Yamaguchi, Tamon

Tamon Yamaguchi was born in Tokyo ( Koisikawa District) on August 17, 1892. In 1912, he graduated from the Imperial Navy Military Academy in Etajima , and served in the rank of midshipman on the cruiser Soya and the battleship Settsu . On December 1, 1913, Yamaguchi was promoted to lieutenant. In 1913-1915, he served on the Tikuma cruiser and the Aki battleship, then in 1915-1916 he was a student of naval artillery and torpedo craft courses in Etajima. After graduation, Yamaguchi served in the headquarters of the 3rd submarine division until mid-1918, and from the destroyer Kashi from July to December. Finally, on December 1, 1918, he was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to a temporary submarine division, formed from the German submarines received from reparations . Then, until 1921, Tamon served at the Kanto floating base and at the headquarters of the bases in Yokosuka , Kure and Sasebo .

In the years 1921-1923, Yamaguchi studied in the United States at Princeton University ; After returning to Japan, he was appointed commander of one of the combat units of the battleship Nagato . December 1, 1924 Tamon Yamaguchi received the rank of captain of the 3rd rank, later served in the 1st submarine division and the General Staff of the Imperial Navy . December 10, 1928 he was promoted to captain of the 2nd rank. In September - November 1929, he traveled to the United States, and from November to the middle of the next year he was in the UK, participating in the Japanese delegation in an international conference that ended with the signing of the London Treaty .

In the second half of 1930, Yamaguchi was a senior officer on the cruiser "Yura", then until the fall of 1932 he worked in the General Staff. December 1, 1932 he was promoted to captain of the 1st rank, and the next year and a half he taught at the Naval Academy. June 1, 1934 he was appointed to the post of naval attache in the United States.

In August 1936, he returned to Japan. In 1936-1937, Yamaguchi commanded the cruiser Isuzu, and in 1937-1938, the battleship Ise. Then on November 15, 1938 he was promoted to rear admiral and appointed chief of staff of the 5th fleet. From the end of 1939 he was an assistant chief of staff of the 1st Fleet, from January to November 1940 - the commander of the 1st joint training air group.

On November 1, 1940, Yamaguchi was appointed commander of the 2nd division of aircraft carriers, which included Soryu and Hiru . Under his command, this unit participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the capture of Wake and the raid into the Indian Ocean in March - April 1942. During the Midway battle on the evening of June 4 of the same year, Hiru received 4 bombings as a result of an American raid and shared the fate of 3 aircraft carriers that died in the morning. After an unsuccessful struggle for survivability, when it became clear that the ship could not be saved, Rear Admiral Yamaguchi informed Admiral Nagumo that he intended to give the command to leave the ship. Gathering the surviving sailors on the steaming deck, Yamaguchi said: “As the commander of an aircraft carrier division, I alone am responsible for the deaths of Hiru and Litter. I will stay on board until the end. I order everyone to leave the ship immediately and continue to faithfully serve His Majesty the Emperor. ” On the night of June 5, 1942, Yamaguchi ordered everyone to leave the aircraft carrier and finish it off with torpedoes.

He himself, along with the captain of the 1st rank captain Kaku, remained on board, wanting to expiate his death for the loss of the unit entrusted to him ^[1] . According to the tradition prevailing at the IAF, he was posthumously awarded the title of Vice Admiral.

• Toshiro Mifune - “ Storm Over the Pacific Ocean ” (1960)
• Susume Fujita - “ Torah! Torah! Torah! "(1970)
• John Fujioka - Midway (1976)
• Hiroshi Abe - “ Attack on Pearl Harbor ” (2011)

• Nishida, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Tamon ( unopened ) (unavailable link) . Imperial Japanese Navy . Date of treatment December 31, 2013. Archived July 10, 2012.