Japanese cruiser Yoshino

The Japanese cruiser Yoshino in 1892
Career
Builder:	Armstrong Whitworth, Great Britain
Ordered:	1891 Fiscal Year
Laid down	February 1892
Launched:	20 December 1892
Completed:	30 September 1893
Fate:	Collision, 15 May 1904
General characteristics
Displacement:	4,150 tons
Length:	109.72 meters at waterline
Beam:	14.17 meters
Draught:	5.18 meters
Propulsion:	2-shaft VTE reciprocating engines, 12 boilers, 15000 HP
Speed:	23 knots
Fuel:	1000 tons coal; Range 9000 nautical mile s @ 10 knots
Complement:	360
Armament:	2 × 152 mm quick firing guns 8 × 120 mm quick firing guns 22 x 47 mm quick firing guns 5 x 360 mm torpedoes
Armor:	115 mm deck armor (slope), 45 mm deck armor (flat) 115 mm gun shields (front)

The IJN Yoshino (吉野 防護巡洋艦, Yoshino bōgōjunyōkan^?) was a 2nd class protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built by the Armstrong Whitworth shipyards in Elswick, in Great Britain. The Yoshino is sometimes regarded as a sister ship to the Takasago, although the two vessels are of different classes. The name Yoshino comes from the Yoshino mountains, located in the southern portion of Nara prefecture.

The Yoshino Brief Side View

Background

The Yoshino was an improved design of the Argentine Navy cruiser 25 de Mayo designed by Sir Philip Watts, who was also responsible for the design of the Izumi and the Naniwa class cruisers. When commissioned, the Yoshino was the largest ship in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was also the fastest cruiser in the world.

Service record

Soon after being placed into service, the Yoshino was assigned to patrol duties off of the coast of Korea. On 25 July 1894, the Yoshino, Akitsushima and Naniwa, met two Chinese ships off the China coast. Although not yet at war, one of the Chinese ships (the Tsi-yuen headed straight for the Japanese ships in what appeared to be a torpedo attack. All three Japanese vessels opened fire, and shortly after, the Tsi-yuen hauled down her colors and appeared to surrender, but she then managed to escape into the fog and safety.

After the formal declaration of hostilities, the the Yoshino continued to participate in the First Sino-Japanese War, including the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 17 September 1894.

Future Admiral Yashiro Rokuro served on the Yoshino the following year (1895) as a lieutenant.

With the start of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, the Yoshino participated in the naval Battle of Port Arthur. However, soon after the start of the war, the Yoshino collided with the Japanese armored cruiser Kasuga in dense fog. The Kasuga's ram hit the Yoshino's port side, and penetrated to the engine room; the Yoshino turned turtle and sank in the Yellow Sea [38.07N, 122.33E] on 15 May 1904 with the loss of 319 lives. Only 19 of the crew managed to survive.

As a result of this accident, the Imperial Japanese Navy removed the rams from the bows of all its warships.

Other ships named Yoshino

The cruiser Yoshino should not be confused with the transport vessel Yoshino-maru of the Pacific War period.

Gallery

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References

• Dull, Paul S. (1978) A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy ISBN 0-85059-295-X
• Evans, David. Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press (1979). ISBN 0870211927
• Gardiner, Robert (editor) (2001) Steam, Steel and Shellfire, The Steam Warship 1815-1905, ISBN 0-7858-1413-2
• 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 0804749779ja:吉野 (防護巡洋艦)