With the start of the Pacific War, Koga commanded naval operations during The Battle of Hong Kong from December 9, 1941 to the end of the month. Following the death of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto on April 19, 1943, Koga succeeded Yamamoto as Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet. His flagship was the battleship Musashi.
Koga attempted to revitalize Japanese naval operations by reorganization of the Combined Fleet into task forces built around aircraft carriers in imitation of the United States Navy, and organized a land-based naval air fleet to work in coordination with the carriers. Operationally, he intended to mount an aggressive counteroffensive in the Aleutians to dilute American forces and to lure the American fleet into a major naval engagement in 1943.[2] However, the losses of Japan's land and carrier based aircraft based in the central Pacific eventually forced a Japanese withdrawal from the Gilbert Islands and Philippines by the end of the year. Koga gradually adopted a more conservative stance, attempting to conserve his remaining forces to inflict maximum damage on the Americans when they closed toward the Philippines. Koga was killed when his plane, a Kawanishi "Emily" flying boat, crashed during a typhoon between Palau and Davao while overseeing the withdrawal of the Combined Fleet from its Palau headquarters on March 31, 1944. His death was not announced until May 1944 when he was formally replaced by Admiral Soemu Toyoda.
Koga was promoted to Marshal Admiral posthumously and he was accorded a state funeral. His grave is at the Tama Cemetery, outside of Tokyo.
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