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Japanese Destroyer Captain: Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Midway - The Great Naval Battles As Seen Through Japanese Eyes

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Publisher: Naval Institute Press
List Price: $27.95
Our Price: $17.51
You Save: $ 10.44 ( 37% )
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Customer Ratings:

The Naval Institute Press is pleased to make available for the first time this cloth edition of a now-classic war memoir that was a best seller in both Japan and the United States during the 1960s. Originally published as a paperback in 1961, it has long been treasured by World War II buffs and professional historians for its insights into the Japanese side of the surface war in the Pacific. The book has been credited with correcting errors in U.S. accounts of various battles and with revealing details of high-level Imperial Japanese Navy strategy meetings. The author, Captain Tameichi Hara, was a survivor of more than one hundred sorties against the Allies and was known throughout Japan as the Unsinkable Captain. Called the workhorses of the navy, Japanese destroyers shouldered the heaviest burden of the surface war and took part in scores of intense sea battles, many of which Captain Hara describes here. In the early days of the war victories were common, but by 1943, the lack of proper maintenance of the destroyers and sufficient supplies, along with Allied development of scientific equipment and superior aircraft, took its toll. On April 7, 1945, during the Japanese navy s last sortie, Captain Hara managed to survive the sinking of his own ship only to witness the demise of the famed Japanese battleship Yamato off Okinawa. A hero to his countrymen, Captain Hara exemplified the best in Japanese surface commanders: highly skilled (he wrote the manual on torpedo warfare), hard driving, and aggressive. Moreover, he maintained a code of honor worthy of his samurai grandfather, and, as readers of this book have come to appreciate, he was as free with praise for American courage and resourcefulness as he was critical of himself and his senior commanders. The book s popularity over the past forty-six years testifies to the author s success at writing an objective account of what happened that provides not only a fascinating eyewitness record of the war, but also an honest and dispassionate assessment of Japan s high command. Captain Hara s sage advice on leadership is as applicable today as it was when written. For readers new to this book and for those who have read and re-read their paperback editions until they have fallen apart, this new hardcover edition assures them a permanent source of reference and enjoyment.


DESCRIPTION:

Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.545952092
EAN: 9781591143543
ISBN: 1591143543
Label: Naval Institute Press
Manufacturer: Naval Institute Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 208
Publication Date: 2007-04-02
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Release Date: 2007-04-02
Studio: Naval Institute Press


SIMILAR ITEMS:

• Tales From a Tin Can: The USS Dale from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay
• Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway
• Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941- 1945
• Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45
• The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour


CUSTOMER REVIEWS:

Customer Rating:
Summary: A veteran of the Tokyo Express and Ten-Go lives to tell the tale
Comment: This is the indispensable memoir of Japanese destroyer captain Tameichi Hara. Hara was born in 1900 into a poor farming family and was greatly influenced by his grandfather, a former Samurai. He graduated from the Japanese naval academy at Eta Jima in 1921. His memoir is both an entertaining tale of men at war and an analytical look at Japanese naval command decisions and personalities.

Hara's service in WWII starts in the heady days of Japanese success with the attack on Davao in the Philippines and the Japanese victory at the Battle of the Java Sea. Reality soon sets in, however, when Hara goes to the Solomon islands, where he joins the "Tokyo Express," running supplies and reinforcements to hard pressed Japanese garrisons, all the while harried by U.S. destroyers and air power.

While in the Solomons he participates in several actions including the battles of Guadalcanal, Vella Gulf, Vella Lavella and Empress Augusta Bay. In the naval battle of Guadalcanal, it is Hara that torpedoes the cruiser Juneau, which is later finished off by a Japanese sub and goes to the bottom taking almost its whole crew with it, including the five Sullivan brothers.

If you read Samuel E. Morison's volume VI, Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, then you already know about Commander Moosbrugger's outstanding torpedo attack on the Japanese destroyer group in the Battle of Vella Gulf. Hara was the skipper of the Shigure, the lone Japanese destroyer to escape. It is entertaining and instructive to read of Hara's surprise and admiration of his foe, who had to learn the hard way but has finally improved and perfected his torpedo technique.

