was an iron-hulled, steam gunboat, serving in the early

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 ...

. page 115 She was the lead vessel in the four vessel , and was named after Mount Maya in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

Background

''Maya'' was an iron-ribbed, iron-sheathed, two-masted gunboat with a horizontal double expansion reciprocating

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

with two cylindrical boilers driving two screws.Chesneau, ''All the World’s Fighting Ships'', p. 236. She also had two masts for a

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

sail rig. ''Maya'' was laid down at the Onohama Shipyards in Kobe on 1 June 1885 and launched on 18 August 1886. She was completed on 20 January 1888.Nishida, ''Ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy''

Operational history

''Maya'' saw combat service in 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 ...

of 1894-1895 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Hashimoto Masaaki, patrolling between

Korea 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 Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Dairen 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 ...

and escorting Japanese transports. On 21 March 1898, ''Maya'' was re-designated as a second-class gunboat, and was used for coastal survey and patrol duties. 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 ...

of 1904-1905, ''Maya'' assisted in the Siege of Port Arthur, and also made a sortie up the Yalu River to attack Russian positions, and was part of the Japanese fleet for the invasion of Sakhalin. Corbett, ''Maritime Operations in The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905''. She was rearmed with four QF guns and two quadruple 1-inch Nordenfelt guns in 1906. She was removed from active combat status on 16 May 1908, and was used as a training vessel at the Yokosuka Naval District. ''Maya'' was removed from the navy list and transferred to the

Home Ministry An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a Ministry (government department), government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law e ...

on 1 December 1911 for use as a police boat in Kobe harbor. She was subsequently demilitarized and sold in December 1918 to a commercial trading firm, Ikeda Shoji, who used her as a transport until she was scrapped in 1932.

Notes

References

*Corbett, Sir Julian. ''Maritime Operations in The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905''. (1994) Originally classified, and in two volumes, *Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik (editors), ''All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905'', Conway Maritime Press, 1979 reprinted 2002, * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maya Ships built in Japan 1886 ships First Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan Russo-Japanese War naval ships of Japan Naval ships of Japan Maya-class gunboats