World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseRyunosuke Kusaka was born to the director in the Sumitomo zaibatsu in Tokyo, Japan. He attended schools in Osaka, Japan and graduated from the Japanese Navy Academy in 1917. He served aboard cruisers Azuma and Otowa as a midshipman. After being commissioned as an officer, he served aboard a number of warships, including battleships Kongo, Mutsu, and Yamashiro which later were participants in WW2. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 1 Dec 1919 and to the rank of lieutenant commander in 1925. Later in 1925, he graduated from the Naval Staff College with specialty in naval aviation. He was posted to the Kasumigaura Air Group in 1926. On 1 Sep 1933, he was assigned as the executive officer of the cruiser Iwate. On 16 Nov 1936, he was named the commanding officer of the carrier Hosho, which was his first command. He was named the captain of carrier Akagi in 1939. On 15 Nov 1940, he was promoted to the rank of rear admiral and was assigned to command the 24th Air Flotilla. In Apr 1941, he was named the Chief of Staff of the 1st Air Fleet under Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, thus played a role in the planning and execution of the Pearl Harbor and the Midway battles. He was known for his cool personality, perhaps from his Zen Buddhist background, and being a great negotiator. Starting in Nov 1942, he served in a number of staff positions. He was named the Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet on 6 Apr 1944, followed by a promotion to the rank of vice admiral on 1 May. At the end of the war, he was the commanding officer of the 5th Air Fleet.

ww2dbaseAdmiral Jinichi Kusaka who also served with the Japanese Navy during WW2 was his cousin.

Ryunosuke Kusaka Timeline