HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

was the third (and final vessel) in the of
protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of cruiser of the late 19th century, took their name from the armored deck, which protected vital machine-spaces from fragments released by explosive shells. Protected cruisers notably lacked a belt of armour alon ...
s in the
Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...
. The ship was the only one of the class constructed in Japan. Like
sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...
s, ( and ) her name comes from one of the traditional Three Views of Japan, in this case, the Ama-no-hashidate in northern
Kyoto prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture ...
on the
Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...
.


Background

Forming the backbone of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the
First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...
, the ''Matsushima''-class cruisers were based on the principles of Jeune Ecole, as promoted by French military advisor and
naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture by occupation Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's rol ...
Louis-Émile Bertin.Roksund, ''The Jeune École: The Strategy of the Weak''; The Japanese government did not have the resources or budget to build a
battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...
navy to counter the various foreign powers active in Asia; instead, Japan adopted the radical theory of using smaller, faster warships, with light armor and small caliber long-range guns, coupled with a massive single Canet gun. The design eventually proved impractical, as the recoil from the huge cannon was too much for a vessel of such small displacement, and its reloading time was impractically long; however, the ''Matsushima''-class cruisers served their purpose well against the poorly equipped and poorly led Imperial Chinese
Beiyang Fleet The Beiyang Fleet (Pei-yang Fleet; , alternatively Northern Seas Fleet) was one of the Imperial Chinese Navy#Fleets, four modernized Chinese navies in the late Qing dynasty. Among the four, the Beiyang Fleet was particularly sponsored by Li Hong ...
. There were originally plans to build a fourth vessel in this class, and its cancellation due concerns over the design was one of the factors that led to Bertin's resignation and return to
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.


Design

''Hashidate'' differed from her sister ship ''Itsukushima'' primarily in that her windows were rectangular instead of square, and in that she had a stronger engine. As with ''Itsukushima'', ''Hashidate'' had a steel hull with 94 frames constructed of mild steel, and a
double bottom A double hull is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is some di ...
, divided into waterproof compartments, with the area between the bulkheads and armor filled with
copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...
. The bow was reinforced with a naval ram. Vital equipment, including boilers and ammunition magazines, were protected by hardened steel armor, as were the gun shields. The
main battery A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a naval gun or group of guns used in volleys, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, th ...
consisted of one breech-loading 320-mm Canet gun mounted in the bow of the ship, which could fire 450-kg armor-piercing or 350-kg explosive shells at an effective range of . The maximum rate of fire was two rounds per hour, and the ship carried 60 rounds.
Secondary armament Secondary armaments are smaller, faster-firing weapons that are typically effective at a shorter range than the main battery, main (heavy) weapons on military systems, including battleship- and cruiser-type warships, tanks/armored personnel c ...
consisted of eleven QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I–IV Armstrong guns, with a maximum range of and maximum rate of fire of 12 rounds/minute. Ten were mounted on the gun deck, five to each side, with the 11th gun located on the upper deck of the fantail. Each gun was equipped with 120 rounds. Tertiary protection was by six
QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss The Ordnance QF Hotchkiss 6 pounder gun Mk I and Mk II or QF 6 pounder 8 cwt were a family of long-lived light naval guns introduced in 1885 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. Many variant ...
mounted in
sponson Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, Instantaneous stability, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing. Watercra ...
s on the upper deck, with a maximum range of and rate of fire of 20 rounds/minute. Each gun had 300 rounds. In addition, eleven QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss were mounted at various locations, with range of and a rate of fire of 32 rounds/minute and 800 rounds per gun. Each ship in the class also had four 356-mm Schwartzkopff torpedo tubes, three in the bow and one in the stern, with a total of 20 torpedoes carried on board. The weight of all of this weaponry made the design dangerously top-heavy, and armor was sacrificed in an effort to reduce weight.Chesneau, '' Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905'', page 226-227 The ship was driven by two horizontal triple expansion steam engines. However, as the design had problems with seaworthiness, it was seldom able to attain its design speed of 16.5 knots in operation.


Service life

''Hashidate'' was built by the
Yokosuka Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was located at Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture on Tokyo Bay, south of Yokohama. History In 1866, the Tokugawa shogunate govern ...
, with many materials imported from overseas. Due to the inexperience of the builders, construction took three years. She was
laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...
on 6 August 1888, and launched on 24 March 1891 in the presence of
Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...
.Jentsura, ''Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy''; page 92 Sea trials were complicated by various issues with her boilers, and she was commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy on 26 June 1894 despite the fact that one of her boilers had yet to be repaired after having failed in testing.


