Displacement 3700 tons.
Material of hull Steel.
Length 300 ft.
Beam 46 ft.
Draught 20 ft.
Armament Two 10-in. 32 cals. Krupp.
Six 6-in. B.L. Krupp.
Two 6-pdr. Q.F.
Fourteen smaller Q.F. and machine.
Four torpedo tubes.
(Elswick 6-in. Q.F. have lately been substituted for the old 6-in.
B.L.).
The big guns are generally described as Elswick pieces, but they are
not, although Elswick built the ships.
Engines (Hawthorn, Leslie & Co.) Horizontal compound.
Horse-power 7120.
Speed on trial 18.7 knots
Sea speed (_circa_) 15 knots.
Screws Two.
Coal (normal) 350 tons.
” (maximum) 800 tons.
Radius with full bunkers (_circa_) 5000 miles.
Complement 357.
Search-lights Four.
Protection is afforded by a steel deck 3 ins. on the slopes, 2 ins. on
the flat. The engine hatches have a 3-in. glacis. The conning-tower is
1½-in. steel, and the loading stations of the big guns have a similar
protection.
[Illustration: THE NANIWA (present rig).
(_This is the cruiser that sunk the Kow-shing._)
=Note.=—The sinking of the Kow-shing will be found described in the
chapter on the Chino-Japanese war. Special interest attaches to the
Naniwa on account of the fact that during this war she was commanded by
the present Admiral Togo.]
As originally rigged, the Naniwa and Takachiho carried a top on
each mast. After the war, in which they did not exhibit the best of
sea-keeping qualities, these tops were lowered, and light platforms
erected where they used to be, as in the illustration. The old rig,
which is tolerably familiar, will be noticed in the illustrations
dealing with the war. The Naniwa and Takachiho both took part in
the first engagement at Asan; the Naniwa subsequently made her
name familiar to the world over the Kow-shing affair. Both ships
participated at Yalu and Wei-hai-wei. The Naniwa was launched on March
18, 1885, at Elswick, the Takachiho on May 16th in the same year.
In appearance the two craft are almost absolutely identical; for
convenience, and to enable their own officers to distinguish them, the
Takachiho has a red band round her instead of the orthodox black one.
As a further guide, she carries a couple of signal yards on the main,
in place of the single yard carried there by the Naniwa.
[Illustration]
Meanwhile China continued to have ships built in England and Germany,
and in 1886 there was launched at Stettin a small cruiser, the
Tche-Yuen (Tsi-Yuen is a more familiar spelling), which was destined
to be taken over by the Japanese at Wei-hai-wei in 1895. Her details
are:—
Displacement 2300 tons.
Material of hull Steel.
Length 246 ft.
Beam 33 ft.
Draught (maximum) 18 ft.
Armament Two 8.2-in. Krupp, forward in an
armoured turret.
One 6-in. Krupp aft.
Four 4-pdr. Gruson Q.F.
Two Gatlings.
Four torpedo tubes.
Horse-power 2800.
Speed on trial 15 knots.
Screws Two.
Coal (normal) 230 tons.
Radius (_circa_)1000 miles.
Complement 180.
This ship represents an application of the Italian Lepanto idea to a
small cruiser. She is provided with a steel protective deck, 3 ins.
thick on the slopes; the hull is otherwise unprotected, but the fore
turret, containing the 8-in. guns, is heavily armoured with 10-in.
compound, thus rendering it proof against any of the 10-in. guns afloat
in the Japanese Fleet at the time she was built. Indeed, at Yalu there
were only three guns present in the Japanese Fleet against which the
Tche-Yuen’s turret armour was not proof. However, the possession of a
little impenetrable armour is of small service to a warship—the odds
being always against any one particular spot being hit. At Asan, in
which the Tche-Yuen suffered rather severely, none of the Japanese guns
against her were able to pierce this forward turret.
[Illustration: SAI YEN (_ex_ TCHE-YUEN).]
[Illustration]
In 1879 Japan had already had four torpedo boats built for her at
Yarrow’s. These craft displaced only 40 tons. In 1886, however,
Yarrow’s built the first-class twin-screw torpedo boat Kotaka. This
boat is remarkable as the first armoured torpedo boat ever constructed.
She has 1-in. steel plating all over her machinery compartment, and the
subdivision of the hull is, for a torpedo boat, singularly complete. In
her way the Kotaka was the forerunner of the destroyers, being larger
than the run of torpedo boats even now. Full details of her are:—
Displacement 190 tons.
Material of hull Steel.
Length 170 ft.
Beam 19½ ft.
Draught 5 feet.
Horse-power 1400.
Speed on trial 19 knots.
Screws Two.
Coal carried 50 tons.
Torpedo tubes Six.
Armament Four machine guns.
The torpedo tubes are thus disposed: two forward, firing right ahead,
a pair amidships, and another pair a little abaft of them. The Kotaka
made a name for herself in the war, and previously to that was a
successful craft. However, for some reason Japan had no more boats from
Yarrow, or, indeed, from England, for the next ten years, the next,
a batch of fourteen, being ordered from Creusot. These were launched
in 1889. The Kotaka, after being built, was sent out to Japan in
sections, and there put together again. The Creusot boats were sent out
in similar fashion, while a further seven were put together entirely at
Kobé, in Japan. All these boats were small ones of 56 tons, 114½ ft.
long, 10½ ft. beam, and 6 ft. draught. With 525 I.H.P., they made 20
knots on trial. They have two torpedo tubes, carry two 1-pounder Q.F.,
a complement of 16 men, and are single screw. One of them was lost
off the Pescadores in December, 1895, and a couple at Wei-hai-wei in
February of the same year.
Japan still continued the construction of other craft, having launched
the Maya[11] at Onohama in 1886, the Akagi[12] at the same yard in
1887, the Atago[13] at Yokosuka in 1887, and the Chiokai[14] at Tokio
in the same year. The Maya and Chiokai were, as before, composite, but
the other two are noteworthy as being constructed entirely of steel.
A large proportion of the material for them was imported, and the
building was rather a case of merely putting together.
[11] Pronounced Maï’yà.
[12] Ak-à-gēē.
[13] At-à-go.
[14] Tchio’ka’i.