Japanese cruiser Naniwa
| 300px Naniwa | |
| Career | Japanese Navy Ensign |
|---|---|
| Name: | Naniwa |
| Namesake: | Naniwa Province |
| Ordered: | 1883 Fiscal Year |
| Builder: | W.G. Armstrong & Company, UK |
| Laid down: | 27 March 1884 |
| Launched: | 18 March 1885 |
| Completed: | 1 December 1885 |
| Fate: | Grounded and sank, 5 August 1912 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Naniwa-class protected cruiser |
| Displacement: | 3,650 long tons (3,710 t) |
| Length: | 91.4 m (299 ft 10 in) |
| Beam: | 14 m (45 ft 11 in) |
| Draft: | 6.4 m (21 ft 0 in) |
| Installed power: | 7,604 ihp (5,670 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
2 × reciprocating steam engines 6 × boilers 2 × screws |
| Speed: | 18.5 kn (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph) |
| Range: | 9,000 nmi (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) at 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Complement: | 357 |
| Armament: |
2 × 260 mm (10 in) guns (later 150 mm) 6 × 150 mm (5.9 in) guns 2 × 6-pounder guns 40 × Nordenfelt guns (10x4) 4 × Gatling guns 4 × 380 mm (15 in) torpedo tubes |
| Armour: |
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Naniwa (浪速) was the first protected cruiser built specifically for the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was the lead ship of the Naniwa-class cruisers, built in the Armstrong Whitworth shipyard in Great Britain. The name Naniwa comes from an ancient province of Japan, now part of Osaka-fu. Naniwa had a sister ship, the Takachiho.
Background
The Japanese naval architect General Sasō Sachū (佐双左仲; 1852-1907) based the design on the best features of several contemporary cruisers, but with superior specifications, and the design was ordered to Great Britain. When completed, Naniwa was considered the most advanced and most powerful cruiser in the world [citation needed].
Service Life
Naniwa arrived at Shinagawa, Tokyo on 26 June 1886. She was the first warship purchased by Japan overseas to be brought to Japan with an entirely Japanese crew. Soon after reaching Japan, her main battery of 260 mm (10 in) guns was replaced with smaller 150 mm (5.9 in) guns for stability, and for standardization of ammunition with other ships of the Japanese Navy.
During the naval review of February 1887, Emperor Meiji boarded Naniwa in Tokyo, and rode her to Yokohama.
In 1893, Naniwa made two voyages to Honolulu, Hawaii to provide protection for Japanese citizens and to indicate Japanese concern during the Overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by American marines and colonists. The second voyage lead to an incident which became known as the "Black Week".
Prior to the official declaration of war in First Sino-Japanese War, and under the command of Captain (later Admiral) Tōgō Heihachirō, Naniwa sank the British transport ship Kowshing at the Battle of Pungdo. Kowshing was working under contract for the Imperial Chinese Navy ferrying Chinese reinforcements towards Korea. The sinking caused a major diplomatic incident between Japan and Great Britain, but it was recognized by British jurists as being in conformity with international law of the time.
Later in the First Sino-Japanese War, Naniwa was in combat during the critical Battle of the Yalu River and in operations off of Port Arthur.
Naniwa was among the Japanese fleet units that took part in the invasion of Taiwan in 1895, and saw action on 3 June and 13 October 1895, during the respective bombardments of the Chinese coastal forts at Keelung and Takow (Kaohsiung).
Naniwa was again sent to Hawaii from 20 April-26 September 1897, when the new Republic of Hawaii banned Japanese immigration and anti-Japanese sentiment appeared to endanger the Japanese population.
Naniwa was re-designated a 2nd-class cruiser on 21 March 1898, and was based in Taiwan, partly as a counter point to the build-up of American forces in Asia during the Spanish-American War. From 1898-1900, her role was primarily to patrol the sea lanes between Taipei and Manila. However, she was assigned to help cover the Japanese landings in China during the Boxer Rebellion of late 1900.
During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, Naniwa was based at Tsushima, and participated in the Battle of Chemulpo Bay. She was subsequently assigned to the Fourth Division of the Combined Fleet, where she served as the flagship for Rear Admiral Uryu Sotokichi and was thus present at most major encounters of the war, including the crucial Battle of Tsushima.
After the war, Naniwa was assigned to patrol of the northern sea lanes around Hokkaidō. On 26 July 1910, while on a surveying mission, she ran aground on the coast of Urup in the Kurile Islands, and sank at 46°30′N 150°10′E / 46.5°N 150.167°E.
Gallery
- IJN Naniwa in 1887.jpg
In 1887
- HIJMS Naniwa.jpg
In 1898
Brief side view
References
- Marie Conte-Helm (1989). Japan and the North East of England. The Athlone Press. ISBN 0-485-11367-8.
- Evans, David. Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press (1979). ISBN 0870211927
- Howarth, Stephen. The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum; (1983) ISBN 0689114028
- 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
External links
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- Naniwa class cruisers
- Tyne-built ships
- 1885 ships
- Victorian era naval ships of Japan
- First Sino-Japanese War cruisers of Japan
- Russo-Japanese War cruisers of Japan
- Shipwrecks in the Sea of Okhotsk
