Katō Hiroharu

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Katō Hiroharu

Katō Hiroharu , Japanese 加藤 寛 治 , also read Katō Kanji (born October 26, 1870 in Fukui ( Fukui Prefecture ); † February 9, 1939 in Atami , Shizuoka Prefecture ) was a Japanese admiral .

life and work

Katō Hiroharu graduated from the Naval Academy in 1891 ( 海軍 兵 学校 Kaigun heigakkō ). In 1911 he became head of the naval college .

From July 1919 to June of the following year, Katō was sent to European countries, including Germany , as head of an inspection team . He met German naval leaders such as Admiral von Tirpitz and Admiral Behncke , and found out about the reconstruction of the navy , which had been severely restricted by the Treaty of Versailles . Katō submitted a preliminary report praising Germany's technical capabilities.

From 1921 to 1922 he participated as a member of the Japanese delegation, which was led by Admiral Katō Tomosaburō , in the Washington Naval Conference. On the way to the Washington Congress in 1921 Katō met again with Admiral von Tirpitz in order to strengthen the mutual cooperation between the German and the Japanese navy in the future.

In 1926, Kato was appointed commanding admiral of the combined fleet . As commander in chief of the fleet (最高 指揮官, Saikō shikikan) he was against a signing of the disarmament treaty that had been decided on at the London Naval Conference of 1928. When the Hamaguchi cabinet ratified the treaty, Katō accused the prime minister of interfering in important naval plans and of disregarding the constitutional law of the military .

Remarks

  1. According to Article 11 of the constitution of 1889, the emperor was the commander in chief of the army and the navy. In practice, the high command of the army and the navy were allowed to “support” the emperor in his work.

literature

  • S. Noma (Ed.): Katō Hiroharu . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 753.