ADMIRAL WILLIAM F. HALSEY
EMPEROR HIROHITO
HERO OF GUADALCANAL AND THIRD FLEET COMMANDER UNITED STATES
Nicknamed ‘Bull’ by the media, Admiral William F. Halsey was a 1904 graduate of the US Naval Academy and developed a reputation as the most aggressive admiral in the navy. After Pearl Harbor, Halsey led US aircraft carriers in hit-and-run raids against Japanese installations in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. He commanded the task force that launched the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April 1942. That autumn, Halsey took command of US forces in the South Pacific, re-energising the pivotal campaign to capture the island of Guadalcanal. He subsequently led the offensive through the Solomons, the landings on Bougainville and the successful execution of Operation Cartwheel, neutralising the Japanese bastion at Rabaul. Halsey commanded the Third Fleet during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, but his performance remains controversial.
RULER OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE JAPAN
One of only four US Navy officers to achieve fleet admiral rank, he attended the Japanese surrender proceedings in Tokyo Bay. Halsey died at the age of 76.
Despite reluctance to pursue a policy of expansion, Hirohito, the 124th Emperor of Japan, acquiesced to military expansion into China and the continent of Asia, and ultimately to war with the United States. He further agreed to Japan’s alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, formally codified in the Tripartite Pact of 27 September 1940, nearly a year after the German invasion of Poland and the outbreak of World War II in Europe. Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Hirohito approved the plan. As the fortunes of war turned against the empire, Hirohito remained a revered ‘god-man’, and negotiations for Japan’s surrender allowed the emperor to remain on the throne. On 15 August 1945, Hirohito addressed his people concerning the surrender. It was the first time they had heard his voice. Hirohito avoided prosecution for war crimes, and his culpability remains a topic of debate. He died at the age of 87 following a reign of 62 years.
COMMANDER OF ROYAL NAVY PACIFIC FLEET GREAT BRITAIN
Admiral Bruce Fraser joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1902 and served in a combat role during World War I. He participated in the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet in 1918. During the 1930s he served as Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy, contributing to its preparedness for World War II. In May 1943, Fraser became Commander-in Chief of the Home Fleet. Aboard the battleship HMS Duke of York, he commanded the task force that sank the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst during the Battle of the North Cape that December. A year later, Fraser was appointed commander of the British Pacific Fleet. He forged a strong working relationship with Britain’s American allies and became quite popular with them. He represented the British government during the Japanese surrender proceedings in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. Fraser was appointed Admiral of the Fleet in 1948, retiring in 1951 after half a century of service. He died at age 93.
ADMIRAL BRUCE FRASER
PRINCE FUMIMARO KONOE
PRIME MINISTER AND ADVISOR TO THE EMPEROR JAPAN
Ascending to the office of prime minister in 1937, Konoe twice served in the role but failed to form governments that could mitigate the influence of the military and restrict its adventurism to China rather than widening the conflict to include war with the Western powers, particularly the United States. Nevertheless, he presided over much of Japan’s evolution to a totalitarian nation. From the spring of 1941 until his resignation in October, he attempted to negotiate with the American government. However, the effort was impeded by hawkish War Minister Hideki Tojo, an army general who argued that war with the United States was inevitable. Succeeded by Tojo as prime minister, Konoe temporarily faded from the nexus of Japanese politics. By 1944, he re-emerged as a key figure in forcing
Tojo from power. He further advised Emperor Hirohito to engage in peace talks with the US. Under threat of indictment as a war criminal after World War II ended, he committed suicide in December 1945.