Hiroaki Abe Biography . Early career . Abe was born in Yonezawa city in Yamagata prefecture in northern Japan . He graduated from the 39th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1911 , with a ranking of 26th out of a class of 148 cadets . As a midshipman , he served on the cruiser and battleship . After his promotion to ensign on 1 December 1912 , he was assigned to the cruisers and , and the battleship . After attending torpedo school and naval artillery school , he was promoted to sub - lieutenant and served on the destroyer , followed by the cruiser during World War I . However , it does not appear that Abe experienced combat during his tour of duty . After the end of the war , he served in mostly staff positions until he was given his first command on 20 July 1922 ; the destroyer " Ushio " . He then commanded the destroyer , and was promoted to lieutenant commander the following year on 1 December 1923 . He was captain of the destroyer for one year in 1925 . Abe returned to the Naval Staff College in 1926 . He was promoted to commander on 10 December 1928 , and captain on 1 December 1932 . In 1936 , he assumed command of the cruiser , and a year later , that of the battleship . Pacific War . On 15 November 1938 , Abe was promoted to the rank of rear admiral . He was thus in command of Cruiser Division 8 ( CruDiv8 ) during the attack on Pearl Harbor , and the subsequent Battle of Wake Island . During the Guadalcanal campaign , as commander of Combat Division 11 ( BatDiv 3 and CruDiv 8 ) , he led his ships as the vanguard group at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons from 23 – 25 August 1942 and the Battle of Santa Cruz from 26 – 28 October . He was promoted to vice admiral on 1 November . However , during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 12 – 13 November , when assigned to bombard Henderson Field on Guadalcanal , he broke off his attack after encountering U . S . Navy Rear Admiral Daniel Callaghan ' s Task Group 67 . 4 ( TG 67 . 4 ) . Abe lost his flagship , the battleship , which he ordered scuttled after it had been seriously damaged , as well as two destroyers . Abe himself was injured , while his chief of staff was killed , by machine gunfire from , a destroyer in which he in turn sank afterwards . His failure to aggressively push through his attack against what appeared to be an inferior enemy force created tremendous controversy , and he was relieved of his command by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto . Abe was forced to resign from the Imperial Japanese Navy soon afterward in March 1943 . He died in 1949 . His younger brother , Toshio Abe , was also a career navy officer , and was captain of the aircraft carrier . Toshio went down with " Shinano " , when she was torpedoed and sunk by while performing trials . Notable Positions Held . Crewmember , BB " Kongō " - 27 May 1914 – 1 December 1914 Staff Officer , 3rd Fleet - 1 December 1919 – 10 November 1921 Chief Torpedo Officer , CL " Tama " - 10 May 1923 – 1 May 1924 Staff , Officer , DesRon 2 – 30 November 1929 – 31 October 1931 ComDesDiv 1 – 31 October 1931 – 16 May 1932 ComDesDiv 2 – 15 November 1932 – 15 November 1933 ComDesDiv 23 – 15 November 1933 – 15 November 1934 Commanding Officer , CL " Jintsu " - 1 December 1936 – 1 December 1937 Commanding Officer , BB " Fusō " - 1 December 1937 – 1 April 1938 ComDesRon 6 – 15 November 1940 – 21 July 1941 ComCruDiv 8 – 1 August 1941 – 14 July 1942 ComBatDiv 11 – 14 July 1942 – 20 December 1942 Dates of Promotions . Midshipman - 18 July 1911 Ensign - 1 December 1912 Sublieutenant - 1 December 1914 Lieutenant - 1 December 1917 Lieutenant Commander - 1 December 1923 Commander - 10 December 1928 Captain - 1 December 1932 Rear Admiral - 15 November 1938 Vice Admiral - 1 November 1942