Shunsaku Kudō
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Biography
Born in 1901, Kudō graduated from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1923 and was assigned to the light cruiser Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". as a midshipman, followed by the battleship Nagato in October 1924. He was commissioned in December 1924, was promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant in 1926, and took his first command, the destroyer Hatakaze, in 1929. He assumed command of Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". in November 1940.
Rescue of 442 enemy sailors
On March 2, 1942, Lieutenant Commander Kudō ordered Ikazuchi to rescue 442 survivors from the Royal Navy destroyer Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". and United States Navy destroyer Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".. These ships had been sunk the previous day, along with Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities"., in the Java Sea between Java and Borneo, off the Indonesian port of Soerabaja. The survivors had been adrift for some 20 hours, in rafts and lifejackets or clinging to floats, many coated in oil and unable to see. Among the rescued was Sir Sam Falle, later a British diplomat.[1] This humanitarian decision by Lieutenant Commander Kudō placed the Ikazuchi at risk of submarine attack, and interfered with her fighting ability due to the sheer numbers of rescued sailors. The action was later the subject of books[2][3][4] and a 2007 TV programme.[5][6][7] According to the same documentary, humility and sadness sealed Kudō Shunsaku's lips after Ikazuchi was sunk with all its crew, thus he never told anyone about this heroic rescue.
Post-war life
After the war, Kudō left the navy and moved to Kawaguchi, Saitama. In 1979, he died of stomach cancer.
References
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".. This forum discussion contains a brief summary of the 2006 Megumi book's account of the rescues of HMS Encounter and USS Pope.
- ↑ Sam Falle, My Lucky Life: In War, Revolution, Peace and Diplomacy, Book Guild Ltd, 29.08.1996
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Template:Cite video In Japanese. See also Template:Trim Template:Replace on YouTubeScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". and Template:Trim Template:Replace on YouTubeScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"..
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".. In Japanese. A summary of the 2007 television program.
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