Tougou Heihachirou Tougou Heihachirou (1848 65438+1October 27th-1May 30th, 934, that is, 65438 in Honghua 4th year+February 22nd in Showa 9th year), Japanese Admiral of the fleet, navy general, marquis and army Nogi Maresuke are also called "military gods" of Japanese militarism. In the naval battle against Ma Haixia, he led the Japanese navy to defeat the Russian navy, which became a precedent for the yellow race in the east to defeat the white race in the west in modern history and won him the reputation of "Nelson in the East". Tougou Heihachirou1848 65438+/KLOC-0 was born in Kagoshima, Samoa on October 27th. When he was young, his name was Nakagoro, and when he was fifteen, he was renamed Hirayama Lang Shiliang. His father, Dongxiang Kizaemon, was keen on the navy and had a great influence on Tougou Heihachirou.
catalogue
Samoyed boy
Captain wave velocity
Commander of joint fleet
Fierce battle Lushunkou
The battle against Malaysia
Dongxiang chronicle rebelled against the shogunate.
Against China
Against Russia
old age
other
Samoyed boy
Captain wave velocity
Commander of joint fleet
Fierce battle Lushunkou
The battle against Malaysia
Dongxiang chronicle rebelled against the shogunate.
Against China
Against Russia
old age
other
Start editing this paragraph, Samoan boy.
Tougou Heihachirou and Tougou Heihachirou studied martial arts since childhood, and later he focused on artillery. 1863, participated in the eagle war against Britain. The gunner who fired at the battery that day was Marshal ōyama Iwao, who was the commander-in-chief of the Manchurian army who later defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. Besides Tougou Heihachirou, there is a better man carrying shells, Yamamoto Gonnohyō e, the father of the Japanese navy. 1866, Samoans established the navy, and Tougou Heihachirou joined the navy and began to enter the military field.
During the civil war, Tougou Heihachirou supported the emperor, advocated reunification and established an imperial government. At the beginning of 1868, as a naval palace, he took the Satsuma warship Springfield and fought a decisive battle at sea with the shogunate naval commander Kaiyang at Abochong. The Abochong naval battle is the beginning of the war between Japanese and European warships, which has an important page in the history of Japanese civil war. Tougou Heihachirou followed the Springfield Expedition to Hokkaido, and traveled all over the country, making great achievements for the Meiji government.
When studying in Britain, Dongxiang Ping was 1868. 15 years old, Emperor Meiji took over the state power from the shogunate. In the following years, the Meiji government boldly innovated and completely westernized. Learning to introduce science and technology from western countries and reforming the domestic political system to adapt to and promote the development of productive forces have enabled Japan to quickly embark on the road of capitalist development and doubled its national strength. At the same time, the Meiji government of Japan clearly decided to take foreign aggression and expansion as the highest national policy, and formulated a "mainland policy" with aggression against China and North Korea as the primary goal, in order to "spread the national prestige in all directions, which fully exposed its grand ambition of conquering the world by force.
1On May 4th, 870, the Japanese Ministry of War formulated the Plan for Building a Great Navy, which particularly emphasized: "The soul of a warship is an officer. Without officers, sailors can't give full play to their strengths; Sailors can't give full play to their strengths, and ships will become a pile of scrap metal. Training naval officers is the top priority in building the navy. " In February of the following year, the Japanese navy selected 12 of the best officers from all young officers, including cadets, and sent them to Britain for further study. Tougou Heihachirou was chosen and Dongxiang stayed in England for eight years. Because he was rejected by the British government to enter the naval academy, he was transferred to the merchant ship school, and his internship began with the lowest sailors. But the British didn't bully the Japanese, saying it was a merchant ship school. In fact, quite a few graduates entered the navy, where they trained merchant seamen according to the standards of naval officers. Originally, the merchant fleet was inseparable from the fleet of the British Empire. In order to ensure the maritime trade, the purpose of the Royal Navy is to "attack the enemy at sight", and there is no nonsense. Later, he was ordered to supervise the construction of warships ordered by the Japanese navy at the British shipyard. When Tougou Heihachirou personally piloted the cruiser "Bi Rui" back to Japan where he had been away for eight years, he had become a senior expert in all naval operations, such as the construction and driving of warships.
