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Hisashi Ohara

CountryJapan
CategorySea

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

Captain 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:

"Our planes were being made ready for a second sortie (against Midway Island) and were all lined up on the flight deck ready to take off. The planes in the hangar below decks were loaded with bombs and fuel, ready to be brought to the flight deck, so that the first bomb started all these planes burning. The bombs loaded aboard the planes went off one by one by induced explosion.... Due to the large fires aboard the ship, the large gasoline storage area in the stern of the ship exploded, leaving only the bow afloat, after which the gasoline storage tanks in the forward part of the ship exploded and sank the ship."

Ohara 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.

Sources: Interrogations of Japanese Officials, Shattered Sword.




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More on Hisashi Ohara
Event(s) Participated:
» Raids into the Indian Ocean
» Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands

Ship(s) Served:
» Soryu


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