After the Japanese are driven out of the Solomons, and Rabaul bypassed, Hara goes back to Japan as an instructor at their naval torpedo school. He remains out of combat until April, 1945 when as skipper of the light cruiser Yahagi he participates in the suicidal sortie of Operation Ten-Go, the last-ditch attempt to interfere with the Okinawa invasion. It is a bittersweet point in the narrative when Hara tells about himself and his comrades drinking and singing the night before Ten-Go and awaking the next morning to the realization that "This beautiful homeland is worthy of our sacrifices!"

Customer Rating:
Summary: Insight in the japanese view of the naval war.
Comment: The first book that I've read that describes the Japanese view of the Battle of the Java Sea in february 1942. Shocking to read that the Allied Task-Force actually was very close to a victory. Had Rear-Admiral Doorman's cruiser-equipped force(inluding two heavy and three light cruisers) pushed on towards the Japanese eastern invasion convoy, then there would have been little that the Japanese naval covering-force could have done to save the Japanese transports. Initially the Japanese covering-force had only two inferior light cruisers and destroyers at the scene. In fact, the Japanese blundered several times, and were only saved from disaster because the Allies made even more serious errors of judgement. This classic book on WW2 destroyer warfare is a absolute must-have for all naval history buffs.

Jan Christiaanse
The Netherlands
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Pacific Naval War thru Japanese eyes
Comment: Japanese Destroyer Captain by CAPT Tameichi Hara

Japanese Destroyer Captain (JDC) is CAPT Hara's tale of his service in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). CAPT Hara divided his story into five parts; Born a Samurai, Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal, The Tokyo Express, Against the Odds, and the Last Sortie. Each section details CAPT Hara's experiences at that time and provides insight into the Japanese naval officer in WWII.

My Likes:
Captain Hara has a take no prisoners with his writing. He's very critical of Japan going to war against the US and is very critical of other naval officers actions (both Japanese and allied). While CAPT Hara's perspective is that of a small vessel's captain, he provides excellent insight into his leaders and what he believes they should have done. This is best shown in the Tokyo Express part where he discusses Yamamoto's actions in the South Pacific and failure to develop a schwerpunkt.
The battle descriptions are excellent. CAPT Hara provides a first person view of the actions with excellent details on what his ship (or ships) did along with significant contributions by crew members. Most (if not all) of the actions have maps showing the general movement of ships and the actions they took. Favorites for me were the Battle of the Java Sea, the Battle of Guadalcanal, and the Battle of Vella Gulf (there's an excellent tribute from CAPT Hara to the Americans during his description of Vella Gulf).
My last like is how critical CAPT Hara is of himself and his actions. Whether it's when he's dating a geisha, forgetting to pay his tab, or mistakes he made in battle, CAPT Hara is his own worst critic. All of this is focused to making him a better officer and person. It's excellent to see a person who's telling their story of themselves and admitting they made mistakes (how many of us could learn from this).

My Dislikes:
Only one, CAPT Hara ended his book with his rescue during Operation Ten Go. I wish he would have included what he did after this point for Japan (you can read it on Wiki) and after the war.

The Rating:
Five stars all the way. CAPT Hara wrote an excellent book describing his actions in WWII and being critical of the IJN's actions, his own performance, and that of his opponent. The writing is direct and to the point, CAPT Hara doesn't mince words, if he has problems with something he calls it out. Interestingly he also is prepared to acknowledge his mistakes in character judgment and his actions. There are some excellent things one can learn from this book, particularly how IJN officers felt about going to war with the US and a little on the early actions against the Chinese. There are nice photos and good maps that support the battle sequences. I highly recommend this book to people interest in WWII naval actions or those interested in seeing how a man leads others.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book-Patriots Can Enjoy it Too!
Comment: I was hesitant to buy this book at first; war stories from the Japanese captain's eyes? He is just gonna bad mouth the Americans and say a bunch of non-sense as to why the war wasn't Japan's fault I suspected.

But it turns out he is acutally pretty fair in his descriptions and most of his opinions of the war. He appears to be highly competent and realistic; traits not often seen amoung his fellow commanders. Description of the actions are very good and his career through the war is very interesting.

I would certainly recommend this as an addition to your war book colection.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great book
Comment: If you, like I, have an interest in WWII, this book is for you. I've read many books on submarine and destroyer actions from WWII and this is the first one from the Japanese point of view. It was riveting and hard to put down.

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