Togo, Heihachiro

Togo, Heihachiro hāˈhächĭrōˈ tōˈgō [key], 1846–1934, Japanese admiral, Japan's greatest naval hero. He studied naval science in England (1871–78), gained international recognition for his service in the First Sino-Japanese War, and contributed greatly to the development of Japanese sea power. In the Russo-Japanese War he defeated the Russian fleet at Port Arthur in 1904 and destroyed the Russian Baltic fleet in 1905 at the battle of Tsushima. This historic battle broke Russian strength in East Asia. Later he was chief of the naval general staff and a member of the supreme war council.

See E. A. Falk, Togo and the Rise of Japanese Sea Power (1936); G. Blond, Admiral Togo (tr. 1960).

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