Most officers who might have testified about the Akikaze decision died before the war ended, some in notably dangerous circumstances. One cautious cultural hypothesis is that Mikawa's generation might have allowed dishonored officers to seek redemption through death in battle, although no chain of events can be proved. Such an arrangement could explain the destruction of the evidentiary trail without requiring a formal execution. The comparison with institutions quietly moving wrongdoers to new posts makes the moral problem clear. Giving fellow officers an honorable exit would protect their reputation and the institution, but it would not deliver justice and would make senior commanders complicit in concealment.
Notable Point · 47:32-49:43
An honorable-death theory still amounts to concealment
The unusual deaths of possible witnesses invite a theory that implicated officers were sent to redeem themselves in battle, but that would preserve honor by concealing the crime.