IJN Yamato Officers

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Wellgunde
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IJN Yamato Officers

#1

Post by Wellgunde » 31 Jan 2015, 06:15

There were around fifty officers, both fleet staff and ship's company, who were on the Yamato when it was sunk. I am looking for a roster or sailing list of these officer plus with their billet assignments. Thanks in advance.
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Re: IJN Yamato Officers

#2

Post by ijnfleetadmiral » 31 Jan 2015, 10:03

If there were about fifty of them, can give you about thirty...entries go as follows:

NAME - RANK - CLASS - POSITION - STATUS

ARAI DENJIRO - LT - Eta Jima 71 - 2nd Fleet Staff Officer - KIA (LCDR posthumously)
ARUGA Kosaku - CAPT - Eta Jima 45 - Commanding Officer - KIA (VADM posthumously)
BANDAI Morutaru - LT - Eta Jima 71 - POSITION UNKNOWN - KIA (LCDR posthumously)
EGUCHI Yoshi - LTJG - Eta Jima 73 - POSITION UNKNOWN - KIA (LT posthumously)
HATTORI Shinrokuro - LT - Eta Jima 69 - POSITION UNKNOWN - KIA (LCDR posthumously)
HAYASHI Shiro - CAPT - Eta Jima 51 - Operations Officer - KIA (RADM posthumously)
IGAKU Matsujiro - LTJG - Eta Jima 73 - POSITION UNKNOWN - KIA (LT posthumously)
ITO Seiichi - VADM - Eta Jima 39 - 2nd Fleet Commander-in-Chief - KIA (ADM posthumously)
KAWANO Asaji - LT - Eta Jima 70 - POSITION UNKNOWN - KIA (LCDR posthumously)
KAWASAKI Katsumi - LCDR - Eta Jima 63 - AA Gunnery Officer - KIA (CDR posthumously)
KIUCHI Hideki - LTJG - Eta Jima 73 - POSITION UNKNOWN - KIA (LT posthumously)
KURODA Yoshiro - CAPT - Eta Jima 52 - Gunnery Officer - SURVIVED
MATSUNOYA Takesaburo - CAPT (Paymaster) - Paymaster Academy 9 - 2nd Fleet Paymaster - SURVIVED
MIYAMOTO Takeo - CDR - Eta Jima 56 - 2nd Fleet Staff Officer - STATUS UNKNOWN
MORISHITA Nobuei - RADM - Eta Jima 45 - 2nd Fleet Chief-of-Staff - SURVIVED
NAKAO Unekichi - CDR - Eta Jima ?? - Damage Control Officer - KIA (CAPT posthumously)
NOMURA Jiro - CAPT - Eta Jima 50 - Executive Officer - SURVIVED
OZAWA Nobuhiko - LCDR - Eta Jima 62 - 2nd Fleet Staff Officer - KIA (CDR posthumously)
SHIGEKI Shiro - CDR - Eta Jima 53 - Navigator - KIA (CAPT posthumously)
SHIMIZU Yoshihito - LCDR - Eta Jima 60 - Secondary Gunnery Officer - SURVIVED
SUETSUGU Nobuyoshi - CDR - Eta Jima 58 - 2nd Fleet Staff Officer - KIA (CAPT posthumously)
TAKAGI Tameyuki - CAPT - Engineering Academy 31 - Chief Engineer - KIA (RADM posthumously)
TERAKADO Masafumi - CAPT (Surgeon) - Commissioned 1921 - 2nd Fleet Surgeon - KIA (RADM posthumously)
TSUKAGOSHI Nakataro - LT - Eta Jima 73 - POSITION UNKNOWN - KIA (LT posthumously)
USUBUCHI Iwao - LT - Eta Jima 71 - POSITION UNKNOWN - KIA (LCDR posthumously)
UTO Eki - LTJG - Eta Jima 73 - POSITION UNKNOWN - KIA (LT posthumously)
YAMAGUCHI Hiroshi - CDR - Eta Jima 52 - 2nd Fleet Communications Staff Officer - KIA (CAPT posthumously)
YAMAMOTO Yuji - CAPT - Eta Jima 51 - 2nd Fleet Senior Staff Officer - KIA (RADM posthumously)
YOSHIDA Mitsuru - ENS - Eta Jima 73 - POSITION UNKNOWN - SURVIVED
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Wellgunde
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Re: IJN Yamato Officers

#3

Post by Wellgunde » 03 Feb 2015, 09:09

Thank you!
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Re: IJN Yamato Officers

#4

Post by ijnfleetadmiral » 03 Feb 2015, 11:03

You're welcome...don't hesitate to ask if there's any other info I can provide!
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Re: IJN Yamato Officers

#5

Post by Mostlyharmless » 18 Feb 2015, 01:50

Since Ensign Yoshida Mitsuru, assistant radar officer, was mentioned, I read through his memoir “Requiem for Battleship Yamato” as translated by Richard H. Minear to try to find a few more names (sadly without class dates).

Assistant navigator Ensign Suzuki is mentioned in the famous passage on page 19.

Ensign Eguchi is mentioned on pages 20-1.

Medical officer Lieutenant Commander Ishizuka is mentioned on page 56.

Ensign Takada, is mentioned as Yoshida's classmate and has an Osaka dialect. He was commanding machine guns [presumably here and below these were 25 mm Type 96] at the side of the ship. His death is described on page 72.

Lieutenant Omori was senior radar officer. His death is mentioned on page 73.

Lieutenant j.g Tsukagoshi, Lieutenant j.g Igaku, Ensign Sekihara and Ensign Shichiri are all killed on page 79.

Lieutenant j.g Yamamori is mentioned on page 84 as watching for torpedoes. He was an Etajima graduate.

Ensign Nishio dies on pages 85-6

Radio Officer Ensign Nakatani's death is mentioned on page 89 from the testimony of Ensign Watanabe, who was the only communications officer to survive. Nakatani Kunio was a Nisei, who was studying at university in Japan when war broke out. His two brothers fought in Europe with the US Army.

Lieutenant Commander Ishida, adjutant to Admiral Ito Seiichi, was probably not technically one of Yamato's officers. Page 103 mentions that both he and the admiral's chief of staff survived.

Ensign Matsumoto was still alive as Yamato is sinking on page 104. His survival or death doesn't seem to be mentioned later.

Ensign Mori, aide to the captain, escaped the ship but did not survive according to page 138.

Ensign Kamata, in charge of the machine guns at Yamato's stern, survive as described on page 142.

Lieutenant Emoto, chief of the fire control division, survived wounded according to page 143.

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Re: IJN Yamato Officers

#6

Post by ijnfleetadmiral » 18 Feb 2015, 04:08

Mostlyharmless wrote:Lieutenant Commander Ishida, adjutant to Admiral Ito Seiichi, was probably not technically one of Yamato's officers. Page 103 mentions that both he and the admiral's chief of staff survived.
This was probably LCDR Ishida Sueto (64), who served as Torpedo Officer of ABUKUMA from 25 October 1942 until an unknown date in 1943. He survived the war and died on 20 July 2002.

2nd Fleet Chief-of-Staff was RADM MORISHITA Nobuei (45), who was a former Torpedo Officer of both HARUKAZE and SHIOKAZE, former ComDesDiv 8, and a former CO of OI, SENDAI, HARUNA, and YAMATO; he was the latter's CO at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He also survived the war, dying on 17 June 1960.
MSG, MS State Guard (Ret.) - First Always!

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