World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseCaptain Hisashi Ohara was a 23-year veteran of the Japanese Navy. During the Battle of Midway, he was the executive officer of carrier Soryu and was present at Soryu's bridge during the entire battle. He recalled the time when the carrier was sunk:

ww2dbaseOhara sustained injuries during the loss of carrier Soryu and required hospitalization. After his recovery, his assignments were limited to shore duties only, which included the staff at the Hydraulic Bureau of the Navy Department, staff at the Southern Sea Route Department, and instructor at the Naval College. After the war, he was interrogated by Captain C. Shands of the United States Navy, who commented Ohara as a "stolid individual" but the information he provided during the interrogation were accurate and useful, particularly the detailed accounts of Soryu's sinking. Ohara shared the comment that the loss of the carriers at Midway was devastating because, as a consequence, the Japanese Navy no longer had enough capacity to deal with the American advances up the Solomon Islands chain.