The ship, it will be seen, is of the British Ajax or Colossus type—very
much a “soft ender.” She is, however, given a good deal of protection
in the way of specially arranged watertight compartments, and there is
also a species of cofferdam.
In 1881 Elswick set afloat the Arturo Prat, a small cruiser originally
intended for Chili, but subsequently purchased by Japan and re-named
Tsukushi. China had two sisters built at the same time, the Tchao Yong
and Yang-wei, both of which were sunk at Yalu. Particulars of the
Tsukushi are as follows:—
Displacement 1350 tons.
Material of hull Steel.
Length 210 ft.
Beam 32 ft.
Draught (maximum) 16½ ft.
Armament Two 10-in. 32 cals. Elswick.
Four 4.7 in. Q.F.[10]
Four 1-pdr. Q.F.
Two torpedo tubes.
Horse-power 2887.
Screws Two.
Speed on trial 16.4 knots.
Sea speed (_circa_) 12 knots.
Coal 250 tons.
Engines (by Hawthorn Leslie) Horizontal compound.
[10] These replaced four non-quickfiring guns.
The ship has no armour deck, or protection of any sort.
In 1882 the construction of wooden ships was still proceeding in
Japan. In that year they launched at Yokosuka the Kaimon, of which the
measurements are:—
Displacement 1367 tons.
Material of hull Wood.
Length 211 ft.
Beam 32 ft.
Draught (mean) 16½ ft.
Armament Eight 4¾-in. Krupp.
Two 3-pdr. Q.F.
Horse-power 1125.
Trial speed 12 knots.
Screws One.
Coal 180 tons.
Complement 230.
The engines were constructed in Japan at the Yokosuka Dockyard, and are
of the horizontal compound type. This was the first ship put together
by them of which they constructed the engines also.