Japanese cruiser Tatsuta (1894)
| Company type | Unprotected cruiser |
|---|---|
| Industry | Naval military vessel |
| Founded | 1894 |
| Headquarters | Japan |
| Products | Naval ship |
Tatsuta (龍田) was an unprotected cruiser serving in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The vessel’s name derives from the Tatsuta River, located near Nara, Nara. The Imperial Japanese Navy primarily utilized Tatsuta as an aviso (dispatch vessel) tasked with reconnaissance, scouting, and the transmission of urgent communications.
Background
Commissioned under the 1891 Fiscal Year budget, Tatsuta was ordered from Armstrong Whitworth in Elswick, Tyne and Wear, Newcastle upon Tyne, England to serve as a large torpedo boat. This order aimed to replace the ill-fated Chishima.[1]
Design
Constructed with a steel hull, Tatsuta featured a full barque rigging with two masts to provide auxiliary sail propulsion alongside her steam engine. Her armament included two QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I–IVs, four QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss guns, five 2.5-pounder guns, and five deck-mounted torpedo tubes.
Service record
With the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War, production of Tatsuta was expedited. While en route to Japan, she was detained by British authorities at the port of Aden on 28 August 1894 due to the United Kingdom’s neutral stance during the conflict. She remained held until after the war concluded, finally reaching Japan on 19 March 1895.[2] On 21 March 1896, she was re-designated as a dispatch vessel. In 1900, Tatsuta took part in escorting transport ships supporting Japanese naval landing forces occupying the northern Chinese port of Tianjin amid the Boxer Rebellion, contributing to the multinational effort known as the Eight-Nation Alliance.[3] During an overhaul at Kure Naval Arsenal in 1902, she became the first Japanese naval ship to have her locomotive-type cylindrical boilers replaced by high-pressure Niclausse boilers.[4]
Throughout the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), Tatsuta engaged in several key operations including the naval Battle of Port Arthur and the blockade that followed. Despite being relatively small and outdated, she also participated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea and played a role in the decisive Battle of Tsushima. During this conflict, she assisted in rescuing survivors from the battleships Yashima and Hatsuse, both sunk by Russian naval mines. Following these losses, Admiral Nashiba Tokioki transferred his flag to Tatsuta. However, on that same day, she ran aground near the Elliot Islands at Port Arthur’s entrance,[5] requiring salvage and repairs at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal between 16 July and 31 August 1904.
Reclassified as a first-class gunboat on 28 August 1912, Tatsuta was officially removed from combat status on 1 April 1916 and disarmed. Nevertheless, she remained with the navy serving as a utility vessel before being re-designated a submarine tender on 9 December 1916 and renamed 'Nagaura Maru' (長浦丸). The name was abbreviated to Nagaura on 1 July 1920. She was finally retired on 12 March 1926 and sold for scrapping shortly thereafter on 6 April.[5]
Notes
References
- Chesneau, Roger (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
- Evans, David C.; Peattie, Mark R. (1997). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870211927.
- Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0689114028.
- Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 087021893X.
- Nish, Ian (1986). The Origins of the Russo-Japanese War. Longman Group. ISBN 0582491142.
- Roberts, John (ed.) (1983). Warships of the World from 1860 to 1905 - Volume 2: United States, Japan and Russia. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz. ISBN 3763754032.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help) - Roksund, Arne (2007). The Jeune École: The Strategy of the Weak. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-15273-1.
- Schencking, J. Charles (2005). Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804749779.
- Warner, Peggy (2004). The Tide at Sunrise. Routledge Press. ISBN 0714682349.
External links
Template:Dispatch Vessels of the IJN Template:Russo-JapaneseWarJapaneseShips Template:1904 shipwrecks