Japanese admiral
Naokuni Nomura
|
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Admiral Nomura Naokuni (1944-45)
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Native name
| 野村 直邦
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Born
| (
1885-05-15
)
15 May 1885
Hioki, Kagoshima
, Japan
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Died
| 12 December 1973
(1973-12-12)
(aged 88)
[1]
|
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Allegiance
|
Empire of Japan
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Service/
branch
|
Imperial Japanese Navy
|
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Years of service
| 1907?1945
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Rank
| Admiral
|
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Commands held
| Shirakumo
,
Ch?gei
,
Haguro
,
Kaga
, Naval Submarine School, 2nd Submarine Squadron, Naval Intelligence Bureau,
3rd China Expeditionary Fleet
, Naval Councillor,
Kure Naval District
,
Yokosuka Naval District
, Maritime Escort Fleet
|
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Battles/wars
| World War II
|
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Other work
| Minister of the Navy
|
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Naokuni Nomura
(
野村 直邦
,
Nomura Naokuni
, 15 May 1885 – 12 December 1973)
was an
admiral
in the
Imperial Japanese Navy
, and briefly served as
Navy Minister
in the 1940s.
Biography
[
edit
]
Nomura was born in
Hioki
,
Kagoshima prefecture
. He graduated from the 35th class of the
Imperial Japanese Naval Academy
on 20 November 1907, ranked 43rd out of 172 cadets. He served his
midshipman
tour on the
cruisers
Itsukushima
and
Kashima
. After commissioning to
ensign
on 25 December 1908, he was assigned to the
destroyers
Yayoi
and
Kamikaze
. After completing
naval artillery
and basic
torpedo
training, he was assigned to the
battleship
Aki
, and was promoted to
sub-lieutenant
on 1 December 1910.
Nomura subsequently served on a large number of vessels in the early Japanese navy, including the gunboat
Tatsuta
, cruiser
Chiyoda
, the gunboat
Manshu
and cruiser
Aso
.
Promoted to
lieutenant
on 1 December 1913, he was assigned to the destroyer
Yayoi
, followed by the destroyers
Kashiwa
, and his first command, the destroyer
Shirakumo
. Nomura was promoted to
lieutenant commander
on 1 December 1919. He graduated from the
Naval Staff College
with honors in 1920. He subsequently served in a number of staff positions, including that of
naval attache
to Germany from August 1922 to September 1924. After his return to Japan, he was promoted to
commander
on 1 December 1924.
[1]
In April 1927, Nomura was part of the Japanese delegation to the
Geneva Naval Conference
. He became a captain on 10 December 1928, and assumed command of the
submarine tender
Ch?gei
in December 1928. Nomura visited Germany again during most of 1929, and was part of the Japanese delegation to the
London Naval Treaty
talks. After his return to Japan, he assumed command of the cruiser
Haguro
, followed by the
aircraft carrier
Kaga
from February 1932-October 1933. In 1934, he was Commandant of the Submarine School.
Nomura was promoted to
rear admiral
on 15 November 1934. As rear admiral, he served in numerous staff positions within the
Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff
, including head of Naval Intelligence in 1937. He was promoted to
vice admiral
on 15 November 1938. He served as
commander in chief
of the
3rd Fleet
from November 1939-September 1940.
Nomura was sent as naval liaison to Europe as part of Japan's participation in the
Tripartite Pact
from November 1940 to August 1943, and was stationed as
naval attache
in Berlin. During his time in
Germany
, he was active in attempting to procure the latest in military technology for Japan, especially with regards to developments pertaining to
submarines
and aircraft.
[2]
He returned to Japan on the U-boat
U-511
, which was presented to Japan by
Adolf Hitler
and commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy as the
Ro-500
.
[3]
After his return to Japan, Nomura was briefly commander in chief of the
Kure Naval District
. On 1 March 1944, he was promoted to
admiral
.
He served as
Naval Minister
in the cabinet of
Prime Minister
Hideki T?j?
for only five days, from 17?22 July 1944.
[4]
In the final stages of the
Pacific War
, he served as commander in chief of the
Yokosuka Naval District
and of the
Maritime Escort Fleet
. He entered the reserves on 15 October 1945 and died at the age of 88 in 1973.
Nomura was the center of a controversy in 1971, when he headed a group of Japanese war veterans in an attempt to recover the destroyer
Yukikaze
after it had been sold for scrap by the
Republic of China Navy
. He only managed to recover the steering wheel.
[
citation needed
]
References
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Career
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Military offices
|
Preceded by
|
Ch?gei
Commanding Officer
10 December 1928 - 1 May 1929
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Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
Haguro
Commanding Officer
10 October 1931 - 14 February 1933
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Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
Kaga
Commanding Officer
14 February 1933 - 20 October 1933
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
Combined Fleet
&
1st Fleet
Chief-of-staff
15 November 1935 - 16 November 1936
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
3rd China Expeditionary Fleet
Commander-in-chief
15 November 1939 - 30 September 1940
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Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
Kure Naval District
Commander-in-chief
20 October 1943 - 17 July 1944
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Succeeded by
|
Political offices
|
Preceded by
|
Minister of the Navy
17 July 1944 ? 22 July 1944
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Succeeded by
|
Military offices
|
Preceded by
|
Escort Fleet
Commander-in-chief
2 August 1944 - 1 May 1945
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Fleet Dissolved
|
Preceded by
|
Yokosuka Naval District
Commander-in-chief
2 August 1944 - 15 September 1944
|
Succeeded by
|
|