Shintarō Hashimoto

was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Biography Hashimoto was born in Wakayama prefecture. He graduated from the 41st class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1913. He was ranked 43rd in a class of 118 cadets. As a midshipman, he was assigned to the cruisers and . On receiving his commission as ensign, he was assigned back to Chikuma, then to .

After attending torpedo school and naval artillery school, Hashimoto served on the destroyer . He was promoted to lieutenant in 1919, and served on the destroyer , as executive officer on destroyer , chief torpedo officer on destroyer and (in 1923), captain of the destroyer . From August until late-November, 1942, he commanded Tokyo Express missions during the Guadalcanal Campaign. In January 1943, Hashimoto's destroyers participated in "Operation Ke", and successfully evacuated 11,700 surviving Japanese troops from Guadalcanal.

From March to October 1943, Hashimoto received a shore assignment and became Commandant of the Torpedo School. Assigned to command the 5th Cruiser Division in November 1943, he was promoted to vice admiral on 15 October 1944.

From his flagship, the cruiser , he commanded the 5th Cruiser Division, which was defeated by Royal Navy warships during the Battle of the Malacca Strait on 16 May 1945. Haguro and the destroyer Kamikaze were in the Bay of Bengal off the northern tip of Sumatra attempting to transport food and supplies to the Japanese garrison in the Andaman Islands when they were ambushed by five British destroyers. During the battle, Haguro was hit repeatedly by torpedoes and gunfire. She sank, and Admiral Hashimoto was killed.