He commanded the cargo vessel Fukui Maru during the Battle of Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanese War.

He served aboard the ironclad warship Fusō during the First Sino-Japanese War and saw action at the Battle of Yalu River on September 17, 1894.

Because of his heroism, he was posthumously promoted to commander, and deified as a "martial spirit" (軍神 gunshin), and a Shinto shrine was built in his honor in Taketa, Oita.

Hirose was the subject of the epic historical novel Saka no Ue no Kumo, by author Ryōtarō Shiba.

The novel became the basis for the NHK television drama Saka no Ue no Kumo, in which Hirose portrayed by ex-Olympic swimmer and actor Takahiro Fujimoto.