First Sino-Japanese War

''Hashidate'' was rushed into service just prior to the start of the
First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...
and saw combat in the Battle of the Yalu River under the command of Commander Hidaka Sōnojō. Assigned in fourth place in the Japanese line of battle, after ''Matsushima'', and ''Itsukushima'', the shortcomings of her design soon became evident. During the battle, she was able to fire her Canet gun only four times, failing to hit any of the Chinese ships.Paine, ''The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perception, Power, and Primacy'' page 133-134 After ''Matsushima'' was damaged, ''Hashidate'' became
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...
for Admiral
Itō Sukeyuki Marshal-Admiral Count (20 May 1843 – 16 January 1914) was a Japanese career officer and admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy in Meiji-period Japan. Biography Born in what is now part of Kagoshima City as the son of a ''samurai'' of the ...
. During the battle, she suffered eleven hits, which killed three crewmen (including two officers) and wounded nine others. ''Hashidate'' remained flagship after the battle, escorting Japanese forces for the Battle of Lushunkou and providing ground support against the land fortifications of
Dalian Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...
harbor on 6/7 November. During the Battle of Weihaiwei on 30 January 1895 and again on 7 February, ''Hashidate'' bombarded the land fortresses guarding Weihaiwei harbor, and later entered the harbor itself to accept the Chinese surrender on 12 February.


Interwar years

''Hashidate'' underwent repairs immediately after the end of the war to address her boiler issues; however, she was still unable to achieve more than , and was downgraded to a 2nd class cruiser on 21 March 1898. She participated in large-scale naval maneuvers in April 1900 practicing the techniques of a
naval blockade A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations ...
in Yokosuka harbor. However, she was withheld from participation in the expeditionary force against the
Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...
in 1900 due to issues again with her boilers. On 25 February 1901, ''Hashidate'', and ''Itsukushima'' departed
Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...
on a long-distance navigational training exercise which took them to
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
, Batavia,
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, Chelumpo, Pusan, Gensan, and
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
, returning to Yokosuka on 14 August 1901. In 1902, her six boilers were completely replaced by eight Japanese-designed Miyabara Water-tube boilers, becoming the first ship in the Japanese navy to receive this upgrade. In speed trials, on 20 October 1902, she was able to attain a speed of , which she had never been able to attain before, even when new. Also during this overhaul, her secondary armament was replaced by two 76-mm guns and 18 QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss 47-mm guns. She then repeated her 1901 training cruise again in 1903.


Russo-Japanese War

During the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...
, the obsolete ''Hashidate'' (under the command of Captain Katō Sadakichi) and her sister ships were assigned to the 5th squadron of the reserve IJN 3rd Fleet, together with the equally outdated
ironclad An ironclad was a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by iron armour, steel or iron armor constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or ince ...
battleship under the command of Admiral Kataoka Shichirō. She was based at Takeshiki Guard District on Tsushima and patrolled the
Korea Strait The Korea Strait is a strait, sea passage in East Asia between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. It connects the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The strait is split by Tsushima Island into two par ...
in February, and escorted transports of the Japanese Second Army to the
Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...
through the end of May. Afterwards, she was part of the fleet at the blockade of Port Arthur, engaging the Russian cruiser on 9 July. While on patrol on 10 August, ''Hashidate'' was one of the first Japanese ships to spot the Russian squadron, leading to the Battle of the Yellow Sea. She was too far away during the first stage of the battle, but was able to open fire and pursue the retreating Russian ships to Port Arthur, albeit without any success. On 10 December, together with ''Itsukushima'', she assisted the cruiser , which had struck a mine. During the
Battle of Tsushima The Battle of Tsushima (, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known in Japan as the , was the final naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 27–28 May 1905 in the Tsushima Strait. A devastating defeat for the Imperial Russian Navy, the ...
, on 27 May 1905, ''Hashidate'' attacked the rear of the Russian formation, scoring hits on the cruiser , and later assisting in the sinking of the battleship and repair ship ''Kamchatka''.Howarth, ''The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun'' During the battle, ''Hashidate'' was hit twice, wounding a midshipman and six crewmen. Later assigned to the IJN 4th Fleet, ''Hashidate'' was part of the flotilla that provided protection for the Japanese invasion of Sakhalin from July–August 1905. ''Hashidate'' returned to Yokosuka Naval Arsenal for repairs on 20 October, and participated in a naval review in Yokohama on 23 October 1905 celebrating the Japanese victory in the war.


Final years

After the end of the war, ''Hashidate'' was assigned again to be used as a long-distance navigational training vessel. She made training cruisers to Southeast Asia and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
in 1906 and 1907, and made a voyage in 1908 to Hong Kong, Penang, Ceylon, Batavia, Manila and Taiwan. In 1909, her 47-mm guns were replaced by 76-mm guns. On 28 August 1912, ''Hashidate'' was re-classified as a 2nd class '' kaibokan''. She was struck from the navy list on 1 April 1922, and sent to the breakers in 1927.


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hashidate Matsushima-class cruisers Ships built by Yokosuka Naval Arsenal 1891 ships Naval ships of Japan First Sino-Japanese War cruisers of Japan Russo-Japanese War cruisers of Japan