Kiichi Hasegawa

Kiichi Hasegawa (b. 1894) was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He took command of the CV Akagi on March, 25 1941 at the rank of captain, shortly before it was assigned to become the flagship of the First Air Fleet commanded by Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. In 1941, he also spent a short time as the captain of the carrier Soryu.

Hasegawa commanded the Akagi during the Japanese invasion of the American territory of Hawaii in 1941-42. He was the senior Naval officer present at the formal surrender of the American forces, along with his army counter-part, General Tomoyuki Yamashita in February, 1942. He also oversaw the execution of Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki for allowing himself to be captured.

Hasegawa was quite vocal about his conflict with the army about how best to continue the occupation of Hawaii. By May, 1942, he'd been relieved of his post and replaced with Captain Tomeo Kaku.