Editor, Captain Ben Duan Lang.
After Tougou Heihachirou returned to China, Tougou Heihachirou served as the captain of several warships in just a few years. In 188 1, Tougou Heihachirou was promoted from captain to lieutenant and from 1889 to lieutenant. In the meantime, he was transferred to the chief of staff of the 2 nd Military Region of the Navy to cultivate the comprehensive ability to organize and command a considerable naval force.
Before the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 broke out, the Japanese navy colonel served as the captain of the cruiser "Su Lang". In the future, Tougou Heihachirou became famous as the captain of Su Lang, but he was very lucky as the captain of Su Lang, because Dongxiang was almost fired. 1892, Yamamoto Gonnohyō e, the father of the Japanese navy, with the support of Saigou Jyuudou's secretary of the navy, carried out his first action-reforming the Japanese navy, reorganizing the naval institutions, and dismissing those naval officers who were no longer suited to the situation. Yamamoto asked the following to collect a list of 8 senior officers and 89 junior officers, and they will start from this and discuss with Xixiang. Xixiang is a little embarrassed: "These are all heroes since the Sa-Ying War. General alone accounts for half of the existing generals. They are all villagers of Shama. Can we start? " Yamamoto Gonnohyō e replied very firmly: "It is enough to give them medals for meritorious service, and there is no need to keep their official positions. As for Shama's fellow countryman relationship, it was severely criticized by Congress. Some of these people don't even understand steam warships, and they are fossils from the era of sailing ships. With these people in the navy, the navy cannot make progress. "Saigou Jyuudou supported Yamamoto's letter. Colonel Yamamoto had a dagger on his desk, and met with the officers on the list one by one and announced their decision to be fired. Whether it was the roar of "anti-chaos" or the pleading, Yamamoto was unmoved and completed the first "slimming action" in the history of the Japanese navy with a heart of stone. But Yamamoto hesitated on a name and asked Minister Xixiang: "Is there a problem with this name? "That's Tougou Heihachirou, chief of staff of Wu Zhenshou House." I know this man is taciturn and unassuming. He didn't graduate from the navy because he stayed in England for a long time and had no friends at home. Should I give him another chance? "Dongxiang and Xixiang were forged in Miyamachi, and so was Yamamoto. Xixiang couldn't come forward to intercede, but since Yamamoto said, "Yes, the wave speed is just short of a captain, Dongxiang can try. "In this way, on the eve of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Japanese navy lost no time to update its organization and put a group of the most capable officers in the right position.
/kloc-at the beginning of 0/894, Quanzhun led a peasant uprising in Gufu County, Jeolla, and the Korean and Wang Xiangqing governments asked for help. In early June, China sent its navy and army to North Korea to help suppress it. At the same time, Japan also sent troops to land in Incheon, North Korea. Soon, its total strength surpassed that of the South Korean army in North China. 17 In July, the Japanese army headquarters held a command meeting and decided to wage war against the Great Qing Dynasty. On 24th, Major General Hangsan Hirai, commander of the First Guerrilla, led three ships, namely "Yoshino", "Su Lang" and "Qiu jinzhou area", and went to Asan Bay, North Korea to attack the Qing ships.
At 6: 30 a.m. on July 25th, Japanese warships met two cruisers, Jiyuan and Guangyi, of beiyang fleet, the Qing navy. At 7: 52, when the warships of the two sides were 3000 meters apart, Japanese warships suddenly opened fire and attacked the Jiyuan ship. Soon, the "Guangyi" ship with a displacement of only 1.030 tons was seriously injured, its hull tilted, and it was forced to retreat to the shore and set itself on fire. The "Jiyuan" ship was outnumbered and retreated to the west. The Japanese "Yoshino" ship followed closely.
