World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseChuichi Nagumo was born in Yamagato, Japan in 1887. He joined the Japanese Navy in 1908, and by 1917 he was at the helm of his first commission, a destroyer. His specialty was torpedo and destroyer tactics. In the 1920s, Nagumo was part of a mission to tour and study naval warfare in Europe and the United States. Upon his return to Japan in 1929, Nagumo was promoted to the rank of Captain and served at the Naval Academy. When Japan's eyes looked upon Manchuria, the energetic Nagumo was commissioned the light cruiser Naka to command the 11th Destroyers Division. He later commanded the battleship Yamashiro and the heavy cruiser Takao. As a Rear Admiral, Nagumo commanded the 8th Cruiser Division to support Japanese Army movements in China from the Yellow Sea. As an officer of the militaristic Fleet Faction, he also received a boost in his career from political forces.

ww2dbaseAs the war began in Europe, Nagumo, at the time the head of the Naval War College in Tokyo, was promoted to the rank of vice admiral in preparation for Japan's entry into the global conflict. By this time, he had visibly aged, physically and mentally. Physically, he suffered from arthritis, perhaps from his younger days as an athletic kendo fencer. Mentally, he had become an officer who spent every ounce of his effort going over tactical plans of every operation he was involved in. Very soon after his promotion he was named the commander of the Japanese First Air Fleet. Admiral Nishizo Tsukahara had some doubts with this appointment; he 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." At home, Nagumo did not receive a loving description, either. One of his two sons described him as a brooding father who was obsessed (and later disappointed) with pressuring his sons to follow his foot steps into the navy. Contrastingly, Nagumo's junior officers in the navy viewed him as precisely the father figure that his sons failed to do.

ww2dbaseAlthough Nagumo had plenty of critics in the navy, his seniority landed him the job of the commander of the mobile fleet that had been tagged for the task of attacking Pearl Harbor. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Combined Fleet, probably wished to assign the job to another admiral, perhaps one who had more experience with naval aviation, but strict rules of seniority left Yamamoto little choice. All Yamamoto could do was ensure the non-innovative Nagumo was surrounded by able lieutenants such as Minoru Genda and Mitsuo Fuchida.

ww2dbaseWhen Nagumo's fleet struck, it became one of the most devastating attacks in the history of the United States Navy, disabling the entire Pacific Fleet's battle line with one swift strike. Despite the successful raid, Nagumo was largely criticized for his failure to launch the third wave of attack against Pearl Harbor's oil tanks and naval facilities, which might had rendered the greatest American naval base in the Pacific useless, and without Pearl Harbor, the United States would have no major advance base in the Pacific. Such criticism based on what-if scenarios might be unfounded, however, as Japanese naval doctrine of the time placed shore targets very low on the priority list, thus even if Nagumo did indeed launch a third strike, the aircraft would likely continue to target warships much like the previous two waves.

ww2dbaseAfter Pearl Harbor, Nagumo was responsible for raids all across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. At the end of his trip into the Indian Ocean, Nagumo's personal score card saw five battleships, one carrier, two cruisers, seven destroyers, dozens of merchantmen, transports, and various other vessels. He was also responsible for downing hundreds of Allied aircrafts from six nations. Destruction brought upon Allied ports also disabled or slowed Allied operations. All the while, he had lost no more than a few dozen pilots (although having 20-20 hindsight today, we understand these elite pilots lost would have significant consequences later in the war). After the raid in the Indian Ocean, Nagumo returned to Japan a national hero with an impressive resume:

• He had sailed from Kurile Islands to Pearl Harbor, returned to the western portion of the South Pacific, and then sailed into the Indian Ocean.
• He had destroyed five battleships, one carrier, two cruisers, seven destroyers, dozens of merchantmen, transports, and various other vessels.
• He was responsible for destroying hundreds of aircraft from six nations.
• He brought destruction upon Allied ports, disabling or slowing Allied operations.
• The damage brought upon Allied forces were at a cost of no more than a few dozen pilots.

ww2dbaseAlthough by now Nagumo's name was associated with the wild successes of the Japanese navy, Yamamoto still believed that the fleet carriers of the navy should be commanded by someone who was more daring and believed more in the strength of air power. Nagumo, however, had secured himself in his command based on his seniority over any other officer who had been available for Yamamoto to choose as a replacement. At the Battle of Midway, Nagumo's near-perfect record finally saw an end. With a combination of reasons such as Admiral Osami Nagano's insistence of a simultaneous Aleutian operation and Yamamoto's overly-complex fleet operations, Nagumo saw a devastating loss of four fleet carriers at the conclusion of the battle. Nagumo later sought revenge against the American advances in Guadalcanal, but actions there was largely indecisive, and in hindsight the actions there would slowly fritter away Japan's maritime strength.

ww2dbaseAfter Guadacanal, Nagumo was demoted to various unimportant posts before being given command of a small naval flotilla in the Marianas. On 15 Jun 1944, days after the failed Philippine Sea offensive by Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa cost Japan 500 Japanese aircrafts, Nagumo and his Army peer General Saito attempted to defend Saipan in the Mariana Islands against the American juggernaut. On 6 Jul, during the last stages of the Allied conquest of that island, Nagumo committed suicide for his failure to hold Saipan. His remains was later found by United States Marines in the cave where he spent his last days as the commander of the Saipan defenders.

Photographs

Chuichi Nagumo Timeline

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