Japanese cruiser Suzuya (1904)
| Suzuya at Kure, 7 November 1908. Suzuya at Kure, 7 November 1908. | |
| Career | Japanese Navy Ensign |
|---|---|
| Name: | Suzuya |
| Ordered: | 1898 |
| Builder: | Schichau shipyards, Danzig, Germany |
| Laid down: | August 1900 |
| Launched: | 1901 |
| Acquired: | by Japan as prize of war, 1904 |
| Fate: | Scrapped, 1 April 1913 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Protected cruiser |
| Displacement: | 3,080 long tons (3,129 t) |
| Length: | 110 m (360 ft 11 in) w/l |
| Beam: | 12.2 m (40 ft 0 in) |
| Draught: | 5 m (16 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: |
1-shaft reciprocating VTE engines; 12 boilers; 18,000 hp (13,000 kW) 500 tons coal |
| Speed: | 19 knots (22 mph; 35 km/h) |
| Range: |
5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) 500 nmi (930 km) at 20 kn (23 mph; 37 km/h) |
| Complement: | 340 |
| Armament: |
• 6 × 120 mm (4.7 in) guns • 8 × 47 mm (1.9 in) guns • 2 × 37 mm (1.5 in) guns • 5 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes |
| Armour: |
Deck: 50 mm (2 in) Conning tower: 28 mm (1 in) |
The IJN Suzuya (鈴谷 通報艦 Suzuya tsūhōkan) was a protected cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy, acquired as a prize of war during the Russo-Japanese War from the Imperial Russian Navy, where it was originally known as the Novik.
Background
The Novik was originally built for the Imperial Russian Navy as the Novik, by Schichau shipyards in Elbing near Danzig, Germany. It performed heroically in various engagements in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, and was captured by the Japanese Navy after being scuttled at Sakhalin after the Battle of the Yellow Sea.
Service life
The Japanese navy had been impressed with the speed of the Novik, and despite the considerably damage inflicted upon the vessel by its combat with the Tsushima and Chitose (and the damage created by its own crew it scuttling the vessel), the wreck of the Novik was salvaged and repaired at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, and commissioned it into the Imperial Japanese Navy as the Suzuya on 20 August 1906. Its new name came from the Suzuya River in Karafuto, near where the Novik was captured.
With its light armaments and armor, the Suzuya was re-classified by the IJN as a tsūhōkan, meaning dispatch boat or aviso. Indeed she served with the IJN primarily for high speed reconnaissance and as a dispatch vessel; however, due to its battle damage and fewer boilers, the repaired vessel could only attain a maximum speed of 19 knots (35 km/h), as opposed to 25 knots (46 km/h) in its original configuration. Furthermore, the development of wireless communications quickly made such dispatch vessels obsolete. The Suzuya was re-classified as a 2nd class Coastal Defense Vessel on 28 August 1912, and was declared obsolete and scrapped on 1 April 1913.
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References
- 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
