|
was a rear admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during most of World War II. A specialist in the heavy torpedoes that were carried by all the destroyers and cruisers of the IJN, Tanaka mainly commanded destroyer squadrons, with a cruiser or two attached, and he was the primary leader of the "Tokyo Express" reinforcement and resupply shipments during the long campaign for the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands of the South Pacific Ocean. In his command capacity, Tanaka faced the surface task forces of the United States Navy and its few New Zealander allies many times, often achieving either a victory over, or a stalemate with, often larger enemy squadrons, mostly in night battles. From the Americans, Tanaka acquired the nickname of "Tenacious Tanaka" for his stalwart opposition. Tanaka′s most outstanding victory was in the Battle of Tassafaronga in which his squadron of destroyers defeated a much larger force of U.S. Navy squadron that included four heavy cruisers and their supporting destroyers. In this battle, Tanaka′s heavily-outgunned destroyers, caught by surprise, used their Long Lance torpedoes to hit four American cruisers, sinking the and heavily damaging the other three. All but one of Tanaka's destroyers escaped the trap that the U.S. Navy had set for them, and they retired northward towards Rabaul. ==Early career== Tanaka was born in what is now part of Yamaguchi city, in Yamaguchi Prefecture. After high school, Tanaka entered the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, where he was a member of the 41st graduating class in 1913, ranked 34th out of 118 midshipmen to graduate. As a midshipman, Tanaka served on the cruisers and , battleship . After promotion to sub-lieutenant, he served on the cruiser and battlecruiser . He then attended the basic torpedo and naval artillery schools from December 1916-December 1917, after which he was assigned to the destroyers and ,〔Nishida, Hiroshi. "Tanaka, Raizo (Naval Academy 41st)". Imperial Japanese Navy. Retrieved 2006-06-14.〕 and the battleship . He returned to torpedo school, attending the advanced course from December 1919-December 1920. From 1921-November 1923, Lieutenant Tanaka was assigned as the executive officer on the submarine tender , the cruiser , the destroyer , and the cruiser .〔Nishida, ''Imperial Japanese Navy''.〕 In December 1925, Tanaka was appointed as executive officer as well as an instructor at the IJN′s torpedo school. After one year at the school, he performed two years of staff duties, including one year at Kure Naval District, one of the IJN′s primary bases.〔 In 1930, Lieutenant commander Tanaka commanded the destroyer and in 1931—after his promotion to commander—commanded the destroyer . From December 1932-December 1936, he worked on the staff for the Yokosuka Naval District. From 1 December 1937 – 15 December 1938, Captain Tanaka commanded the light cruiser . He next served as the Chief of Staff of the Mako Guard District from 15 December 1938 – 15 November 1939. Subsequently, he commanded the reconstructed fast battleship ''Kongō'' from November 1939-November 1940.〔Wendel, Marcus, ''Axis History Factbook'', Nishida, ''Imperial Japanese Navy''〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Raizō Tanaka」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|