Just as the Jiyuan ship retreated rapidly to the west, the British merchant ship Goldman Sachs and the Qing transport ship Cao Jiang, which was hired by the Qing government to transport troops to North Korea, sailed to the warring waters. With a genial smile, Wang Yongfa, the commander in charge of the Yangtze River, turned around and fled to the west, and was captured by the Japanese ship "Autumn jinzhou area". At 9: 30, Tougou Heihachirou drove the cruiser "Su Lang" to approach the "Goldman Sachs" carrying more than Qing troops 1 100, issued a semaphore to order the ship to "anchor and stop" and fired two empty guns. Then, he ordered all the "Goldman Sachs" and its Qing prisoners to be sent back to Japan. At that time, Gao Shanji and Jiang Zikang were officers and men of the Qing army under the command of Goldman Sachs. Gao thought that he was riding a British merchant ship, and the Japanese ship did not dare to be embarrassed, so he refused the unreasonable request of the Japanese ship. Tougou Heihachirou immediately ordered the red flag indicating danger to be hoisted on the mast of the Wave Speed, and sailed the ship to a place about150m away from the Goldman Sachs, fired a torpedo with the torpedo tube at the front end of starboard, and at the same time violently volleyed at the Goldman Sachs with six cannons on starboard. Goldman Sachs sank at 13: 30. Tougou Heihachirou didn't save anyone except the British captain, the first mate and another British crew member. French warships passing by the next day rescued about 200 people. This is not a big naval battle, but it is an unforgettable naval battle for both China and Japan. The battle of Toyoshima left the problem that the British merchant ship Gao Shenghao was sunk. The Japanese government didn't know about it until July 28th. At first, Ito Bowen and Lu Aozongguang didn't want the British to take the opportunity to interfere. On the same day, Foreign Minister Lu Ao summoned the British Acting Ambassador to Japan, Vagit, claiming that the Japanese government was investigating that "if the behavior of the Information Industry Department is unfair, the Japanese government will make considerable compensation". On August 3, the British government also sent a note to the Japanese ambassador to Britain, Zhou Zang, saying that "the Japanese government should be prepared to take full responsibility for the sinking of the USS". However, at the British naval maritime trial held in Shanghai, Philip Mantel, commander of the British Far East Fleet, testified that Dongxiang's behavior was justified. In addition, Dr Holland, an authoritative professor of British international law at Oxford University, also published an article saying that Tougou Heihachirou did not violate international law, which calmed some anti-Japanese public opinion in Britain at that time.
On September 17, a famous naval battle broke out in the Yellow Sea when the Japanese joint fleet met the main fleet of Beiyang Navy in the southwest of Dalu Island in the north of the Yellow Sea. The cruiser "Su Lang" under the command of Tougou Heihachirou also took part in the battle. Beiyang fleet suffered heavy losses in the naval battle. At the beginning of 1895, the Japanese navy and army launched a powerful offensive aimed at adowa beiyang fleet on the Shandong Peninsula. Beiyang army was wiped out. 1in April, 895, Tougou Heihachirou was promoted to major general. In May, Tougou Heihachirou became the commander of the South Fleet of the Japanese Navy, and led the fleet to escort Emperor Meiji's younger brother Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa and the Army Guards Division to receive Taiwan Province Province. From 65438 to 0898, Major General Tougou Heihachirou was promoted to vice admiral.
Edit this paragraph, commander of the joint fleet
From 65438 to 0900, Tougou Heihachirou served as the commander of the Japanese navy's standing fleet and led the fleet to participate in Eight-Nation Alliance's war of aggression against China. A series of expeditions made Tougou Heihachirou's position in the Japanese navy rise day by day. Japanese targets at that time were North Korea and northeast China. Due to Russia's obstruction, Japan failed to get the Liaodong Peninsula, which made Russia gain the benefits of fishermen, which was quite unwilling. 1902, Britain and Japan formed an alliance. After 78 years of preparation, Japan's strength increased greatly, plus the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and the huge reparations from China twice. At that time, Russia occupied the northeast of China, and the Japanese spoke out for China, demanding that the Russians immediately retreat.
