Naniwa class cruiser
Encyclopedia
The two were protected cruiser
Protected cruiser
The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...
s operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
. They participated in numerous actions during the First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
.
Background
The Naniwa-class cruiserCruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s were the first protected cruisers designed in Japan, and built overseas specifically for the Japanese navy. The Japanese naval architect
Naval architecture
Naval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, maintenance and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a...
General Sasō Sachū (佐双左仲; 1852–1907) based the design of the Naniwa on that of the earlier Esmeralda-class of the Chilean Navy
Chilean Navy
-Independence Wars of Chile and Peru :The Chilean Navy dates back to 1817. A year before, following the Battle of Chacabuco, General Bernardo O'Higgins prophetically declared "this victory and another hundred shall be of no significance if we do not gain control of the sea".This led to the...
, which had been acquired by the Japanese navy as the . He also incorporated elements from the popular Elswick-class protected cruisers, which had been built by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
shipbuilder Armstrong Whitworth
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
for the export market.
The result was a ship with superior specifications; a ship that, when launched, was considered the most advanced and powerful protected cruiser in the world; however, extremely fast development of technology, weaponry and armor in this field of ship design meant that the supremacy of this design was very short.
The Naniwa and Takachiho together cost £546,980. Prince Yamashina Kikumaro
Prince Yamashina Kikumaro
align=right|, was the second head of the Yamashina-no-miya, a collateral line of the Japanese imperial family.-Early life:Prince Yamashina Kikumaro was the son of Prince Yamashina Akira...
attended the launch, and afterwards had dinner with William Armstrong
William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong
William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong CB, FRS was an effective Tyneside industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing empire.-Early life:...
, Ensign (future admiral) Seki Shigetada. Mr J. Hayashi (naval constructor) Lieutenant (future admiral) Miyahara Jiro (senior engineer). Lord Armstrong said that "the ship was destined to the service of a country which was likely never to come into collision with our own peace-loving country". A Major S.T. Bridgford received £4,000 commission on the sale of the two cruisers and was then appointed as the agent for Armstrong in Japan.
Design
Freeboard (nautical)
In sailing and boating, freeboardmeans the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship...
to improve seaworthiness. The design still came with a ram
Naval ram
A naval ram was a weapon carried by varied types of ships, dating back to antiquity. The weapon consisted of an underwater prolongation of the bow of the ship to form an armoured beak, usually between six and twelve feet in length...
attached to the bow
Bow (ship)
The bow is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is most forward when the vessel is underway. Both of the adjectives fore and forward mean towards the bow...
.
The 35-caliber
Caliber
In guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....
260 mm main guns were mounted in single gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s fore and aft. The secondary side-mounted 35-caliber, 152 mm guns were located in semi-circular projections off the main deck.
Propulsion was by two horizontal steam reciprocating engines, 2-shafts, with 6 boilers, yielding a speed of 18 knots (35 km/h) and a range of 9000 nautical miles (16,668 km) at 13 knots (25 km/h) based on its capacity for 800 tons of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
. Provision was made for four 360 mm torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es in above water, deck-mounted launch racks.
Ships in class
Two Naniwa-class cruisers were purchased from Armstrong Whitworth. Both were lost before the start of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Ordered in 1883, launched 18 March 1885, and completed 1 December 1885, the Naniwa played a major role in the First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
, notably at the Battle of Pungdo
Battle of Pungdo
The Battle of Pungdo or Feng-tao was the first naval battle of the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place on 25 July 1894 offshore of Asan, Chungcheongnam-do Korea between cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy of Meiji Japan and components of the Beiyang Fleet of Qing China.-Background:Both Qing...
and the Battle of the Yellow Sea
Battle of Yalu River (1894)
The Battle of the Yalu River , also called simply 'The Battle of Yalu' took place on September 17, 1894. It involved the Japanese and the Chinese navies, and was the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War...
. During the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
it was present at the opening Battle of Chemulpo Bay
Battle of Chemulpo Bay
The Battle of Chemulpo Bay was an early naval battle in the Russo-Japanese War , which took place on 9 February 1904, off the coast of present-day Incheon, Korea.-Background:...
, but was subsequently assigned a reserve role. After the war, it was lost after running aground on 26 July 1910 on the coast of Urup
Urup
Urup is an uninhabited volcanic island near in the south of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Its name is derived from the Ainu language word for salmon trout.-Geography and climate:...
, in the Kurile Islands.
Ordered in 1883, launched 16 May 1885, and completed 1 December 1885, the Takachiho participated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea
Battle of Yalu River (1894)
The Battle of the Yalu River , also called simply 'The Battle of Yalu' took place on September 17, 1894. It involved the Japanese and the Chinese navies, and was the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War...
in the First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
. In the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
it was present at the opening Battle of Chemulpo Bay
Battle of Chemulpo Bay
The Battle of Chemulpo Bay was an early naval battle in the Russo-Japanese War , which took place on 9 February 1904, off the coast of present-day Incheon, Korea.-Background:...
, but was subsequently assigned a reserve role. In World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, while covering the invasion of German-held Tsingtao, it was torpedoed by the German torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
S90 on 14 October 1914 and sank with the loss of 271 officers and men.