- Yashiro Rokurō
Infobox Military Person
name=Baron Yashiro Rokurō
lived=3 January 1860 -30 June 1930 [Nishida, Imperial Japanese Navy]
placeofbirth=Inuyama ,Owari Province ,Japan
placeofdeath=Japan
caption= Japanese Admiral Yashiro Rokurō
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=navy|Empire of Japan
serviceyears=1881-1925
rank=Admiral
commands="Miyako", "Izumi", "Azuma"
Naval War College
Maizuru Naval District
Sasebo Naval District
IJN 2nd Fleet
unit=
battles=First Sino-Japanese War
oBattle of the Yalu Russo-Japanese War
oBattle of Chemulpo Bay
oBattle of the Yellow Sea
oBattle of Tsushima World War I
awards=
family=
laterwork=Navy MinisterPrivy Council (Japan) Baron nihongo|Yashiro Rokurō|八代六郎|Yashiro Rokurō (
3 January 1860 -30 June 1930 ) was an admiral in theImperial Japanese Navy and Navy Minister, succeeding the last of the Satsuma-era naval leaders of the earlyMeiji period .Biography
Born in the
Inuyama domain,Owari Province (present dayAichi prefecture ), Yashiro graduated from the 8th class of theImperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1881. He was ranked 19th of his class of 35 cadets. Aftermidshipman service in theironclad warship "Ryūjō", he served as a crewman on thecorvette "Tsukuba". He was the posted to various administrative assignments within the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy. From July 1890 to November 1892, he was send as anaval attaché toVladivostok , inRussia .After his return to Japan, he was assigned to the
cruiser "Takachiho", and was serving as a division officer aboard that vessel during theBattle of the Yalu on17 September 1894 in theFirst Sino-Japanese War . Yashiro briefly served on the cruiser "Yoshino" during the next year, before being assigned as a naval attaché toSaint Petersburg , Russia.Promoted to
lieutenant commander in 1896 andcommander the following year, Yashiro served on theImperial Japanese Navy General Staff between 1899 and 1900. In early 1900, he was appointed theexecutive officer on the cruiser "Yashima", and in late 1900, he received his first command: the cruiser "Miyako", followed by the "Izumi".Following his graduation from the
Naval War College (Japan) , Yashiro was promoted to captain in 1901. Commander of thearmored cruiser "Azuma" during theRusso-Japanese War , Yashiro earned a reputation as a cool-headed and intelligent battle commander in skirmishes against the Russian cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Korietz " in theBattle of Chemulpo Bay on9 February 1904 as well as taking part in theBattle of the Yellow Sea and theBattle of Tsushima .At the war's end, Yashiro was assigned to
Berlin ,Germany as naval attaché until 1907, when he was promoted torear admiral , serving as commander of a number of naval bases and fleets between 1907 and 1911. On1 December 1911 , he became Commandant of the Naval War College. During his time at the War College, Yashiro was a strong proponent of introducing "karate " into the Navy's training program.On
25 September 1913 , he was transferred to becomeCommander in Chief of theMaizuru Naval District .Following the Siemens-Vickers scandals, Yashiro replaced Admiral
Yamamoto Gonnohyoe as Navy Minister. Although appointed due to his commendable military and apolitical record, Yashiro's bluntness and dealing directly with politicians led to his forced resignation on April 1915. Commanding theIJN 2nd Fleet until 1917, Yashiro was then placed in command of theSasebo Naval District .Yashiro was ennobled with the title of "danshaku" (
baron ) under the "kazoku " peerage system in 1916. Made anadmiral in 1918, Yashiro was placed on the inactive list in 1919 and lived in retirement until his death in 1930.References
Books
*cite book
last = Dupuy
first = Trevor N.
year = 1992
title = Encyclopedia of Military Biography
publisher = I B Tauris & Co Ltd
location =
id = ISBN 1-85043-569-3External links
*cite web
last = Nishida
first = Hiroshi
url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px08.htm#a001
title = Materials of IJN: Yashiro, Rokuro
work = Imperial Japanese Navy
accessdate = 2007-09-03Notes
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