Kaoru Arima

Kaoru Arima (有馬 馨, Arima Kaoru, 15 December 1893 – 23 January 1956) was an admiral and commander in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Early in the war with the United States, Arima commanded the battleship Musashi, one of the largest battleships ever built.

Kaoru Arima
Born	December 15, 1893 Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan
Died	January 23, 1956(1956-01-23) (aged 62) [1]
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Navy
Years of service	1914–1945
Rank	Vice Admiral
Commands held	Cruiser Kumano Battleship Hiei Battleship Musashi Kure Local Submarine Squadron 2nd Maritime Escort Group 4th Base Force 31st Special Base force
Battles/wars	World War II

Biography

Arima was a native of Miyazaki prefecture. He graduated from the 42nd class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1914. He was ranked 40th in a class of 117 cadets. As a midshipman, he was assigned to the cruiser Aso and battleship Hizen, and as a sub-lieutenant to the cruiser Izumo. After serving on the crew of the destroyers Oboro and Minazuki, he was commissioned as a lieutenant and assigned to the cruiser Kuma, followed by the cruiser Asama and the battleship Kongō.

Arima graduated from the 25th class of the Naval Staff College and was promoted to lieutenant commander in December 1926. After a 2½-year stint as a gunnery instructor at the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, he subsequently served as chief gunnery officer on the cruiser Yakumo. He was assigned to the staff of the 2nd Expeditionary Fleet in China in September 1931, and made the jump to the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff in November 1932. After his promotion to commander in December 1932, he served as an instructor at the Naval Staff College through 1937.

Arima was also promoted to captain in December 1936, and received his first command, the cruiser Kumano in November 1939. In October 1940, he was assigned command of the battleship Hiei. From September 1941, he was executive officer on the new super-battleship Musashi, and became its captain on 5 August 1942. He was promoted to rear admiral on 1 November. For most of the remainder of the war, he served as an instructor at the naval academy and specialized training schools.

Later, Arima served as chief of staff for the IJN's IJN 4th Fleet; he was promoted to vice admiral on 1 November 1945. Surviving the war, Arima died in 1956.

References

Notes

1. Nishida, Imperial Japanese Navy

Books

• Fuller, Richard (1992). Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 978-1-85409-151-2.
• Yoshimura, Akira (2008). Battleship Musashi: The Making and Sinking of the World's Biggest Battleship. Tokyo: Kodansha International. ISBN 4-7700-2400-2.
• Rekishi Dokuhon, Document of the war No. 48 Overview of Imperial Japanese Navy Admirals, Shin-Jinbutsuoraisha Co., Ltd., Tōkyō, Japan, 1999, ISBN 4-404-02733-8.

Web

• Nishida, Hiroshi. "Imperial Japanese Navy: Arima, Kaoru". Archived from the original on 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
• Hackett, Bob, and Sander Kingsepp (2006). "IJN Musashi: Tabular Record of Movement". Senkan!. Combinedfleet.com.