On May 30, only three days after the twenty-ninth anniversary of the great naval battle which made him famous, Admiral Heihachiro Togo Passed to the abode of his ancestors. Dying at the age of eighty-six, he had been for ae past twenty years a semi-legendary figure even in his own Japan where he lived in modest retirement. His own People, however, fully recognized the unparalleled service which he had rendered Japan, and the Japanese government honored him commensurately. Indeed, throughout the world he was generally considered to have done more than any other single individual toward making Japan a world power.
Let us briefly summarize the career of this Japanese naval hero, who had the distinction of winning the most crushingly decisive major naval engagement since the days of Nelson. Born on December 22, 1847, in the little village of Kajiga in the Province of Satsuma, Togo was but six Years old when Matthew Calbraith Perry dropped anchor in Yedo Bay in the American naval expedition which opened Japan to the civilization of the West. Togo's father was a trusted samurai in the service of Prince Shimadzu, the feudal lord of Satsuma. His mother, a descendant of Kiyoniori who was the head of the proud feudal house of Taira, educated her son until he was twelve years old, when he became a pupil of the distinguished samurai of Satsuma, Takemori Saigo, for four Years. Meanwhile he gave no one the impression that he had more than ordinary ability, though he was noted for his diligence, modesty, and quiet demeanor. But even then into his consciousness had sunk one of the precepts of his teacher: "Act resolutely, and the very gods and devils shall flee before you." As a lad of sixteen, Togo served as an apprentice on board the Kasuga of the small Navy which the Satsuma clan formed to defend its coast during the period of turbulence preceding the fall of the Shogunate. The first battle in which he engaged was a victory, a good omen for the future; and after the defeat of the Shogunate cruiser Kwaiten, he was inspired with the desire to go to England and study modern naval science. After learning English from an Englishman residing in Yokohama, he had the good fortune in 1871 of being chosen as one among the twelve young Japanese cadets sent by the Japanese Imperial Government to study in the Greenwich Naval College in England. The commanding officer of the training-ship Worcester, on which Togo served for some eighteen months, said that Togo was “not what you would call brilliant; but a great plodder, slow to learn, but very sure when he had learnt; and he wanted to learn everything!” After five years in England, he was ordered to supervise the construction of the cruiser Hiyei, ordered from an English dockyard by Japan. Two years later, in 1878, he returned home on board the new cruiser, and rose steadily and rather rapidly in his profession, becoming a captain in 1890.
Togo was not afforded an opportunity, however, to gain public recognition until 1894, when war began with China. In this war Togo commanded the cruiser Naniwa of the “Flying Squadron” under command of Rear Admiral Tsuboi. Togo’s cruiser was one of three sent by Tsuboi to stop the Chinese from transporting troops to Korea. These orders were admirably carried out, a Chinese protected cruiser being badly damaged and a sloop sunk off the coast of Korea. Soon afterwards a sloop escorting a transport loaded with munitions and 1,200 Chinese troops was captured and the transport, endeavoring to escape, was fired on by the Naniwa and sunk with the loss of all on board except some 500 men. In the Battle of the Yalu, which followed the formal declaration of war, Togo’s Naniwa was one of the cruisers which led the attack and destroyed four of the Chinese vessels with slight losses and little damage to themselves. After the battle, the Naniwa in company with the cruiser Akitsushima destroyed the Chinese cruiser Kwang-Kai near Port Arthur, and somewhat later participated in the naval operations which ended the war with the capture of Weihaiwei and the remnant of the Chinese fleet. As a reward for his services, Togo was promoted in February, 1895, to the rank of rear admiral. The Emperor conferred upon him the Order of the Rising Sun, and soon thereafter made him the commander in chief of the “Standing Squadron.”
