was a rear admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy who served during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and in the Pacific War during World War II. Yamaguchi′s carrier force was part of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He subsequently participated in the Battle of Midway, where he was killed in action, choosing to go down with the aircraft carrier when she was scuttled after being crippled by aircraft from and . Biography Early career Yamaguchi was born in Koishikawa Tokyo, and was the third son of a former samurai retainer of Matsue Domain. His given name "Tamon" was the childhood name of the medieval hero Kusunoki Masashige. He attended the Kaisei Academy and was accepted into the 40th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, which he graduated in 1912, ranked 21st out of 144 cadets. His classmates included Takijirō Ōnishi and Matome Ugaki. As an ensign, he served on the cruiser and battleship . After his commissioning as a lieutenant junior grade, he completed naval artillery and torpedo school training and was assigned to the 3rd Submarine Squadron in December 1916. He was dispatched to the Mediterranean with the Japanese fleet as part of Japan's contribution to the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in World War I and participated in combat operations as an officer on the destroyer based on Malta from July 1918. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in December of that year. In January 1919, he was assigned to a navigation unit with the naval squadron escorting Imperial German Navy submarines received by the Japanese government as part of reparation payments from Germany at the end of World War I. He served in shore-based administrative assignments at Yokosuka Naval District (from July 1919), Kure Naval District (from October 1919) and Sasebo Naval District (from December 1920). In March 1921, Yamaguchi was sent to the United States to attend Princeton University at the Navy's expense, and returned to Japan in May 1923. On his return to Japan, he was assigned to the battleship for six months, before serving as an instructor at the Submarine School from December 1923 to December 1924. He then attended the Naval Staff College, from which he graduated with honors in November 1926. From November 1927, he was assigned to the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff. Yamaguchi was promoted to commander in December 1928. Assigned to the Japanese delegation at the London Naval Conference 1930,