Itoh Sukeyuki
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| Count Itoh Sukeyuki | |
|---|---|
| 20 May 1843 – 16 January 1914 | |
 Japanese Admiral Count Itoh Sukeyuki |
|
| Place of birth | Kagoshima, Satsuma domain, Japan |
| Place of death | Tokyo, Japan |
| Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
| Years of service | 1871–1907 |
| Rank | Fleet Admiral |
| Commands | Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Battles/wars | First Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War |
| Awards | Order of the Golden Kite (1st class) Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum |
Sukeyuki Itoh (伊東 祐亨 Itoh Sukeyuki; also known as Itoh Yuko?) (20 May 1843 – 16 January 1914) was a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Meiji-period .
Born in Kagoshima, the son of a samurai of the Satsuma domain, he studied naval construction and gunnery and participated in the Anglo-Satsuma War. Before the Boshin War, he had already relocated to Edo and placed his naval skills at the service of the forces striving to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate. After the Meiji Restoration, he was commissioned as a lieutenant and served on the corvette Nisshin . Promoted to captain in 1882, he served on many warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy in its pioneer days. On 20 May 1893, he became commander-in-chief of the Readiness Fleet.
On 15 June 1886, he was promoted to rear admiral, and then to vice admiral on 12 December 1892.
During the First Sino-Japanese War, he became the first Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet and won naval battles against the Chinese Empire's Beiyang Fleet led by Qing Admiral Ting Ju ch'ang.
On 11 May 1895, he became chief of the Naval General Staff Office. In 1898, and was ennobled with the title of shishaku (viscount) on 5 August 1898. He was promoted to admiral on 28 September 1898.
During the Russo-Japanese War he continued to serve as head of the Naval General Staff Office. After the war, he became fleet admiral on 31 January 1905, and his title of nobility was raised to that of hakushaku (count) 1907. At the same time, he was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite (1st class) and the Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum. He professed to have absolutely no interest in politics whatsoever, but was regarded as one of the genro by his contemporaries.
He died in 1914.
[edit] References
- Dupuy, Trevor N. Encyclopedia of Military Biography. I B Tauris & Co Ltd (1992). ISBN 1-85043-569-3
- Paine, S.C.M., The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perceptions, Power, and Primacy. Cambridge University Press (2002). ISBN 0-521-81714-5
