Ships
- IJN Hosho Captain from 20 October 1933 · Relieved on 15 November 1934
Rokukichi Takeda was born in Fukuoka Prefecture on 20 January 1886 and spent his adult life in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He finished at the prefectural middle school Shuyukan in 1905 and graduated from the Naval Academy with the 36th class on 21 November 1908, ranked 111th among 191 cadets. The commands of his middle years ran through naval air stations, a seaplane tender, and the carrier Hosho. He ended his service as a rear admiral and died on 24 March 1972.
His recorded senior appointments sit in naval aviation. On 1 December 1930 he became commander of the Omura Naval Air Group. On 1 December 1931 he was promoted to captain and moved to command of the Sasebo Naval Air Group. On 15 November 1932 he was appointed special-duty commanding officer of the seaplane tender Kamoi, a special-service ship employed with the navy’s floatplane force.
On 20 October 1933 he became captain of the aircraft carrier Hosho, succeeding Teizo Mitsunami. Completed in December 1922, Hosho was the first Japanese ship designed from the keel as a carrier, and she had already operated with the fleet off Shanghai in 1932. She was placed in reserve on the day Takeda took command. In February 1934 she entered the Yokosuka Navy Yard, docking on 21 February, and remained a second-line ship while newer carriers carried the main air strength of the fleet.
Captain Takeda was relieved of Hosho on 15 November 1934 and attached to the Yokosuka Naval District. On 14 December 1935 he passed onto the reserve list. He remained there until the navy recalled him on 10 June 1941.
His wartime appointments returned him to air units and to another seaplane tender. On 1 April 1942 he took command of the Nagoya Naval Air Group. On 2 June 1942 he became captain of the auxiliary seaplane tender Sanuki Maru. On 23 September 1943 he was appointed commander of the 954th Naval Air Group, and on 1 March 1944 he moved to command of the 31st Air Group.
He was promoted to rear admiral on 15 October 1944. The recall that had brought him back in 1941 ended on 6 July 1946. On 28 November 1947 he received a provisional designation under the postwar ban that kept former officers from public office.