Dewa Shigeto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Baron Dewa Shigeto | |
|---|---|
| 10 December 1855 – 27 January 1930 | |
 Portrait of Admiral Dewa Shigeto from National Diet Library, Tokyo, |
|
| Place of birth | Aizu domain, Japan |
| Place of death | Tokyo, Japan |
| Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
| Years of service | 1872-–1914 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands | Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Battles/wars | First Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War |
| Awards | Title of Danshaku (Baron) |
Shigeto Dewa (出羽重遠 Dewa Shigeto?) (10 December 1855 – 27 January 1930) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Dewa Shigeto was born as the son of a samurai of the Aizu domain (present day Fukushima prefecture) and attended the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1872. He served as a junior officer on several vessels of the early Japanese Navy, and served during Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) as a staff officer of "Western Seas Fleet", a defensive force patrolling home waters. In 1893, he became director of the Personnel Section in the Navy Ministry. He later captained the cruiser Tokiwa in 1898.
Promoted to rear admiral on 20 May 1900, and vice admiral on 6 June 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War he took part in the Battle of Chemulpo Bay, the naval Battle of Port Arthur, Battle of the Yellow Sea, (where he commanded from the cruiser Yakumo)), and he led the Third Squadron of the Japanese First Fleet during the decisive Battle of Tsushima from his flagship, the cruiser Kasagi.
On 3 December 1907, he was also granted the title of danshaku (baron) the same year.
Later, he successively held Command-in-Chief of the Second Fleet, Sasebo Naval Division, and the First Fleet. On 9 July 1912, he became an admiral. On the occasion of the Siemens-Vickers Navy Armament Scandal, as Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry he concentrated his efforts on the cleanup of corruption from the navy. This eventually led to the fall of Admiral Yamamoto Gonnohyoe's cabinet in March 1914.
[edit] Trivia
- Dewa Shigeto was the first non-Satsuma person to attain the rank of admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
[edit] References
- Andidora, Ronald. Iron Admirals: Naval Leadership in the Twentieth Century. Greenwood Press (2000). ISBN: 0313312664
- Dupuy, Trevor N. Encyclopedia of Military Biography. I B Tauris & Co Ltd (1992). ISBN: 1850435693
- Repington, Charles A., The War in the Far East, 1904-1905. London, 1905
- Schencking, J. Charles. Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press (2005). ISBN: 0804749779
- Warner, Denis and Peggy, The Tide at Sunrise: A History of the Russo-Japanese War', 1904-1905. New York, 1974.