Forced by European powers to give up Port Arthur and the Liaotung Peninsula which China had surrendered in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Japan was infuriated when Russia, one of these Western powers, so maneuvered as to gain for herself in 1897 the very territory which had been withheld from Japan. Thereupon she set about making preparations for a war of revenge against Russia. In the building of a powerful modern navy, Togo played an important role. In October, 1903, he, then vice admiral, was appointed to command the main Japanese fleet, having gained additional prestige by the high professional qualities which he had displayed during the Boxer campaign. A man of modesty and good judgment, courage, and determination, he was to prove Japan’s man of the hour in the bloody struggle with Russia which was soon to commence. On February 5, 1904, the day diplomatic relations with Russia were broken, Togo called his officers on board the flagship and announced: “We sail tonight. Our enemy flies the Russian flag.” Then, as the officers filed out, he looked intently at a small dagger lying in a white wooden tray and at each officer in turn as he passed. All understood this symbol ' of samurai honor, and this ceremony thus served as a wordless preface to the heroic deeds of the Japanese Navy in the ensuing war.
When Japan declared war on Russia, February 8, 1904, she had ready for ' service six battleships, each mounting four 12-inch guns fore and aft; six armored cruisers, each carrying four 8-inch guns and from twelve to fourteen 6-inch guns; eight protected cruisers; nineteen destroyers; and sixteen torpedo boats. Two other armored cruisers, recently purchased from Argentina, arrived on February 16 in Japan from Italy where they were constructed. These ships were organized in two squadrons, with Togo’s flag in the battleship Mikasa. There was also a Third Squadron of old vessels, and an Auxiliary Squadron of armed merchant steamers, colliers, gunboats, mine layers and sweepers, repair ships, etc. There were no submarines nor aircraft.
The Russian naval forces were divided between the Baltic and Black Seas, and Port Arthur and Vladivostok in the Far East. At Port Arthur there were seven battleships, one armored cruiser, five protected cruisers, two torpedo gunboats, two mine layers, and twenty-five destroyers; while at Vladivostok, 1,100 miles to the north, were 3 armored cruisers, 1 protected cruiser, and 17 torpedo boats. In spite of the fact that the Japanese had a real advantage in the number of armored ships as well as in the weight of broadside and the use of high explosives in their heavy projectiles, Rear Admiral Vitjeft chief of the Russian Naval Staff in the Far East, declared that “our fleet cannot be beaten by the Japanese fleet, whether in the Gulf of Korea or in the Yellow Sea” and that consequently a landing of Japanese troops in Korea was “absolutely impossible.” But the Russians were soon to realize how foolishly they had been misled.
Indeed, the very evening of the day war was declared the Japanese struck viciously at the Russians at Port Arthur. A few minutes past midnight the Japanese launched a torpedo attack at the Russian fleet which lay in the outer harbor with lights burning, wholly unprepared for immediate fighting. As a result, two Russian battleships and a cruiser were so badly damaged that they grounded in attempting to reach the inner harbor. Beginning the following morning, Togo continued to harass the Port Arthur fleet with torpedo attacks and bombardments and with attempts to block the harbor entrance. Meanwhile the Japanese transported armies to Korea and southern Manchuria. During these operations around Port Arthur the Russians lost their ablest naval leader, Vice Admiral Makaroff, who went clown in his flagship, the Petropavlosk, which vanished within two minutes after striking a mine. Other losses amounted to a badly damaged battleship, two cruisers, one mine layer, and three destroyers.
The Japanese had equally serious losses. A torpedo boat and a small cruiser, while mine sweeping, struck mines and were sunk. A cruiser was rammed and sunk by a sister-ship in a dense fog. And a destroyer and two battleships were sunk by mines laid by the Russians. Meanwhile Port Arthur was cut off by the advance of the Japanese Army on land, and by August 1 the Russian battleships in the inner harbor could be reached effectively by the Japanese siege guns. Admiral Vitjeft had made a half-hearted sortie on June 23, and on August 10 he decided to make a second attempt to break through Togo's fleet and join the Russian naval forces at Vladivostok. His effective forces at Port Arthur had by that time been reduced to 6 battleships, 4 cruisers, and 8 destroyers. As this fleet began to leave port, Vitjeft, having a presentiment of death, took leave of his friends with the words: “We shall meet in another world.”
