire of Japan |
| Branch |  Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Years of service | 1908–1944 |
| Rank |  Admiral (posthumous) |
| Commands | Kisaragi,Momi,Saga,Uji,Naka, 11th Destroyer Division,Takao,Yamashiro, 1st Destroyer Squadron, 8th Squadron, Naval Torpedo School, 3rd Squadron,Naval War College,1st Air Fleet,1st Carrier Division,3rd Fleet,Sasebo Naval District,Kure Naval District,1st Fleet,Central Pacific Area Fleet,14th Air Fleet[2] |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Order of the Rising Sun (3rd class) Order of the Rising Sun (4th class) Order of the Golden Kite (3rd class) Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (1st class)[2] |
Chūichi Nagumo (南雲 忠一,Nagumo Chūichi; 25 March 1887 – 6 July 1944) was anadmiral in theImperial Japanese Navy (IJN) duringWorld War II. Nagumo led Japan's maincarrier battle group, theKido Butai, in theattack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and over the next months in successfulraids on Darwin in Australia and in theIndian Ocean. In June 1942, he participated at theBattle of Midway,[3] where his strike force suffered a crushing defeat. Nagumo was re-assigned to another fleet during theGuadalcanal campaign, and later stationed in theJapanese home islands. In 1944, he was deployed to a naval command in theMariana Islands, where he committed suicide during theBattle of Saipan.
Nagumo was born in the city ofYonezawa,Yamagata Prefecture, in northern Japan in 1887. He graduated from the 36th class of theIJN Academy in 1908, with a ranking of 8 out of a class of 191 cadets. As amidshipman, he served in theprotected cruisersSoya andNiitaka and thearmored cruiserNisshin. After his promotion toensign in 1910 he was assigned to cruiserAsama.
After attendingtorpedo andnaval artillery schools, he was promoted to sub-lieutenant and served in thebattleshipAki, followed by thedestroyerHatsuyuki. In 1914, he was promoted tolieutenant and was assigned to thebattlecruiserKirishima, followed by the destroyerSugi. He was assigned his first command, the destroyerKisaragi, on 15 December 1917.
Nagumo graduated from theNaval War College and was promoted tolieutenant commander in 1920. His specialty was torpedo and destroyer tactics.
From 1920 to 1921, he was captain of the destroyerMomi, but was soon sent to shore duty with various assignments by theIJN General Staff. He became acommander in 1924. From 1925 to 1926, Nagumo accompanied a Japanese mission to study naval warfare strategy, tactics, and equipment inWestern Europe and theUnited States.
.png)
After his return to Japan, Nagumo was assigned to duties in Chinese territorial waters. He was appointed captain of theriver gunboatSaga from 20 March 1926 to 15 October 1926, followed by the gunboatUji from 15 October 1926 to 15 November 1927. He then served as an instructor at the IJN Academy from 1927 to 1929. Nagumo was promoted tocaptain in November 1929 and assumed command of thelight cruiserNaka and from 1930 to 1931 was commander of the11th Destroyer Division. After serving in administrative positions from 1931 to 1933, he assumed command of theheavy cruiserTakao from 1933 to 1934, and the battleshipYamashiro from 1934 to 1935. He was promoted toRear Admiral on 1 November 1935.
As a Rear Admiral, Nagumo commanded the8th Cruiser Division to supportImperial Japanese Army movements in China from theYellow Sea. As a leading officer of the militaristicFleet Faction, he also received a boost in his career from political forces.
From 1937 to 1938, he was commandant of the Torpedo School, and from 1938 to 1939, he was commander of the3rd Cruiser Division. Nagumo was promoted tovice admiral on 15 November 1939. From November 1940 to April 1941, Nagumo was commandant of the Naval War College.
