Evening star., 1941-12-08
The Togo Pottern

The architect of Japan's particu-
lar method of aggression was little
instrument OF fate" known to his
tory as Heihachiro Togo. Many OF
those who read these words will
remember seeing him when he came
to Washington, August 4, 1911, on
his way home from the coronation
Of King George v. President Taft
received him as "a missionary of
peace" but his claim to fame was
predicated upon his achievements
as "the greatest naval warrior of
his race" and "one of the greatest
sailors Of all time"
Admiral Togo began his career in
the humblest obscurity. He was born
in 1847, son of petty county
officer whose right to carry the en-
blems Of samurai rank was chal-
lenged until Saigo "the super-pa-
triot" became his sponsor. After
preliminary training at the naval
academy near Kobe, he was sent to
study at the Thames Nautical Col
lege, in England. He served in the
British gunboat Worcester between
1871 and 1878 and returned to Japan
in command of a new Nipponese
warship, the Hiei, built In a British
yard The United States first heard
of him when, as captain of the
Naniwa, he appeared at Honolulu to
make a show of force" against the
annexation of Hawaii. That was in
1893. During the following year he
precipitated conflict with China
which, in one form or another, has
continued ever since. First sinking
the British vessel Kowshing with
more than thousand Chinese troops
aboard, he then led an unannounced
midnight attack upon Chinese fleet
in the harbor of Weihaiwei. The
Boxer troubles contributed to his
growing celebrity, and increasing
resentment against Russia'S eXpan-
sion in the east gave him the supreme
opportunity for which, consciously
or not, he had been getting ready.
A japanese commentator admits
that "the decision to open war with
Russia was taken at council held
in the presence of his majesty on
February 4, 1904" and an American
observer reports that "in charac-
teristic fashion Togo opened the war
previous to declaration with a night
attack on the Russian base of Port
Arthur, very like the attack on Wei
haiwei." Using the smaller ships OF
his fleet, the commander in chief of
the united squadron Sailed through
the narrow gateway of the harbor.
which is protected by sheer hills all
around. Several Russian capital
ships were put out of commission
before the Russian commander,
Makaroff, knew what was happening.
Togo completed the raid by sinking
one of his own vessels in the narrow
passageway, bottling up the large
Russian ships" within. The Japa-
nese Foreign Office notified St. Pc
tersburg of the beginning of hostili-
ties on February 10.
BY May %, 1905, the surviving ele-
ments Of Russian sea power were
destroyed by Togo in the battle OF
Tsushima. The little admiral re-
ceived the homage Of the world for
his victories, taking his laurels with
"a poker face" which his country
men attributed to modesty, but which
now is believed to have been trace
able to the fact that for more than
half his life he suffered from a pain
full and incurable disease. After his
death, May 30, 1884, it was written
Of him: Togo always believed in
the surprise attack. As a national
policy his idea was to have definitely
in mind whom your country must
fight next, prepare with both dill
gence and caution, and, when the
c1a sh hecaroo jy,ovit h1o laoD 6..x >,