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was a Japanese admiral in the
Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...
during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.


Biography

Satō was born in Hanamaki city in modern-day Iwate prefecture. He was a graduate of the 18th class of the
Imperial Japanese Naval Academy The was a school established to train line officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was originally located in Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima in 1888. Students st ...
in 1891, ranking 6th out of 61 cadets. His classmates included future admiral
Abo Kiyokazu Baron was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, who served as Ministry of the Navy of Japan, Navy Minister in the early 1930s. Biography Abo was born in Saga Prefecture as Sawano Yasusaburō, where his father was the commandant of the milita ...
. As a midshipman, Satō served on , , , and , and after promotion to ensign, on the . In 1894, during the First Sino-Japanese War, he was assistant navigator on the converted passenger liner ''Saikyō-Maru'', serving under the formidable Admiral
Kabayama Sukenori Count was a Japanese samurai military leader and statesman. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Kabayama Sukenori"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 441. He was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy. H ...
during the Battle of the Yalu River. After serving on and , Satō was promoted to lieutenant in 1897 and was appointed as chief gunnery officer on ''Chinen'' in 1898. In 1900, he served on the on its voyage to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and back. He served in staff positions from 1901–1902, and was sent as a military attaché to the United Kingdom in April 1903. While in the United Kingdom, he was promoted to
lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...
. After his return in February 1904, Satō was assigned as chief gunnery officer on , where he served during the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
at the
Battle off Ulsan The naval Battle off Ulsan (Japanese: 蔚山沖海戦 ''Urusan'oki kaisen''; Russian: Бой в Корейском проливе, ''Boi v Koreiskom prolive''), also known as the Battle of the Japanese Sea or Battle of the Korean Strait, took pl ...
. He was transferred to , where he was chief gunnery officer during the Battle of Tsushima. After the end of the war, he served on the battleship on its 1905 voyage to the United Kingdom. Returning to Japan in August 1906, he was promoted to commander and served as an instructor at the Naval Gunnery School from 1907 to the end of 1909. In December 1910,Satō became executive officer on the battleship . On December 1, 1911, he was promoted to captain and received his first command: the cruiser . He subsequently commanded (1913), (1913) and (1915). Satō was promoted to rear admiral on Dec 1, 1916. On February 7, 1917 Satō was assigned command of the 2nd Special Squadron, a task force of Japanese destroyers deployed to
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
in the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
as part of Japan’s assistance to the Allied war effort under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Sato commanded two squadrons of 17 destroyers from aboard the flagship , patrolling the eastern Mediterranean from
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
to Marseilles and from Alexandria to Taranto against the Imperial German Navy and Austro-Hungarian Navy. His forces escorted convoys of merchant vessels and troopships, and performed
anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...
duties. Future admirals Tamon Yamaguchi and Raizō Tanaka were members of his staff. These operations were under the overall command of
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
Admiral Sir Somerset Gough-Calthorpe, and Rear Admiral George A Ballard, who highly praised Satō in dispatches to
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. The Japanese ships were at sea on combat duty on average 25 days or more each month. The Japanese Navy spent 72 percent of their time at sea compared with 60 percent by the British and about 45 percent by the French and Italian Navy. After his return to Japan after the end of the war, Satō was commandant of the Naval Artillery School. He was promoted to vice admiral in December 1920, and commanded the
Ōminato Guard District The was the major navy base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in northern Honshu before and during World War II. Located in Mutsu Bay at the present-day city of Mutsu, Aomori, Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, the Ōminato Guard District was responsible fo ...
in 1921. He went into the reserves from 1923. Satō died after the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
in 1948. Many of the overseas honors and decorations he was awarded by the Entente Powers in World War I are displayed at the Hanamaki City Museum at his hometown of Hanamaki, Iwate.Hanamaki City Museum
These include the following: * Order of St Michael and St George (UK), Knight Commander * Order of the Crown (Belgium), Grand Officer * Order of the Redeemer (Greece), Grand Commander *
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
(France), Commandeurs * Order of the Crown of Italy, Grand Officer


References


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External links

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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sato, Kozo Imperial Japanese Navy admirals Japanese military personnel of the First Sino-Japanese War Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Japanese military personnel of World War I 1871 births 1948 deaths People from Iwate Prefecture Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Grand Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur