Japanese cruiser Izumi
| Izumi The Japanese cruiser Izumi at Sasebo in 1908 | |
| Career (Chile) | Chilean Ensign |
|---|---|
| Name: | Esmeralda |
| Builder: | W.G. Armstrong & Company, United Kingdom |
| Laid down: | 5 April 1881 |
| Launched: | 6 June 1883 |
| Completed: | 15 July 1884 |
| Commissioned: | 16 October 1884 |
| Fate: | Sold to Japan, 15 November 1894 |
| Career (Japan) | Japanese Navy Ensign |
| Ordered: | 1894 Fiscal Year |
| Renamed: | Izumi |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1 April 1912 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Protected cruiser |
| Displacement: | 2,930 long tons (2,977 t) |
| Length: | 82.29 m (270 ft) w/l |
| Beam: | 12.8 m (42 ft) |
| Draught: | 5.64 m (18 ft 6 in) |
| Propulsion: |
Horizontal double steam expansion engines, 6,083 hp (4,536 kW) 12 boilers 2 shafts 600 tons coal |
| Speed: | 18.25 knots (21.0 mph; 33.8 km/h) |
| Complement: | 300 |
| Armament: |
• 2 × 254 mm (10 in) guns • 6 × 152 mm (6 in) guns • 2 × 6-pounder guns • 5 × 2-pounder guns • 2 × machine guns • 3 × 380 mm (15 in) torpedo tubes |
| Armour: |
25 mm (0.98 in) deck armor (slope) 12 mm (0.47 in) deck armor (flat) |
The IJN Izumi (和泉巡洋艦 Izumi Junyokan) was a 2nd class protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built by the Newcastle upon Tyne-based Armstrong Whitworth shipyards at Elswick in the United Kingdom. Its name is also sometimes (archaically) transliterated as Iduzmi, and refers to an ancient province of Japan, now part of Osaka-fu.
Background
The Izumi was originally built for the Chilean Navy as the Esmeralda. Considered the world's first true protected cruiser, this groundbreaking ship inspired a group of protected cruisers produced in the same yard and known as the "Elswick cruisers". Her forecastle, poop deck and the wooden board deck had been removed, replaced with an armored deck. Esmeralda 's armament consisted of fore and aft 10-inch (25.4 cm) guns and 6-inch (15.2 cm) guns in the midships positions. It could reach a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h), and was propelled by steam alone. It also had a displacement of less than 3,000 tons.
Esmeralda was purchased by the Imperial Japanese Navy on 15 November 1894 as part of Japan's Emergency Fleet Replenishment Program during the First Sino-Japanese War.
Service life
Soon after arrival at Yokusuka in Japan, on 5 February 1895, the Izumi was placed into service patrolling the sea lanes between Japan and Pusan, and between Japan and Taiwan.
After the First Sino-Japanese War, the Izumi was reclassified as a 3rd class protected cruiser on 31 March 1898. It helped support Japanese forces landing in China during the Boxer Rebellion by escorting troops and supplies.
The Izumi served again during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, but for the most part it was assigned to rear-line duties, due largely to its inadequate armor. Based out of Tsushima, Nagasaki, the Izumi was assigned to patrol the sea lanes between Japan and Korea. However, it was present as part of the Japanese 3rd Fleet at the final crucial Battle of Tsushima.
The cruiser Izumi should not be confused with the Russo-Japanese War period transport, Izumi-maru, which was sunk by the Vladivostok-based Russian cruiser Gromoboi on 12 June 1904.
The Izumi was scrapped on 1 April 1912. Its figurehead Imperial crest is preserved in the museum at the memorial battleship Mikasa.
References
- Evans, David. Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press (1979). ISBN 0870211927
- Jane, Fred T. The Imperial Japanese Navy. Thacker, Spink & Co (1904) ASIN: B00085LCZ4
- Jentsura, Hansgeorg. Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press (1976). ISBN 087021893X
- Schencking, J. Charles. Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press (2005). ISBN 0804749779