On 10 April 1941, Nagumo was appointedcommander-in-chief of the1st Air Fleet, the IJN's maincarrier battle group, largely due to his seniority. Many contemporaries and historians have doubted his suitability for this command, given his lack of familiarity withnaval aviation. Nagumo's friend and fellow admiralNishizō Tsukahara would say that: "He (Nagumo) was wholly unfitted by background, training, experience, and interest for a major role in Japan’s naval air arm."[4] Nagumo was appointed by the Navy General Staff, rather than the Combined Fleet. Vice-admiralJisaburō Ozawa was AdmiralIsoroku Yamamoto's choice for the command of First Air Fleet but Yamamoto did not have a strong enough case to remove Nagumo.[4]
By this time, he had visibly aged, physically and mentally. Physically, he suffered fromarthritis, possibly from his younger days as akendoka.[5] Mentally, he had become a cautious officer who carefully worked over the tactical plans of every operation in which he was involved; his inflexibility in command decisions became more apparent.[citation needed]
Admiral Tsukahara had doubts about Nagumo's appointment, and commented, "Nagumo was an officer of the old school, a specialist of torpedo and surface maneuvers.... He did not have any idea of the capability and potential of naval aviation." One son of Nagumo described him as a brooding father, obsessed with and later regretful about pressuring his sons into joining the IJN. In contrast, Nagumo's junior naval officers thought of him as a father figure.[5]
Despite his limited experience, he was a strong advocate of combining sea and air power, although he was opposed to Admiral Yamamoto's plan to attack theUnited States NavyNaval Station Pearl Harbor.[6] While commanding the First Air Fleet, Nagumo oversaw theattack on Pearl Harbor, but he was later criticized for his failure to launch a third attack,[7][8][9] which might have destroyed the fuel oil storage and repair facilities. This could have rendered the most important U.S. naval base in the Pacific useless, especially as the continued operation of the submarine base and the use of the intelligence station at the installation were critical factors in Japan's defeat in thePacific War.[10]
Nagumo was surrounded by able lieutenants such asMinoru Genda andMitsuo Fuchida. He also fought well in the early 1942 campaigns, obtaining success as a fleet commander at theBombing of Darwin and at theIndian Ocean raid on theEastern Fleet, the latter of which sank an aircraft carrier, two cruisers, and two destroyers, and caused Admiral SirJames Somerville to retreat toEast Africa.
TheBattle of Midway, in June 1942, brought Nagumo's streak of victories to an end. During the battle, aMartin B-26 Marauder, seriously damaged by anti-aircraft fire, flew directly at thebridge of the aircraft carrierAkagi. The aircraft, either attempting a suicide ramming, or out of control, narrowly missed striking the carrier's bridge, which could have killed Nagumo, before it crashed into the ocean.[11][12]
Nagumo soon prepared to launch another attack on Midway, in direct violation of Yamamoto's order to keep the reserve strike force armed for anti-ship operations.[13] That change in plans required arming the available planes with bombs, suitable for attacking land targets, rather than torpedoes, designed for anti-ship actions.
However, when Nagumo received scouting reports that American ships were in the area, he changed plans and ordered his planes be rearmed with torpedoes to attack American ships.[14] The situation caught his aircraft in-between, with half his planes armed with torpedoes and the other half with bombs and no time to switch everything back to torpedoes.
American dive-bombers attackedAkagi,Kaga andSōryū, resulting in fires and further explosions due to unsecured ordnance, crippling all three. After the attack, Nagumo appeared to have gone into a state of shock;[15] he stood near the ship's compass looking out at the flames on his ship and two other carriers, and despite being asked to shift his flag to another vessel, Nagumo was reluctant, muttering, “It's not time yet”. Nagumo's chief of staff, Rear AdmiralRyūnosuke Kusaka, was able to persuade him; Nagumo nodded, with tears in his eyes.[16] Nagumo and his staff were forced to evacuate through the forward windows of the bridge by rope. An expert in judo, Nagumo landed lightly, whereas Kusaka badly sprained both ankles and was burned during the evacuation.[17]
The First Air Fleet lost four carriers during the turning point of thePacific War, and the massive losses of carrier aircraft maintenance personnel would prove detrimental to the performance of the IJN in later engagements. The loss of the four carriers, their aircraft, and their maintenance crews, plus the loss of 120 experienced pilots, resulted in Japan losing the strategic initiative in the Pacific.[18]
In the aftermath of the battle, Kusaka found a downcast Nagumo, seemingly contemplating suicide; Kusaka eventually talked him out of it. Following the battle, Nagumo appeared to have lost his aggressiveness and effectiveness; he teared up when talking about the events of Midway to his two sons in 1944.[19]
Afterwards, Nagumo was reassigned as commander-in-chief of theThird Fleet and commanded aircraft carriers in theGuadalcanal campaign in the battles of theEastern Solomons and theSanta Cruz Islands. Despite the Japanese victory at the Santa Cruz[20] Nagumo himself acknowledged that the attrition imposed to the Japanese Imperial Navy in these actions, especially with the loss of experienced pilots, was "shattering strategic loss for Japan", nowithstanding the tactical success.[21]
On 11 November 1942, Nagumo was reassigned to Japan, where he was given command of theSasebo Naval District. He then transferred to theKure Naval District on 21 June 1943. From October 1943 to February 1944, Nagumo was once again made commander-in-chief of First Fleet, which was by that time largely involved in only training duties to conserve what little remained of Japan's air force.[citation needed]
As Japan's military situation deteriorated, Nagumo was deployed on 4 March 1944 for the short-lived command of the14th Air Fleet and theCentral Pacific Area Fleet in theMariana Islands.