On the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, Yamamoto Gonnohyō e, a naval veteran, changed his position during the Cold War and appointed Tougou Heihachirou, commander of the Maizuru garrison who was preparing to retire, as commander of the joint fleet. At that time, the Commander-in-Chief of the Standing Fleet was a fellow Samoan businessman at the same time as the Yamamoto Gonnohyō e Navy. Yamamoto Gonnohyō e doesn't need to grow taller, not because he doubts his ability, but because he is afraid of his ability. Going to war with Russia is a much bigger gamble than the Sino-Japanese War. Therefore, the whole Japanese nation should make concerted efforts with Qi Xin and Qi Xin to unify the government and the army, the land and the sea, and the upper and lower levels, and no mistakes are allowed. And Rigao is a bold guy, and no one can guarantee that he will be absolutely consistent with the navy and the army at the critical moment, so Yamamoto chose Lieutenant General Tougou Heihachirou who let everyone lose their glasses. Dongxiang is a short man with a weak voice. He only looks at his toes when he walks. He doesn't look like a soldier, let alone a general. But Yamamoto took a fancy to Tougou Heihachirou's silence and obedience. When Emperor Meiji asked why Dongxiang had been changed to Niigata, Yamamoto Gonnohyō e's answer was: "Dongxiang is lucky"-since it is gambling, isn't it natural to find a gambler? In fact, if we look closely at Dongxiang's chronicle, we really can't see what good luck Dongxiang had before the Russo-Japanese War, but we have to say that it suddenly occurred to him when he was about to be fired before the Sino-Japanese War.
In order to ensure Dongxiang's honest obedience, Yamamoto Gonnohyō e found two people to be Dongxiang's chief of staff and former staff. Yukio Shimamura is the maker of Japanese navy's preemptive strategy, while Paul Akiyama is a disciple of alfred thayer mahan, the author of Sea Power Theory, and also the maker of joint fleet tactics.
Edit this fierce battle of Lushunkou
1904 On February 5th, at 09: 00, Baron Yamamoto Gonnohyō e of the Japanese Marine Corps issued a written order to attack General Tougou Heihachirou, commander of the joint fleet. Japan issued an ultimatum to Russia on February 6, 1904, announcing the severance of Japan-Russia diplomatic relations.
In the early morning of February 6th, the joint fleet held an emergency officer meeting on the flagship "Sandalj". After conveying the order of Yamamoto Gonnohyō e Marine Corps, Commander Tougou Heihachirou issued the first order of the joint fleet: "Our joint fleet will immediately sail to the Yellow Sea and annihilate the enemy fleets in Lushunkou and Incheon Port. ..... This war is really related to national security, and you must work hard. "
Dongxiang and Naimu are at the front. At this time, the Russian navy has 252 ships, accounting for more than 800,000 tons; Among them, there are more than 60 Pacific Fleet ships, accounting for 1.9 million tons. The Japanese navy has only 138 ships, accounting for about 260,000 tons, which is obviously at a disadvantage in terms of scale. However, the Japanese fleet did not declare war and preempted. On February 6th, the Japanese naval joint fleet quietly sailed out of sasebo Military Port and anchored at 40 nautical miles from Lushunkou Military Port at the southern tip of Liaodong Peninsula in China. Late at night on February 8, Tougou Heihachirou commanded the Japanese joint fleet and began to raid the Russian fleet in Lushun and Incheon, continuously injuring the Russian battleships Chaisu Levich, Leviland and cruisers Parada and Varyag. At the same time, Russian warships "Varyag" and "Koletz" were also attacked in Incheon, North Korea, and Russian warships were forced to withdraw from Incheon and retreat to Lushunkou military port. It was not until February 10 that Japan and Russia officially declared war.
1904 In March, Lieutenant General Stepan Osipovich Makarov took over as commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet, and Japan and Russia laid large-scale mines for the offensive and defensive Lushun. Unexpectedly, in April of 12, the Russian battleships "Peter Ronov Sk" and "Baoda" sank in thunder, and makarov, the best Russian naval general, died. This Dongxiang is really lucky. Then Japan's joint fleet came into being at the beginning, and the battleship Yasushima sank, and the lucky Dongxiang was not on board. When the bad news came, Yukio Hatoyama, the chief of staff of Changdao Village, was a little uneasy, while Akiyama looked somberly and said nothing. However, Tougou Heihachirou, a short old man who was looked down upon by his subordinates after taking office, unexpectedly acted at this time. When the two captains who had an accident reported to the commander, Dongxiang calmly brought out a plate of egg cakes and personally poured two glasses of whisky for the two captains who had made mistakes: "Hard work", and the two captains had not recovered.
The British military attache present was a little dizzy, because it was not clear whether this was a general's demeanor or too nervous. But one thing is clear, that is, Dongxiang is telling his subordinates that no matter what happens, this battle must be fought, which is determined by the self-esteem of the soldiers.
