Dewa Shigetō

Baron Dewa Shigetō
Portrait of Admiral Dewa Shigetō from National Diet Library, Tokyo,
Born	December 10, 1856(1856-12-10) Aizu domain, Japan
Died	January 27, 1930(1930-01-27) (aged 73) Tokyo, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Navy
Years of service	1872 - 1925
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	Tokiwa 3rd Squadron of IJN 1st Fleet IJN 3rd Fleet, Director of the Naval Education Bureau, IJN 2nd Fleet, Sasebo Naval District, IJN 1st Fleet.
Battles/wars	Boshin War oBattle of Aizu First Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War oBattle of Port Arthur oBattle of the Yellow Sea oBattle of Tsushima
Awards	Order of the Rising Sun, 1st Class

In this Japanese name, the family name is "Dewa".

Baron Dewa Shigetō (出羽 重遠^?, 10 December 1856 – 27 January 1930) was an admiral in the early days of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Biography

Dewa was born as the son of a samurai of the Aizu domain (present day Fukushima prefecture). As a youth, he enlisted in the Byakkotai, a reserve unit of the Aizu domain's official military. The Byakkotai was called into action,^[1] and Dewa served at the Battle of Aizu in the Boshin War.

Dewa attended the 5th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, graduating 6th out of 43 cadets. He served as a junior officer on several vessels of the early Japanese Navy, including the corvette executive officer on the cruiser Takao. From 1893-1893, he was captain of the gunboats Akagi, and First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), Dewa served 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 was a commander of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron of the IJN 1st Fleet and took part in the naval Battle of Port Arthur, Battle of the Yellow Sea, (where he commanded from the cruiser Yakumo), and he led the Third Squadron during the decisive Battle of Tsushima from his flagship, the cruiser Kasagi.

In December 1905, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the IJN 3rd Fleet, and from November 1906 was Director of the Naval Education Bureau.

On 3 December 1907, Dewa was elevated to the peerage with the title of danshaku (baron) under the kazoku system.

Later, he was successively Commander-in-Chief of the IJN 2nd Fleet, Sasebo Naval District, and the IJN 1st Fleet.

On 9 July 1912, he was promoted to full admiral. Dewa Shigeto was the first non-Satsuma person (and the first Aizu person) to attain the rank of full admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The first person of Aizu background to attain the rank of admiral was Hidematsu Tsunoda,^[3] and Matsudaira Morio the son of the former Aizu lord Matsudaira Katamori is rear 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 Gonnohyōe's cabinet in March 1914. Dewa retired from active service in 1925.

In his later years, Dewa was involved with the construction of memorials to the casualties of the Battle of Aizu.^[4] His grave is at the Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo.

References

Books

• Andidora, Ronald (2000). Iron Admirals: Naval Leadership in the Twentieth Century. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-31266-4. 
• Dupuy, Trevor N. (1992). Encyclopedia of Military Biography. I B Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 1-85043-569-3. 
• Schencking, J. Charles (2005). Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-4977-9. 
• Warner, Denis; Warner, Peggy (1974). The Tide at Sunrise: A History of the Russo-Japanese War', 1904-1905. AISN B000OLLNGA: Charterhouse. 
• Yamakawa, Kenjirō (1933). Aizu Boshin Senshi. Tokyo: Aizu Boshin Senshi Hensankai. 
• Yamakawa, Kenjirō; Munekawa Toraji (1926). Hoshū Aizu Byakkotai jūkyūshi-den. Wakamatsu: Aizu Chōrei Gikai. 
• Matsuno, Yoshitora; Oohashi Kazuhiro (1992). Umi ha hakuhatsu naredo. Tokyo: Hakubunkan Shinsya. 

External links

• Nishida, Hiroshi. "People of the IJN: Dewa, Shigeto". Imperial Japanese Navy. http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px05.htm#a001. 
• National Diet Library. "Dewa Shigeto". http://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/datas/140.html. 

Notes

1. ^ Yamakawa, Aizu Boshin Senshi, p. 521
2. ^ Dupuy, Encyclopedia of Military Biography
3. ^ Matsuno, "Umi ha hakuhatsu naredo, pp.16-25,
4. ^ Yamakawa, Hoshū Aizu Byakkotai Jūkyūshi-den, p. 64.

Persondata
Name	Dewa, Shigeto
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	10 December 1856
Place of birth	Aizu domain, Japan
Date of death	27 January 1930
Place of death	Tokyo, Japan