In February 1868 the new government placed captured shogunate vessels under a naval-affairs section, providing an administrative origin for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Its officers, sailors, and ships nevertheless remained heavily rooted in Satsuma, Choshu, and other domain forces. A national service emerged more clearly when separate army and navy ministries were created and former Tokugawa naval leader Katsu Kaishu became navy minister. Bringing experienced Tokugawa personnel back into government service helped integrate technical knowledge that victory alone could not replace. British assistance then shaped training through Archibald Douglas's naval mission and the Tsukiji academy. Of sixteen naval trainees sent abroad, fourteen went to Britain and two to the United States, with Togo among the British group. Those exchanges linked the new institution to foreign naval science and practice.
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An imperial navy assembled from domain fleets
The force called the Imperial Japanese Navy initially combined captured Tokugawa ships with Satsuma and Choshu personnel before later institutions integrated former rivals.