World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseHiroaki Abe was born in the city of Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. He graduated from the 39th class of the Imperial Naval Academy in Jul 1911. As a midshipman, he served aboard the cruiser Soya and battleship Mikasa. He was promoted to the rank of ensign on 1 Dec 1912 and was later assigned to cruisers Nisshin, Chikuma, and then battleship Kongo in 1914. After attending torpedo school and naval artillery school, he was promoted to the rank of sub-lieutenant on 11 Dec 1914 and was assigned to destroyer Akebono. During WW1, he served aboard cruiser Chitose, though did not see any combat. Between 10 May 1923 and 1 May 1924, he served as the chief torpedo officer of light cruiser Tama. Between 1 Dec 1919 and 10 Nov 1921, he served as a staff officer with the 3rd Fleet. On 20 Jul 1922, he was given his first command, destroyer Ushio. Later that year, he was transferred to command the destroyer Hatsuyuki. On 1 Dec 1923, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander. In 1925, he was assigned as the captain of destroyer Kaki. In 1926, he studied at the Naval War College. On 10 Dec 1928, he was promoted to the rank of commander. Between 30 Nov 1929 and 31 Oct 1931, he was a staff officer of Destroyer Squadron 2. Between 31 Oct 1931 and 16 May 1932, he was the commanding officer of Destroyer Division 1, then he served in the same role with Destroyer Division 2 from 15 Nov 1932 to 15 Nov 1933 and Destroyer Division 23 until 15 Nov 1934. He was promoted to the rank of captain on 1 Dec 1932. On 1 Dec 1936, he took command of cruiser Jintsu, remaining its captain until 1 Dec 1937. Between 1 Dec 1937 and 1 Apr 1938, he was the captain of the battleship Fuso. Between 15 Nov 1940 and 21 Jul 1941, at the rank of rear admiral, he was the commanding officer of Destroyer Squadron 6. On 1 Aug 1941, he became the commanding officer of Cruiser Division 8, and he led that force during the Pearl Harbor and Wake Island attacks in the opening chapters of the Pacific War; he held that position until 14 Jul 1942. During the Solomon Islands campaign, as the commander of Battleship Division 11, he participated in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and the Battle of Santa Cruz in 1942. On 1 Nov 1942, he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral.

ww2dbaseIn Nov 1942, Abe's force was engaged in the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Although his force was taken by surprise as they were not expecting the presence of an American force, it was able to quickly locate cruiser Atlanta, disabling it in the water while killing Rear Admiral Norman Scott. His flagship Hiei then proceeded to score ten 14-inch shells on destroyer Cushing and several hits on destroyer Laffey. Despite the success in the opening moments of the battle, Abe could only see the confusion aboard Hiei, which had been receiving much of the American fire because of the damage she had dished out so far. With the American ships sailing into the heart of his formation, he ordered a change of course to break things apart. Hiei turned north away from battle, and Kirishima and other ships followed suit. American cruiser San Francisco chased after the fleeing Hiei, but was treated with salvos of high explosive shells that killed Rear Admiral Daniel Callahan. San Francisco was soon joined by other cruisers, which all took varying degrees of damage from Abe's ships. After daylight broke, Hiei was found by American aircraft and was sunk stern first five miles off Savo Island. After analysis, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto concluded that Abe's lack of aggressiveness turned an initially successful battle into the loss of flagship Hiei, and relieved Abe of his command on 20 Dec 1942. Abe was forced to resign from the Japanese Navy in Mar 1943.

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Hiroaki Abe Timeline