Japanese corvette Musashi
| Japanese armed sloop Musashi | |
| Career | Japanese Navy Ensign |
|---|---|
| Name: | Musashi |
| Ordered: | 1883 Fiscal Year |
| Builder: | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan |
| Laid down: | 1 October 1884 |
| Launched: | 30 March 1886 |
| Commissioned: | 9 February 1887 |
| Struck: | 1 April 1928 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1935 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,476 long tons (1,500 t) |
| Length: | 62.78 m (206 ft 0 in) |
| Beam: | 10.7 m (35 ft 1 in) |
| Draft: | 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in) |
| Propulsion: |
Horizontally-mounted reciprocating engine, 1,622 hp (1,210 kW) 6 boilers 1 shaft |
| Sail plan: | Barque-rigged sloop-of-war |
| Speed: | 13 knots (15 mph; 24 km/h) |
| Range: | 145 tons coal |
| Complement: | 231 |
| Armament: |
• 2 × 170 mm (6.7 in) Krupp breech-loading guns • 5 120 mm (4.7 in) guns • 1 × 80 mm (3.1 in) gun • 4 × 25 mm (0.98 in) quadruple Nordenfelt guns • 2 × 380 mm (15 in) torpedo tubes |
IJN Musashi (武蔵 (スループ) Masashi surūpu) was the third and final vessel in the Katsuragi-class of three wooden armed sloops in the early Imperial Japanese Navy. It was named for Musashi province, a former province of Japan located in the Kantō region. The name was used again for the more famous World War II battleship Musashi.
History
Although described by the rather ambiguous terms "gunboat" or "corvette", Musashi was designed as a three-masted bark-rigged sloop-of-war. Its basic design was based on experience gained in building the Kaimon and the Hiei-class sloops, but was already somewhat obsolescent in comparison to contemporary European warships when completed.
Musashi saw service in the First Sino-Japanese War, patrolling between Korea, Dairen and Weihaiwei, from its base at the Korean port of Chemulpo. It was assigned to the Western Fleet.
After the war, Musashi was designated a third-class gunboat, and was used for coastal survey and patrol duties.
During the Russo-Japanese War, Musashi served as a guard ship in Hakodate harbor. It was reclassified as a second class coastal patrol vessel after the war, but was used primarily for training duties. It was reclassified as a survey ship in 1922, and retired on 1 April 1928. It was broken up for scrap in 1935.
References
- Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik (editors), All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905, Conway Maritime Press, 1979 reprinted 2002, ISBN 0-85177-133-5
- Jentsura, Hansgeorg. Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press (1976). ISBN 087021893X
External links
- Nishida, Hiroshi. "Materials of IJN". Imperial Japanese Navy. http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0615.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
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