'Hiroaki Abe (1899-1949). Japanese Admiral. Born in Aichi prefecture, he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1911 and the Naval Staff College in 1925. He saw extensive sea duty in command of destroyers, cruisers, and battleships (1925-1938); in 1938 he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral; was commander of the 8th Cruiser Division in the Pearl Harbour Strike Force (November-December 1941), commander of the support force in the assualt on Wake Island (December 11-23); commander of Combat Division 11 (Battleship division 3 and Cruiser division 8) in the Guadalcanal campaign; led his ships as the vanguard group at the carrier battles of the eastern Solomons (August 23-25, 1942) and Santa Cruz (October 26-28); commander of the Raiding Force (battleships Hiei and Kirishima, a light cruiser, and fourteen destroyers) in an effort to bombard Henderson Field on Guadalcanal; encountered rear Admiral Daniel Callaghan's TF 67.4 in the battle of Guadalcanal, and broke off without bombarding Henderson Field after a stiff night action (November 12-13), in which he lost two destroyers and the Hiei; relieved by Admiral Yamamoto, and resigned from the Navy soon after (March 1943). He passed away in 1949. A capable and efficient subordinate, but lacked the determination and imagination for independent command.