Togo was ready to meet the Russians with 4 battleships, 4 armored cruisers, 17 destroyers, and 29 torpedo boats. The climax of the battle came at 6:37 p.m. when two Japanese 12-inch shells struck the Russian flagship. The first shell hit the foremast, and the explosion swept the forebridge, killing Admiral Vitjeft and either killing or wounding seventeen other officers and men. The second shell burst against the roof of the conning tower, killing or injuring all within and at the same time jamming the helm hard to starboard so that the ship turned suddenly to port. Without a leader and without signals, the entire fleet was soon in disorder. Togo then closed to 4,000 yards, and only a destroyer attack and nightfall saved the Russians from annihilation. Under cover of darkness the ships separated and fled in different directions. None reached Vladivostok. Some reached neutral ports where they were interned. The remainder of the fleet —5 battleships, 1 cruiser, and 3 destroyers—though badly battered, managed to get back into Port Arthur, which became a death trap they were destined never to leave again.
The Russian squadron from Vladivostok attempted to co-operate in the sortie, but reached Tsushima Strait four days late where they were surprised by a superior force under Admiral Kamimura and driven back to their base with the loss of one cruiser.
The siege of Port Arthur went on with renewed energy after this fiasco, and finally on December 5, 203-Metre Hill was stormed and taken. With this as an observation point from which the fire of the Japanese 11-inch-siege guns could be directed at the Russian warships, one by one they were all sunk except the Sevastopol which was taken out into deep water and sunk by her captain, just before the surrender of the city on January 2, 1905.
In the meantime, the Russian government had decided to dispatch the Baltic Fleet to the Far East as a re-enforcement, and on October 15,1904, it set forth under Vice Admiral Rojdestvensky on one of the most remarkable cruises in naval history. It consisted of 7 battleships, 2 old armored cruisers, 4 light cruisers, 7 destroyers, and 9 auxiliary and store ships. The fleet cruised around Africa, the lighter vessels passing through Suez Canal and rejoining the fleet at Nossi Be in Madagascar on January 9, 1905. Only three days before this, news of the fall of Port Arthur had been received by the commander in chief. Against the advice of Rojdestvensky, a third division under Rear Admiral Nebogatoff was sent from Libau on February 15. It was composed of old vessels which the Russians laughingly referred to as “war junk” and “auto-sinkers.” This force finally joined Rojdestvensky in Kamranh Bay, French Cochin China, on May 9.
On May 14 the Russian armada began the last lap of its voyage, a strangely assorted and heterogeneous fleet of some fifty vessels. The Russian Admiral continued northward towards Tsushima Strait with Vladivostok as his destination. He was not desirous of meeting Togo in battle. In fact, during his most optimistic moments he hoped that he might encounter thick weather and so pass unobserved through the straits.
After the successful termination of the Port Arthur campaign, Togo lost no time in overhauling and reconditioning his ships. Three new destroyers and a new light cruiser were added to his fleet. And a definite plan of operations was agreed upon by the Supreme Command for intercepting and engaging the Russian fleet in Tsushima Strait. Togo was in Douglas Inlet at the entrance to Mesampo Harbor on the Korean coast with his main force of 4 battleships and 8 armored cruisers, in two equal divisions; and four divisions of light cruisers of 4 ships each. There were also in his fleet 21 destroyers, 17 first-class and 40 second-class torpedo boats, 2 dispatch boats, and some auxiliary cruisers.
