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Ryūnosuke Kusaka

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Ryūnosuke Kusaka
AllegianceEmpire of Japan
Service / branch Imperial Japanese Navy
Years of service1917-1945
RankVice Admiral
CommandsHōshō.Akagi
1st Air Fleet
5th Air Fleet
Battles / warsWorld War II
oattack on Pearl Harbor
oBattle of Midway

Template:Japanese name Ryūnosuke Kusaka (草鹿龍之介, Kusaka Ryūnosuke, 25 September 1893 - 23 November 1971), was an rear admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II who served as Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet. Fellow Admiral Jinichi Kusaka was his cousin.

Biography

Born to a director of the Sumitomo zaibatsu in Tokyo in 1893, Kusaka's family registry officially listed him as a native of Ishikawa Prefecture, and he was schooled in Osaka.

He entered the 41st class of the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy graduating 14 out of a class of 118 in 1917. He did his midshipman service on the cruisers Azuma and Otowa. After he was commissioned as ensign, he was assigned to the battleship Kawachi and cruiser Yakumo. He later served on the battleship Kongō and destroyer Kuwa. After his promotion to lieutenant on 1 December 1919 he was assigned to the battleship Mutsu, Susuki, repair ship Kantō and battleship Yamashiro. He was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1925, and graduated from the Naval War College (Japan) the same year, specializing in naval aviation. He subsequently captained a naval fighter group based at Kasumigaura and served in numerous staff positions.

On 1 September 1933, he was appointed executive officer of the Iwate and on 16 November 1936, (after his promotion to captain) he was given his first command, the aircraft carrier Hōshō. In 1939, he became captain of Akagi.

Promoted a rear admiral 15 November 1940, he was commander of the 24th Air Flotilla before being appointed Chief of Staff of the 1st Air Fleet under Admiral Chuichi Nagumo in April 1941. He was involved in strategic and tactical planning, including the attack on Pearl Harbor and Battle of Midway. During the aftermath of the Battle of Midway Kusaka was able to convince the fleet commander and senior officers from committing suicide after the Japanese defeat.

Kusaka remained with the fleet until November 1942, and accepted a number of staff positions thereafter. He was promoted to vice admiral on 1 May 1944 and transferred to the Combined Fleet as Chief of Staff under commander-in-chief Admiral Soemu Toyoda in November 1944. His final assignment was command of the 5th Air Fleet after the suicide of Matome Ugaki.

Kusaka was portrayed by actor Pat Morita in the 1976 movie Midway, by Tatsuya Mihashi in the 1981 Japanese movie Rengo Kantai and by Ryuzo Hayashi in the 2005 Japanese movie Otokotachi no Yamato.

References

Books

  • 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.
  • Parrish, Thomas (1978). The Simon and Schuster Encyclopedia of World War II. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0671242776.

Notes

  1. ^ Nishida, Imperial Japanese Navy.
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