was an

unprotected cruiser An unprotected cruiser was a type of naval warship in use during the early 1870s Victorian or pre-dreadnought era (about 1880 to 1905). The name was meant to distinguish these ships from “protected cruisers”, which had become accepted in ...

of 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, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

. The name ''Chihaya'' comes from

Chihaya Castle is a late Kamakura period Japanese castle located in the village of Chihayaakasaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1934. History Chihaya Castle is located at a ridge extending from M ...

, near

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, the site of one of the battles of the

Genkō War The , also known as the , was a civil war fought in Japan between the Emperor Go-Daigo and the Kamakura Shogunate from 1331 to 1333. The Genkō War was named after Genkō (second), Genkō, the Japanese era name, Japanese era corresponding to the ...

of 1333.

Background

''Chihaya'' was based on previous designs for dispatch vessels made by the French military advisor

Emile Bertin Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...

, and was built in Japan by the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal. Due to her small size she is sometimes classified as a

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

or gunboat, but was used by the Imperial Japanese Navy primarily as an aviso ( dispatch boat) for scouting, reconnaissance and delivery of his priority messages.

Design

Similar in design to and , ''Chihaya'' had a steel hull, and retained a full barque

rigging Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support a sailing ship or sail boat's masts—''standing rigging'', including shrouds and stays—and which adjust the position of the vessel's sails and spars to which they are ...

with two masts for auxiliary sail propulsion in addition to her

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs 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. This pushing force can be trans ...

, which was 2-shaft reciprocating vertical triple-expansion engine with 6 cylindrical Normand boilers driving two shafts and developing . ''Chihaya'' was armed with two

QF 4.7-inch Gun Mk I–IV QF may stand for: * Qantas, an airline of Australia (IATA code QF) * Qatar Foundation, a private, chartered, non-profit organization in the state of Qatar * Quality factor, in physics and engineering, a measure of the "quality" of a resonant system ...

s guns and four

QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss The QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss or in French use Canon Hotchkiss à tir rapide de 47 mm were a family of long-lived light naval guns introduced in 1886 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. T ...

guns. In addition, she carried two torpedoes, mounted on the deck.Chesneau, '' Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905'', p. 234.

Service record

''Chihaya'' 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 o ...

on 7 May 1898 and launched on 26 May 1900Nishida, ''Ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy'' in a ceremony attended by

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

. She was completed on 9 September 1901. On the afternoon of 18 June 1901 while still on trials before formal commissioning, ''Chiyaha'' collided off Tateyama, Chiba with the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

, which was on a torpedo training exercise. Both vessels suffered from minor damage. During the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

of 1904–1905, ''Chiyaha'' participated in the naval

Battle of Port Arthur The of 8–9 February 1904 marked the commencement of the Russo-Japanese War. It began with a surprise night attack by a squadron of Japanese destroyers on the neutral Russian fleet anchored at Port Arthur, Manchuria, and continued with an en ...

and subsequent blockade of that port. She was subsequently at the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the

Battle of Tsushima The Battle of Tsushima (Japanese:対馬沖海戦, Tsushimaoki''-Kaisen'', russian: Цусимское сражение, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known as the Battle of Tsushima Strait and the Naval Battle of Sea of Japan (Japanese: 日 ...

. As this latter battle, ''Chiyaha'' commanded a squadron of destroyers which sank the Russian battleship and repair ship ''Kamchatka''. On 26 August 1912, ''Chiyaha'' was re-classified as a first-class gunboat . During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, ''Chiyaha'' was assigned to patrols of former German Micronesia, which has been occupied by Japan during the early stages of the war. From 1918 to 1923, ''Chiyaha'' was assigned to provide support for the

Japanese intervention in Siberia The of 1918–1922 was the dispatch of Japanese military forces to the Russian Maritime Provinces as part of a larger effort by western powers and Japan to support White Russian forces against the Bolshevik Red Army during the Russian Civil ...

in support of the White Movement armies against the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

by making patrols of the eastern coast of Russia. From May to October 1928, ''Chiyaha'' was converted at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal to be a training vessel, and was removed from the

navy list A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 1 September 1928. She was subsequently transferred to the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, where she served as a training hulk until 25 July 1939. Her hulk was still afloat at Etajima at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when she was scrapped.

Notes

References

* * * * * * *

External links

Materials of the IJN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chihaya Cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1900 ships Ships built by Yokosuka Naval Arsenal Naval ships of Japan Russo-Japanese War cruisers of Japan World War I cruisers of Japan