was a

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...

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 ...

, acquired as a

prize of war A prize of war is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle, typically at sea. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 19th centuries. Basis in inte ...

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 ...

from the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...

, where it was originally known as . The cruisers and were her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same 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 often share a ...

Background

''Pallada'' was built by the

Admiralty Shipyard The JSC Admiralty Shipyards (russian: link=no, Адмиралтейские верфи) (''formerly Soviet Shipyard No. 194'') is one of the oldest and largest shipyards in Russia, located in Saint Petersburg. The shipyard's building ways can ac ...

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

for the

. As the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of the , it was one of the most modern cruisers in the Russian navy when assigned to the Russian Far East squadron based at Port Arthur,

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

. With the start of the

in 1904, ''Pallada'' was trapped at Port Arthur, and subsequently sunk by Japanese artillery during the

Siege of Port Arthur The siege of Port Arthur ( ja, 旅順攻囲戦, ''Ryojun Kōisen''; russian: link=no, Оборона Порт-Артура, ''Oborona Port-Artura'', August 1, 1904 – January 2, 1905) was the longest and most violent land battle of the Russ ...

on 8 December 1904.

Service record

After the capture of Port Arthur by the Japanese, the wreck of ''Pallada'' was raised, repaired, and commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy as the second-class

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

''Tsugaru'' on 22 August 1908. Her new name came from the

Tsugaru Strait The is a strait between Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan connecting the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean. It was named after the western part of Aomori Prefecture. The Seikan Tunnel passes under it at its narrowest point 12.1 miles (1 ...

between

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

and

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

. After commissioning into the Japanese navy, ''Tsugaru'' was used almost exclusively for training duties, especially for mechanical systems training, and rarely left Japanese home waters. On 1 April 1920, ''Tsugaru'' was re-classified as a

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...

with 300 mines. She was removed from the active list on 1 April 1922, and

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

with explosive charges in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

off

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, 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 ...

, Japan, on 27 May 1924. The cruiser ''Tsugaru'' should not be confused with the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

era

of the same name.

Gallery

File:Russian_Battleship_Poltava_sunk_in_Port_Arthur.jpg, Russian cruiser ''Poltava'', mislabelled ''Pallada'' sunk in Port Arthur File:Japanese cruiser Tsugaru in 1912.jpg, ''Tsugaru'' in 1912 File:Japanese cruiser Tsugaru in 1914.jpg, ''Tsugaru'' in 1914

References

* Evans, David. ''Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941''. US Naval Institute Press (1979). * Howarth, Stephen. ''The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945''. Atheneum; (1983) * 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). * Schencking, J. Charles. ''Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922''. Stanford University Press (2005). {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsugaru Cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy Ships built at Admiralty Shipyard 1899 ships Russo-Japanese War cruisers of Japan World War I cruisers of Japan Maritime incidents in 1924 Scuttled vessels Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean ja:津軽 (防護巡洋艦)