Tsutomu Sakuma

Japanese: 佐久間勉 - さくま・つとむ

Year of death: April 15, 1910 (Meiji 43)
Year of birth: September 13, 1879 (Meiji 12)
A naval officer in the Meiji period. The third son of Sakuma Yoshimori, a priest at Maekawa Shrine in Mikata-cho, Fukui Prefecture. Graduated from the Naval Academy in 1901. After the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), he decided to study submarines, and after graduating from the Torpedo Training School, he was appointed captain of the 1st Submarine Squadron in 1906. He was later transferred to captain of the 6th Submarine Squadron, and on April 15, 1908, while leaving his mother ship, the Rekisan Maru, off the coast of Shinko in Yamaguchi Prefecture for diving training, the engine ventilator malfunctioned, causing the ship to flood and sink, killing him along with 10 of his subordinates. A suicide note later found inside the submarine revealed that he had written down a detailed account of the accident, including the cause and circumstances of the sinking, for future reference before his death, and he was praised as a model naval officer. <References> Norimoto Yoshihiro, "The True Story of Captain Sakuma"

(Yamazaki Aritsune)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：明治43.4.15(1910)
生年：明治12.9.13(1879)
明治期の海軍軍人。福井県三方町前川神社の神職佐久間可盛の3男。明治34(1901)年海軍兵学校卒業。日露戦争(1904～05)後,潜水艇の研究を志し,水雷術練習所生を経て39年第1潜水艇隊艇長に就任した。のち第6潜水艇長に転じ,43年4月15日潜水訓練のため山口県新港沖で母船「歴山丸」を離れたところ,機関用通風筒に故障を発生して浸水し沈没,部下10名と共に殉職した。のちに艇内から発見された遺書により,将来のために沈没の原因状況など事故の顛末を詳細に書き留めて絶命したことがわかり,海軍軍人の鑑と評された。<参考文献>法本義弘『正伝佐久間艦長』

(山崎有恒)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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