Boshirō Hosogaya , was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II . Biography . Hosogaya was born to a farming family in Nozawa , Nagano prefecture in 1888 . He graduated from the 36th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1908 . He was ranked 16th in a class of 191 cadets . As a midshipman , he was assigned to the cruiser s and . On receiving his commission as ensign , he attended torpedo school and naval artillery school , and as a sub - lieutenant served on the destroyer and battleship . He was promoted to lieutenant in 1919 , and served on the destroyer , and various staff positions . After graduating from the 18th class of Naval War College ( Japan ) in 1918 and his promotion to lieutenant commander in 1920 , he served as a staff officer on the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff , and also on the martial law headquarters for the Kantō region after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 . In 1924 , Hosogaya was promoted to commander and became executive officer on the cruiser . In 1927 - 1928 , he visited the United States and Europe , and in 1928 became executive officer on the battleship . After his promotion to captain in 1929 , he served as executive officer , and then as captain of the heavy cruiser . In 1934 , he assumed command of the battleship . He was promoted to rear admiral on 15 November 1935 . He was Commandant of both the Communications and Torpedo Schools during 1935 - 1936 . After his promotion to vice admiral on 15 November 1939 , he was assigned as Commander in Chief of the Ryojun Naval District . On 15 November 1940 , Hosogaya was given command of the 1st China Expeditionary Fleet and on 25 July 1941 , he became CINC of the IJN 5th Fleet , a largely administrative command based at Ōminato in command of the North Pacific forces , covering the Hokkaidō - Karafuto - Kurile Islands defense area . The fleet had only light naval forces attached to it , including a couple of light cruiser s and a seaplane tender . As part of the Battle of Midway , Hosogaya directed the Battle of the Aleutian Islands and in the invasion of Attu and Kiska and the bombardment of Dutch Harbor . On 26 March 1943 , during an escort of two transport ships to reinforce the occupied Kiska Island in the Aleutian Islands , Hosogaya ' s fleet , consisting of two heavy cruisers , two light cruiser s , and four destroyers , was intercepted near the Komandorski Islands by a U . S . Navy fleet , led by Rear Admiral Charles H . McMorris , and made up of one heavy cruiser , one light cruiser and four destroyers . In the ensuing Battle of the Komandorski Islands , Hosogaya mistook shell splashes from colored dye shells for bomb splashes , and wrongly concluded he was under aerial attack . Seeking to protect his transport ships , he abruptly broke off action and retreated from the scene of battle even though he had severely damaged McMorris ' s command ship , the heavy cruiser . Hosogaya ' s retreat in the face of an inferior American force was viewed as evidence of cowardice and cost him his command . Later in 1943 , he was assigned to the reserves . For the rest of war , Hosogaya was based in Truk , serving as governor of the South Seas Agency .