One more thing, better luck. On August 10, a fierce battle broke out between the Japanese and Russian navies in the Yellow Sea. The Russian fleet tried to break through under the command of General Vitigov, but Dongxiang was on guard against the Russian troops returning to Lushun, and there were many mistakes in maritime deployment. One turn of these two big bends brought the distance between the Japanese and Russian fleets to more than 15000 meters. These beautiful evasive actions of the Russian fleet have successfully confused Tougou Heihachirou, who has always had the prejudice that the Far East Fleet will inevitably return to Lushun, and successfully infiltrated from the interception of the joint fleet, and the Russian army is about to escape. At 5 pm, Japanese ships hit the Russian flagship with stray bullets, and all the Russian fleet commanders and bridge officers and soldiers were killed. The formation of Russian warships was chaotic and fled in defeat. After this battle, the Japanese army completely controlled the Yellow Sea. In September of the same year, the Russian army was defeated.
After the Japanese naval joint fleet gained the right to control the sea, the Japanese army made a large number of landings from China's Korean Peninsula and Liaodong Peninsula. Subsequently, the Japanese navy and army carried out a large-scale and long-term land-sea attack on the Russian army in Lushunkou, resulting in the loss of almost all the troops of the Russian navy stationed in the China Brigade. The Qing government declared "neutrality outside the bureau".
1905 1.2, the commander of the Russian Lushunkou fortress, General Stezel, led the Russian remnants to surrender.
Edit this period of motor naval battle
Z-flag At this time, the Tsarist Russian government has decided to deploy ships from the Baltic Fleet to form the second sub-fleet of the Pacific Ocean and go to the Far East for reinforcements. This huge fleet, consisting of 38 warships and 13 auxiliary ships, drifted for 8 months at 18000 nautical miles. I thought I met a Japanese warship and sank a British fishing boat in the North Sea near Britain. Due to British intervention, there is no supply in coastal areas. Finally, at the end of May of 1905, I approached the Sea of Japan with fatigue.
When the Russian reinforcement fleet was still sailing, Akiyama's operational staff formulated an extremely bold and unconventional "turn back before the enemy" tactic, which enabled the joint fleet to seize the favorable position of the "T" cross attack on the ship at a certain casualty cost, and then used the naval gun advantage to carry out the side attack parallel to the enemy fleet. Dongxiang approved the plan and conducted hard training for it. He put forward a famous training purpose-"a hundred guns are not as good as one gun."
Tougou Heihachirou is the commander. In the early morning of May 27th, a Japanese reconnaissance ship sent a telegram to the flagship of the joint fleet "Shandali". The report found that, as commander Tougou Heihachirou expected, the Russian reinforcement fleet was heading for Ma Haixia. Only two hours later, Tougou Heihachirou's flagship "Li San" played the March of the Japanese navy, with the banner of "Z" hanging high on the mast, singing the banner of "Emperor Guoxing abandoned this only World War I and all the soldiers fought bravely to kill the enemy", and led the fleet out of the town bay and pounced on the exhausted Russian fleet.
On 27th 14, two huge naval fleets of Japan and Russia began to exchange fire, and a world-famous naval battle against Malaysia broke out. In this campaign, Tougou Heihachirou had only 63 mine ships, while the Russian Second Pacific Fleet under the command of Admiral Rogge Stevenson had only nine warships of the same type. Commander Tougou Heihachirou, who is good at maritime maneuvering tactics, divided the warships of the joint fleet into two tactical groups, and interspersed and divided the Russian fleet sailing in formation. After fierce fighting day and night, Tougou Heihachirou's joint fleet finally achieved extremely brilliant results: the Russian Pacific Second Fleet was almost completely annihilated, with 2/kloc-0 of its 38 warships sunk and 9 captured, with a total tonnage loss of 200,000 tons; 4830 Russian soldiers were killed and 6 106 were captured. However, the Japanese joint fleet only lost three torpedo boats, accounting for 300 tons, and another 1 17 people died and 583 people were injured. The fledgling Japanese navy defeated the European powers that had been heading for the sea since the time of Peter the Great.
