was a vice 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 surrender ...

Biography

Tōgō was born in what is now

Kagoshima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,599,779 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 9,187 km2 (3,547 sq mi). Kagoshima Prefecture borders Kumamoto P ...

as the younger son of a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

Satsuma Domain The , briefly known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1602 to 1871. The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of Kagoshima, ...

. He was the nephew of Fleet Admiral

Tōgō Heihachirō Marshal-Admiral Marquis , served as a '' gensui'' or admiral of the fleet in the Imperial Japanese Navy and became one of Japan's greatest naval heroes. He claimed descent from Samurai Shijo Kingo, and he was an integral part of preserving ...

. Tōgō was a graduate of the 13th 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 stu ...

in 1886. At the start of the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...

he was a lieutenant and division commander on the gunboat ,corvette , and by the end of the war served as gunnery officer on the cruisers and . he was promoted to lieutenant commander in June 1898 and became chief gunnery officer on the battleship in March 1899. He was sent to Great Britain in August 1900 as part of the Japanese crew for the new battleship , returning in February 1901. He received his first command, that of the ex-Chinese gunboat ''Soko'', in October 1901. He was promoted to commander in October 1902. From April to December 1903 he was assigned as aide-de-camp to

Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito was the second (and last) head of the Higashifushimi-no-miya, an ''ōke'' cadet branch of the Japanese imperial family. Early life Born on September 19, 1867, as seventeenth (and posthumous) son of Prince Fushimi Kuniie, head of the Fushimi-no ...

. At the start of 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 ...

, Tōgō was assigned as

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

on the cruiser . After the end of the war, from January 1905, he was executive officer in the battleship and was given command of the cruiser in December the same year. From February to September 1907 he was captain of the cruiser . Promoted to captain in September 1907. He was captain of the battleship to July 1908 and captain of the cruiser from September to December of the same year. From September 1910 to December 1912, he was naval secretary for the

Government-General of Taiwan The Government-General of Taiwan (Japanese: , Kyūjitai: , Hepburn: ''Taiwan Sōtoku-fu''; ; Tâi-lô: Tâi-uân Tsóng-tok-hú; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ=Thòi-vân Chúng-tuk-fú) was the government that governed Taiwan under Japanese rule between 189 ...

. Tōgō was then promoted to rear admiral on December 1, 1912 and served as commandant of the Naval Artillery School from December 3 to December 1914. 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 ...

, he served as Commander of the Interim Southern Islands Defense Unit from October 1915 to December 1916. He was promoted to vice admiral on December 1, 1916 and assigned command of the

Chinkai Guard District The was the major navy base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in Korea under Japanese rule before and during World War II. Located in southern Korea (at present-day Jinhae, Republic of Korea, ), the Chinkai Guard District was responsible for control ...

to December 1918. He went on the reserve list on August 1, 1920 and retired on December 14, 1931. He died in 1942.

Honors

*1895 -

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

, 6th class *1905 - JPN Zuiho-sho (WW2) 4Class BAR

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

, 4th class *1915 - JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 2Class BAR

, 2nd class *1920 - Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1867 births 1942 deaths Imperial Japanese Naval Academy alumni Imperial Japanese Navy admirals People from Satsuma Domain Military personnel from Kagoshima Prefecture Japanese military personnel of the First Sino-Japanese War Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Japanese military personnel of World War I Members of the Government-General of Taiwan