of his crew, were rescued by Shikinami. After recovering from his injuries, Kimura, with an augmented DesRon 1, was assigned to cover the withdrawal of Japanese troops from Kiska Island in the Aleutians. When poor weather threatened the withdrawal operations, Kimura disobeyed orders and remained on station until the last man was recovered. Still in command of DesRon 1, Kimura sortied from Pescadores, Formosa on 22 October 1944 to join Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima's Second Striking Force in the battle of Surigao strait, transferring his flag from when she was disabled by a torpedo fired by Lieutenant (jg) Mike Kovar's PT-137. Afterward, in 1944, he was assigned to escort reinforcements to Leyte Island and Mindoro Island in the Philippines. In December 1944, Kimura led a raiding force of cruisers , , and the destroyers (flagship), , , , , and from Cam Ranh Bay to bombard the American beachhead in Mindoro in the Philippines on the night of 26 December 1944. On 1 April 1945, Kimura became commandant of the Anti-submarine Warfare School, and the Hofu Naval Communications School. He was promoted to Vice Admiral on 1 November 1945, a few days before he entered the reserves on 10 November. Kimura had a postwar career in the salt industry, and died of stomach cancer in 1960, aged 68. References Books * External links Brad Manera,(Military Historian, Australian War Memorial, 2003, Battle of the Bismarck Sea, 2-4 March 1943 Historic Wings: Battle of the Bismarck Sea Dr Alan Stephens, ?, "Battle of the Bismarck Sea" Geoff Hastwell, 2003, "The Battle of the Bismarck Sea" Allyn D. Nevitt, 1996, "Battle of the Bismarck Sea" Notes 1891 births 1960 deaths People from Shizuoka (city) Military personnel from Tottori Prefecture Japanese admirals of World War II Imperial Japanese Navy admirals attack on Pearl Harbor Battle of Midway Deaths from stomach cancer Deaths from cancer in Japan