Tōgō Heihachirō conflict First Sino-Japanese War
Return to Japan
Tōgō, newly promoted to lieutenant, finally returned to Japan on 22 May 1878 aboard one of the newly purchased British-built ships, Hiei. That same year, he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant of the Japanese built paddle-steamer warship Jingei, later to be transferred to the corvette Amagi. In 1882, Tōgō led his ship's company in landing troops at Seoul in the wake of the Imo Incident.
In 1883, Tōgō was given command of his first ship, and interacted with the British, American, and German fleets during this time.Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895)
In 1891, Tōgō's health had sufficiently recovered that he was appointed to the command of the cruiser Naniwa. In 1894, at the beginning of the First Sino-Japanese War, Tōgō, as a captain of Naniwa, sank the transport ship, Kowshing, which was chartered by the Chinese Beiyang Fleet to convey troops, during the Battle of Pungdo. A report of the incident was sent by Suematsu Kenchō to Mutsu Munemitsu. The ship, which was under the command of captain T.R. Galsworthy, who incidentally had been one of Tōgō's instructors as a young cadet on HMS Worcester, had been ferrying more than a thousand Chinese soldiers towards Korea, and these soldiers had refused to be taken prisoner or interned on the appearance and under threat from the Japanese warships.
A contemporary account from a German survivor, Major von Hannecken, stated that the Chinese survivors had been fired upon, sinking two lifeboats.
"...By this time only the Kowshing's masts were visible. The water was however covered with Chinese, and there were two lifeboats from the Kowshing crowded with soldiers. The Japanese officer informed me that he had been ordered by signal from the Naniwa to sink these boats. I remonstrated, but he fired two volleys from the cutter, turned back, and steamed for the Naniwa. No attempt was made to rescue the Chinese. The Naniwa steamed about until eight o'clock in the evening, but did not pick up any other Europeans ..."Tōgō later took part in the Battle of the Yalu River on 17 September 1894, with Naniwa as the last ship in the line of battle under the overall command of Admiral Tsuboi Kōzō. Naniwa assisted in sinking the Chinese cruisers Jingyuan and Zhiyuan.
Tōgō was promoted to rear admiral at the end of the war, in 1895.
battle warfare struggle fighting combat