Rojdestvensky was totally unable to elude such a well-proportioned Japanese force, and on May 27 he was engaged by Togo in Tsushima Strait in one of the major naval battles of modern history- Ten minutes after the Russian fleet was sighted, at about 1:45 p.m., Togo hoisted his famous signal: “The fate of the Empire depends upon this event. Let every man do his utmost.” So well did his officers and men respond in the engagement which followed that the Russians suffered a most humiliating defeat. Every effort that they made to break through to the northward was completely blocked by Togo’s highly effective gunfire, and by eight o’clock that evening the Japanese had sunk the best of the Russian battleships Ossliabya, Alexander III, and the flagship Suvaroff, from which Rojdestvensky seriously wounded had been with great difficulty transferred to a destroyer, muttering indistinctly as he relinquished the command of his fleet, “Command—Nebogatoff—keep on Vladivostok—course north 23 degrees east.”
During the ensuing night torpedo attacks caused the destruction of four more battleships, and next morning Nebogatoff surrendered the remnant of the Russian armada to Admiral Togo. Only eleven Russian ships escaped either capture or destruction. Seven of these fled to internment in neutral harbors; one hospital ship was released after capture; and only one cruiser and two destroyers reached Vladivostok in safety.
The Japanese nation was thrown into transports of rejoicing over the victory of their “invincible Togo.” The Japan Times declared, “Call it a great success! It far outbids our expectation! We are possessed of an indescribable feeling of extreme bonder and joy, and can only shed tears of ecstasy.” Indeed, the press of the whole World joined in heaping praise upon Togo his wonderful achievement. The immediate results were far-reaching. The Russian armies had already received a great defeat in Manchuria at Mukden and such a crushing blow on the sea made lire Russians quite willing to sign the treaty of peace favorable to Japan, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on September 5, 1905. By this treaty Japan’s paramount position in Korea was recognized, the territory being annexed in 1910; Port Arthur and the Liaotung Peninsula were transferred to Japan; as an indemnity, the southern half of Sakhalin Island became Japanese; and Russia was forced to evacuate Manchuria permanently.
Togo was highly honored by the Emperor, who bestowed upon him the Grand Order of the Chrysanthemum and the First Order of the Golden Kite. In 1906 he received the British Order of Merit, and the following year he became a Japanese Count. Modesty, however, was a dominant trait in his character, and he is said to have put a stop to an attempt to commence a popular subscription from which he was to receive 100,000 yen. When he returned to Japan a world hero, he purchased from the court photographer the only negative of him then in existence in Japan. This he destroyed, saying, “I am shocked to find that people spend money on the portrait of such a stupid person.”
In June, 1911, Admiral Togo, in company with General Nogi, represented Japan at the coronation of King George in London. On his way home he spent two weeks in the United States as the guest of the nation. He was received on the floor the House of Representatives and of the Senate, given a dinner in his honor by President Taft, and signally honored wherever he went. He visited the tomb of Washington at Mount Vernon and that of John Paul Jones at Annapolis; and as might be expected, he inspected the navy yards at Washington, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn.
In 1882 Togo married the eldest daughter of Viscount Kaieda of a proud family higher in rank than his own. Two sons were born to him, who were twenty and seventeen years old, respectively, at the time of the Battle of Tsushima; and also a daughter younger still. Togo was known for his love of flowers, dogs, and children. At the outbreak of the war with Russia, he is reported to have taken leave of his wife with this request: “Madame, be so good as to take excellent care of my dogs.”
Living in retirement in a modest little cottage in the outskirts of Tokyo among his flowers and dogs, Togo reached the advanced age of eighty-six before death relieved him from the suffering caused by cancer of the throat, on May 30 last. Shortly before his death, the Emperor raised him from a count to a marquis. On his deathbed he whispered, “I just want to rest until the end; I am thinking of my Emperor—and roses.” After his death, the Emperor as a last signal honor decreed for Japan’s greatest sea captain a state funeral. Togo’s life had covered the entire span of Japan’s history from Perry’s expedition down to the momentous happenings in the Far East during recent years; and his contribution to the westernization of his country and the winning of prestige as a world power was incalculably great. He lived to see the Japanese Navy become not only the most powerful fighting force in the Far East but also one of the most modern and efficient navies in the world.