JAPANESE CRUISER TAKACHIHO

The cruiser ''Takachiho'' depicted in 1905 postcard
Career	Japanese Navy Ensign
Builder:	Armstrong Whitworth, Great Britain
Ordered:	1883 fiscal year
Laid down	27 March 1884
Launched:	16 May 1885
Completed:	1 December 1885
Fate:	Lost in combat, 17 October 1914
General Characteristics
Displacement:	3,650 tons
Length:	91.4 meters
Beam:	14 meters
Draught:	6.1 meters
Propulsion:	2-shaft reciprocating engines; 6 boilers; 7,604 HP
Speed:	18.5 knots
Range:	9,000 nautical miles @ 13 knots
Complement:	357
Armament:	★ 2 × 260 mm guns (later 150 mm) ★ 6 × 150 mm guns ★ 2 × 6 pounder guns ★ 10 x quadruple Nordenfeldt guns ★ 4 x Gatling guns ★ 4 × 380 mm torpedoes
Armor:	★ 50-75 mm deck; ★ 37 mm guns shields ★ 37 mm conning tower

was the second Naniwa-class protected cruiser built for the Imperial Japanese Navy by the Armstrong Whitworth shipyard in Great Britain. The name ''Takechiho'' comes from a 1574 meter tall mountain in the volcanic Kirishima range between Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures in Japan. The ''Takachiho'' has a sister ship, the IJN ''Naniwa''

Contents

Background

Service Record

External link

References

Background

The ''Naniwa'' and the ''Takachiho'' were the first protected cruisers designed in Japan, and built overseas specifically for the Japanese navy. The Japanese naval architect General Sasō Sachū (佐双左仲; 1852-1907) based on the design on the best features of several contemporary cruisers, and the design was ordered to Great Britain.

Service Record

The ''Takachiho'' arrived at Yokohama in early July 1886, just one week after her sister ship, the ''Naniwa'' arrived at Tokyo.
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In 1893, the ''Takachiho'' made two voyages to Honolulu in Hawaii, to provide protection for Japanese citizens and to indicate Japanese concern during the Overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by American marines and colonists.
During the First Sino-Japanese War, the ''Takachiho'' was present at the Battle of the Yellow Sea under the command of Yashiro Rokuro. It was subsequently used in patrols of the Bay of Bohai and in operations off of Port Arthur.
The ''Takachiho'' was re-designated a 2nd-class cruiser on 21 March 1898. It 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, the ''Takachiho'' was part of the Japanese squadron at the initial Battle of Chemulpo Bay. It was considered too lightly armed and armored to be of much service for the remainder of the war, and was subsequently assigned to the Fourth Division of the Combined Fleet. However, it was present at the crucial final Battle of Tsushima.
The ''Takachiho'' was re-designated a 2nd class Coastal Defense Ship on 28 August 1912 and was converted into a minelayer and mine recovery training vessel.
Soon after the start of World War I, the ''Takachiho'' was struck by three torpedoes launched by an Imperial German Navy S90 torpedo boat in Chinese waters on 14 October 1914, during the Battle of Tsingtao. It sank with the loss of 271 men (including its captain Ito Sukeyasu) – the largest single loss for Japanese forces during the entire war.

External link

★ Naniwa-class cruiser (Japanese)

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