In 1891 Japan had built for her by Normand at Le Havre a 75-ton torpedo
boat, 118 ft. long, two tubes, and a trial speed of 23 knots. She is a
twin-screw boat.
Two other boats, 90-tonners, were also launched in Germany at Elbing.
Length, 128 ft.; trial speed, 23 knots; one screw; armament, three
tubes and three 1-pounder Q.F.
China in 1890 launched a home-built diminutive of the Itsukushima, the
Ping Yuen. The Japanese took her at Wei-hai-wei, but she has never
been of any use to them, and she now does duty as a gunnery hulk.
Particulars of this craft are:—
Displacement 2600 tons.
Material of hull Steel.
Length 200 ft.
Beam 40 ft.
Draught 19 ft.
Armament (originally) One 10.2-in. Krupp, 25 cals.
Two 6-in. Krupp.
Eight 3-pdr. Q.F.
One 1-pdr. Q.F. (in the top).
Four torpedo tubes.
The old 6-in. Krupp are now replaced by a couple of 45-calibre Elswick
6-in. Q.F. for drill purposes. The old 10-in. gun remains, and,
being always cocked up in the air at an extreme elevation, is the
most noticeable and characteristic feature of this ship, which every
Japanese regards as a standing joke. An enormous dragon adorns each
broadside. Japanese officers who come to Portsmouth always, by the way,
christen our Hero “the British Ping Yen.”
The Ping Yuen was begun as a 16-knot, 2850-ton ship, a copy in fine
of the Stettin-built King Yuen. In an early stage of construction,
however, her length was much reduced, _for economical reasons_.
She appears to have had much the same machinery as the King Yuen
originally. This, however, was tinkered in fitting, and some of her
boilers were stolen, or otherwise dispensed with! On trial she made
10.5 knots for a short period, but, after being taken care of by the
Chinese, soon sank below that modest speed. It is doubtful whether she
made as much as 6 knots at Yalu.
There is a 2-in. steel protective deck in places; amidships and under
water there is a small patch of 8-in. compound armour. The barbette is
a 5-in. strip of armour; the conning-tower has the same thickness. A
thin shield—removed during the war—covers the big gun.
On June 3, 1890, the third-class cruiser Chiyoda, built to replace the
lost Unebi, took the water at Clydebank. Particulars of her are as
follows:—
Displacement 2450 tons.
Material of hull Steel.
Length 308 ft.
Beam 43 ft.
Draught (maximum) 17 feet.
Armament Ten 4.7-in. Q.F. 40 cals.
Fourteen 3-pdr. Q.F.
Three Gatlings.
Three torpedo tubes (of which one
is fixed in the bow).
Horse-power 5600.
Trial speed 19 knots.
Engines Two sets, triple expansion.
Boilers Belleville.
Complement 350.
Coal supply 420 tons.
[Illustration: HEI YEN.]
[Illustration: CHIYODA. THE CHIYODA AT SEA WITH THE FLEET. 1903.]
She was the first ship in any navy to be fitted with water-tube
boilers, which were barely coming into existence in those days. Hers
are of the Belleville type.
[Illustration]
For protection she depends on a 4¼-in. chrome steel armour belt, 200
ft. long, amidships. Forward and aft of this is a protective deck
1½ ins. thick on the slopes. Throughout the entire water-line is a
cellulose belt, and she is divided into 84 watertight compartments. The
guns have no protection beyond the ordinary shields. They are, however,
very well disposed.
In 1898 she was practically re-boilered, the old tubes being replaced
by some specially large ones, in order to enable her to burn Japanese
coal, which sooted the ordinary tubes.
In 1890 the Akitsushima was laid down at Yokosuka. It was at first
supposed that she was a sister to the Matsushima. The Yoshino was
contracted for at Elswick towards the end of this year. Both were
launched in 1892, and commissioned just before the war with China.
The Akitsushima was the last ship to be built in Japan with imported
material. She is practically a small copy of the U.S.S. Baltimore.
Details of the two, for comparison, are as follows:—
AKITSUSHIMA. BALTIMORE.
Displacement 3150 tons. 4600 tons.
Material of hull Steel. Steel.
Length 302 ft. 328 ft.
Beam 43 ft. 48½ ft.
Draught 18½ ft. 23 ft.
Armament Four 6-in. Q.F. (D). Four 8-in. 25 cals. (C).
Six 4.7-in. Q.F. (E). Six 6-in. (D.)
Ten 3-pdr. Q.F. Eight small Q.F.
Four torpedo tubes. Five torpedo tubes.
Horse-power
(forced draught) 8400. 10,060.
Speed on trial 19 knots. 20.1 knots.
Engines Vertical triple Horizontal triple
expansion. expansion.
Boilers Cylindrical. Four double-ended
Scotch.
Screws Two. Two.
Coal (normal) 500. 400.
” (bunker capacity) 800. 900.
Armour deck on slopes 3-in. (_e_). 4-in. (_d_).
Other protection Cellulose belt and
cofferdam.
Complement 330. 395.
[Illustration: [_Photo by favour of Commander Kurri, I.J.N._