Tōgō Heihachirō
The Nelson of the East
Tōgō Heihachirō was born on 27 January 1848 in Kagoshima, the third of four sons of a samurai revenue controller and a noblewoman.[1] He died of throat cancer on 30 May 1934 at age 86 and received a state funeral with naval representatives from six countries.[2][3]
Quick Facts
- Nickname
- "The Nelson of the East"
- Born
- 27 January 1848
- Birthplace
- Kagoshima, Satsuma Domain
- Died
- 30 May 1934
- Place of death
- Tokyo, Empire of Japan
- Allegiance
- Empire of Japan
- Service years
- 1863–1913
- Rank
- Marshal Admiral
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
After the civil war ended in 1869, he studied English in Yokohama and secured a place at the Imperial Japanese Navy Training School in 1870.[4] In February 1871, Tōgō and eleven other cadets were selected to travel to Britain for naval studies, where he lived and studied for seven years.[5] He was promoted to captain in 1886 but suffered acute rheumatism that confined him to bed rest for nearly three years, during which he studied international and maritime law.[6] During the Russo-Japanese War, he ordered the Z flag hoisted on the Mikasa on 27 May 1905, signaling "The fate of the Empire rests on the outcome of this battle"[7]
Tōgō was Chief of the Naval General Staff, received the title of Count, and from 1914 to 1924 was put in charge of the education of Crown Prince Hirohito.[8][9] At age 13, Tōgō participated in a genpuku ceremony where he adopted the name Heihachirō, having been raised with the education of a samurai warrior.[10] In 1875, Tōgō served as an ordinary seaman on the British training ship Hampshire, departing in February and spending seventy continuous days at sea before reaching Melbourne during a circumnavigation of the globe.[11] Tōgō became commandant of the Naval War College in Tokyo in May 1896, and later took up the post of commander at the Sasebo Naval College.[10]
What the cited sources add
A contemporary account from a German survivor stated that after the sinking of the Kowshing, Japanese boats fired on Chinese survivors in lifeboats, and no attempt was made to rescue the Chinese.[12] The Battle of Pung-do on 25 July 1894 involved Captain Tōgō commanding the protected cruiser Naniwa, which sank the Chinese transport Kowshing.[13] Tōgō kept his journals in English and wrote "I am firmly convinced that I am the re-incarnation of Horatio Nelson"[14] In 1911, Tōgō returned to England for the coronation of King George V and presented the original Z flag from Tsushima to Britain's Marine Society.[8]
Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz helped finance the restoration of the Mikasa in 1958, and Japanese craftsmen created a replica of Tōgō's garden at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Texas.[15]
References
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lloyd, "The Life of Admiral Togo", AllWorldWars.com; "Heihachiro Togo", Encyclopedia.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Associated Press, "Admiral Togo, Famous Naval Leader, Dies", The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, 30 May 1934, Volume 40, p. 1. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Admiral Dreyer to attend funeral of Admiral Togo", The Straits Times, 4 June 1934, p. 11 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ikeda, "Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits", Japan Library, 1994, p. 108 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Blond, "Admiral Togo", Jarrolds Publishers, 1961, p. 55 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ikeda, "Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits", Japan Library, 1994, p. 110 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: George, "Japan's Trafalgar: The Battle of Tsushima Strait"; "Drifting Toward Tsushima", United States Naval Institute, February 2022; George, "Japan's Trafalgar: The Battle of Tsushima Strait"; "Tōgō Heihachirō" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Marshal Admiral Marquis Togo Heihachiro's Z flag", Alamy (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Heihachiro Togo" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Heihachiro Togo", Encyclopedia.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cobbing, "The Japanese Discovery of Victorian Britain", Routledge, 1998, p. 122 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jiawu Zhanzheng, "The Battle of Pung-do – July 25, 1894", SinoJapaneseWar.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Jiawu Zhanzheng, "The Battle of Pung-do – July 25, 1894", SinoJapaneseWar.com. facts only, no text reused. sinojapanesewar.com
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Garson, R. W., "Three Great Admirals – One Common Spirit?", The Naval Review, January 1999, p. 63–64; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tōgō Heihachirō" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Japanese Garden of Peace" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Tōgō Heihachirō (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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