Togo served aboard the Satsuma ship Kasuga during the operations at Hakodate. Although such vessels flew imperial flags, their crews and loyalties still came from domain navies rather than a fully integrated national service. Togo's first action at Kagoshima in 1863 contrasts with his command at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905. Those forty-two years encompassed both his professional growth and the creation of the institutions, training, and identity of the Imperial Japanese Navy. His career therefore provides a human thread from civil-war improvisation to Japan's emergence as a major naval power.
Notable Point · 2:37:46-2:45:01
Togo's route from Satsuma gunner to imperial admiral
Togo's service aboard Kasuga at Hakodate illustrates how a Satsuma sailor developed alongside the institutions that became the Imperial Japanese Navy.