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Shōji Nishimura
Japanese Vice Admiral Shōji Nishimura
Native name	西村 祥治
Born	(1889-11-30)November 30, 1889 Akita Prefecture, Japan
Died	October 25, 1944(1944-10-25) (aged 54)[1] Surigao Strait,Philippines
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Navy
Service years	1911–1944
Rank	Vice Admiral
Commands	Kiku Wakatake Urakaze Mikazuki Shirakumo Kumano Haruna 4thDestroyerSquadron 7thCruiserDivision Shortlands Reinforcements[2] Southern Force
Conflicts	World War II Battle of Balikpapan Battle of the Java Sea Battle of Midway Guadalcanal campaign Battle of Surigao Strait †
Awards	Order of the Rising Sun (3rd class)

Shōji Nishimura (西村 祥治,Nishimura Shōji; 30 November 1889 – 25 October 1944) was an admiral in theImperial Japanese Navy duringWorld War II.

Nishimura was fromAkita prefecture in the northernTōhoku region of Japan. He was a graduate of the 39th class of theImperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1911, ranking 21st out of 148 cadets. As amidshipman, he served on thearmored cruiserAso and thebattleshipMikasa. After hiscommissioning as anensign, he was assigned back toAso, and then to thebattlecruiserHiei.

Nishimura attended naval artillery and torpedo school from 1914 to 1915, and then was assigned to thedestroyerYugiri, the armored cruiserYakumo, and the battlecruiserHaruna.

As alieutenant from 1917, Nishimura specialized in navigation, and served as chief navigator on a large number of vessels, including thecorvetteYamato, the destroyersKawakaze,Tanikaze,Yura, andSunosaki, thelight cruisersKitakami andŌi, and the battleshipHizen. Nishimura was promoted tolieutenant commander in 1928. He was subsequently chief navigator on the armored cruiserNisshin. He was given his firstcommand, of the destroyerKiku, on 1 November 1926. He subsequently was captain of the destroyersWakatake,Urakaze,Mikazuki, and (after his promotion tocommander in 1929)Shirakumo. In the 1930s, he was assigned command of the 26th Destroyer Group.

Promoted tocaptain in 1934, and briefly commander of the 19th Destroyer Group, Nishimura then served as captain of the light cruiserKumano from 1937 to 1938 and the reconstructedfast battleshipHaruna from 1938 to 1940. He became arear admiral on 15 November 1940.

DuringWorld War II, Nishimura gained much fame as the commander of the 4th DestroyerSquadron during theBattle of the Java Sea in February 1942, and he also commanded the squadron during theBattle of Midway in June 1942. Later in June 1942, he was named the commander of the 7th CruiserDivision, and he subsequently participated in theGuadalcanal campaign.^[3]

Nishimura became avice admiral on 1 November 1943. In 1944, he was named the commander of theSouthern Force^[3] in OperationSho-Go, aimed at a final and decisive naval battle against theUnited States Navy in thePhilippines. Nishimura's Force "C" consisted of the battleshipsFusō andYamashiro, theheavy cruiserMogami, and the destroyersShigure,Michishio,Asagumo, andYamagumo. In theSurigao Strait betweenLeyte andDinagat Islands on the evening of 25 October 1944, he contacted elements of theU.S. Seventh Fleet underRear AdmiralJesse Oldendorf, which consisted of six battleships, eight cruisers, 29 destroyers, and 39motor torpedo boats. In the ensuingBattle of Surigao Strait, one of several actions that made up theBattle of Leyte Gulf, Nishimura's force was crushed when the Americanscrossed the Japanese "T". Nishimura was killed during the battle when his flagship,Yamashiro, was sunk after taking multiple hits from the U.S. battleships.^[3]

• L, Klemen (2000)."Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942".

• D'Albas, Andrieu (1965).Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub.ISBN 0-8159-5302-X.
• Dull, Paul S. (1978).A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945. Naval Institute Press.ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
• Dupuy, Trevor N. (1992).Encyclopedia of Military Biography. I B Tauris & Co Ltd.ISBN 1-85043-569-3.
• Field, James A. (1947).The Japanese at Leyte Gulf: The Sho operation. Princeton University Press.ASIN B0006AR6LA.
• Friedman, Kenneth (2001).Afternoon of the Rising Sun: The Battle of Leyte Gulf. Presidio Press.ISBN 0-89141-756-7.
• Parrish, Thomas (1978).The Simon and Schuster Encyclopedia of World War II. New York: Simon & Schuster.ISBN 0-671-24277-6.
• Van Der Vat, Dan (1978).Pacific Campaign: The U.S.-Japanese Naval War 1941-1945. New York: Simon & Schuster.ISBN 0-671-79217-2.
• Willmott, H. P. (2005).The Battle Of Leyte Gulf: The Last Fleet Action. Indiana University Press.ISBN 0-253-34528-6.

• Friedman, Kenneth I."The Battle of Leyte Gulf website". Archived fromthe original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved2007-08-25.

• Chen, C. Peter (2006-03-01)."World War II Database".Archived from the original on 2007-09-11. Retrieved2007-08-25.

• 1889 births
• 1944 deaths
• Japanese admirals of World War II
• Imperial Japanese Navy personnel killed in World War II
• People lost at sea
• Battle of Midway
• Imperial Japanese Naval Academy alumni
• Military personnel from Akita Prefecture

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