The Battle of Saipan began on 15 June 1944. The IJN, under Vice AdmiralJisaburō Ozawa, was overwhelmed within days by theU.S. 5th Fleet in the decisiveBattle of the Philippine Sea, where Japan lost three fleet carriers and about 600 aircraft, none of which could be replaced. Nagumo and his Army peer Lieutenant GeneralYoshitsugu Saito were now on their own to keep control ofSaipan.
On 6 July 1944, Nagumo, unable to defend his position any longer and refusing to be taken captive, killed himself with a pistol shot to his temple. Defeated commanders were expected to performseppuku in accordance withbushido, but he may not have had the time for such a complex ritual. His remains were recovered byU.S. Marines in a remote cave where he had been forced to maintain his headquarters due to extensive bombardment.[22] He was posthumously made a full admiral and awarded the Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Golden Kite.
Nagumo's grave is located at the Ōbai-in sub-temple ofEngaku-ji inKamakura, next to the grave of his son, Susumu Nagumo, who was killed in battle aboard the destroyerKishinami on 4 December 1944.
| IJN Insignia | Rank | Date |
|---|---|---|
.png) | 海軍少尉候補生 Kaigun Shōi Kōhōsei (Midshipman) | 21 November 1908 |
.gif) | 海軍少尉Kaigun Shōi (Ensign) | 15 January 1910 |
.gif) | 海軍中尉Kaigun Chūi (Sub-Lieutenant/Lieutenant Junior Grade) | 1 December 1911 |
 | 海軍大尉Kaigun Daii (Lieutenant) | 1 December 1914 |
.gif) | 海軍少佐Kaigun Shōsa (Lieutenant-Commander) | 1 December 1920 |
 | 海軍中佐Kaigun Chūsa (Commander) | 1 December 1924 |
 | 海軍大佐Kaigun Daisa (Captain) | 30 November 1929 |
 | 海軍少将Kaigun Shōshō (Rear-Admiral) | 15 November 1935 |
 | 海軍中将Kaigun Chūjō (Vice-Admiral) | 15 November 1939 |
 | 海軍大将Kaigun Taishō (Admiral) | 8 July 1944 (Posthumous)[1] |
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Naka Commanding Officer 30 November 1929 – 1 December 1930 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Takao Commanding Officer 15 November 1933 – 15 November 1934 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Yamashiro Commanding Officer 15 November 1934 – 15 November 1935 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Naval War College Headmaster 1 November 1940 – 10 April 1941 | Succeeded by |
| Fleet created | 1st Air Fleet Commander-in-chief 10 April 1941 – 14 July 1942 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | 3rd Fleet Commander-in-chief 14 July 1942 – 11 November 1942 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Sasebo Naval District Commander-in-chief 11 November 1942 – 21 June 1943 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Kure Naval District Commander-in-chief 21 June 1943 – 20 October 1943 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | 1st Fleet Commander-in-chief 20 October 1943 – 25 February 1944 | Fleet dissolved |
| Fleet created | Central Pacific Area Fleet &14th Air Fleet Commander-in-chief 4 March 1944 – 8 July 1944 | Post left vacant following Nagumo's death Fleet dissolved 18 July 1944 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