The Japanese navy can defeat the strong with the weak in the Japanese naval battle because they are fully prepared and quick; Attach importance to seizing and mastering the right to control the sea, and attack the enemy by surprise first; Correct selection of fighter planes, landing sites and main attack directions, flexible and mobile operations, and coordinated land and sea operations; High morale, brave fighting, internal unity and unified command; Commanders are well-trained, and Tougou Heihachirou's prudence and cunning in directing operations are more important.
The victory of the naval battle in the Sea of Japan commanded by Tougou Heihachirou bronze statue Tougou Heihachirou decided the final victory of the Russo-Japanese War. 1905 In September, Japan and Russia signed the Portsmouth Treaty. According to this treaty, Northeast China became the trophy of the Russo-Japanese War, and Japan became the master of Northeast China and Korea.
The end of the naval battle in the Sea of Japan also shocked the general public opinion in the West. /kloc-the "yellow peril theory" that began to spread at the end of 0/9 has finally come to a conclusion, and everyone can see clearly that only Japan, not China, is challenging world hegemony!
The Russo-Japanese War greatly inspired the Japanese national spirit, and Tougou Heihachirou's popularity in China rose rapidly to its peak. Emperor Meiji gave him an admonition of 10 to praise his "meritorious service". In 1905 and 12, Tougou Heihachirou was appointed as the Minister of Military Command of the Navy and a member of the General Officers' Meeting, and became the fourth head of the Japanese Navy, and was awarded the status of China by the Earl. During the period of Taisho 19 13, he was awarded the title of Marshal of the Empire, and the following year, he served as the president of the Imperial Academy.
1934, Tougou Heihachirou died in Tokyo at the age of 86 shortly after being made a marquis.
Edit this section of Dongxiang Chronicle.
Against the shogunate
1863 joined the Samoan army and participated in the Samoan War (the war against Britain). 1866 joined the newly established Samoan navy.
1868 In Chen Wu War, as a naval petty officer, he participated in the Abochong naval battle on the Samoan battleship Springfield and fought a decisive battle with the shogunate battleship Kaiyang.
From 187 1 to 1878, he studied military affairs in Britain and later became the construction supervisor of a light cruiser. Among them, in 1877, students studying in Britain who were born in Satsuma were urged to return to China to participate in the Southwest War against the Meiji government (see Saigō Takamori).
Against China
From 65438 to 0884, he served as the captain of the "Tiancheng" ship and visited Shanghai, Fuzhou and Keelung to observe the Sino-French war.
1894 On July 25th, on the eve of the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894, as the captain of the Su Lang, he sank the Qing troop carrier Goldman Sachs, killing more than 700 people.
1September, 894 17, during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, he commanded the Su Lang. When Japan invaded Penghu on 1894, it commanded the First Guerrilla to support the infantry landing with fire.
From 65438 to 0895, he was promoted to vice admiral and became the president of the Naval University. 1900, when Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, he was the commander of the Japanese standing fleet.
Against Russia
He served as commander of the Japanese joint fleet during the Russo-Japanese War. On February 8th, it raided the Russian fleet at Lushun Port in China. Japan soon gained the right to control the sea. In April, Admiral Makagov, commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet, was killed.
/kloc-0 was promoted to general on June 6, 904. On August 1904, 10 organized a naval battle in the Yellow Sea and defeated the Russian navy in Lushun.
1905 On May 27th, he commanded the naval battle against Ma Haixia and annihilated the second Pacific Fleet reinforced by Russia. This battle decided Japan's final victory in the Russo-Japanese War.
1905 12 Ren Haijun's military commander and member of the general officers' meeting became the fourth head of the Japanese navy and participated in the formulation of Japanese militaristic foreign expansion policy.
old age
19 13, was awarded the title of Imperial Marshal in Taisho period. 1934, Marquis was sealed when he was critically ill during the Showa period. He died in Tokyo on May 30th at the age of 86.
other
Like his compatriot Saigō Takamori, Tougou Heihachirou was deeply influenced by Yangming's mind. According to Yao's masterpiece Yuyao, he carried a seal engraved with the words "Bow down to Yangming all his life".
After winning the naval battle against Ma Haixia, an American ship is visiting Japan. At the Japanese celebration dinner for Tougou Heihachirou, several visiting American sailors invited Tougou Heihachirou to drink, and Tougou Heihachirou agreed to their request. One of the American sailors was chester william nimitz, commander of the US Pacific Fleet.