was a wooden-hulled

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

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

. Already obsolete by the time of its completion, it was used primarily as the Imperial

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

, and later as a training vessel.Chesneau, '' All the World’s Fighting Ships'', p. 232.

Background

''Jingei'' was designed by Léonce Verny, a French naval engineer initially hired by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, who stayed on as a foreign advisor to the early

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

as chief administrator and constructor of the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal. The steam-powered vessel with two side paddle-wheels 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 ...

at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 26 September 1873 and was the first vessel to be laid down at that shipyard; however, due to the lack of local technical expertise and the need to create the infrastructure to support her construction, she took a total of seven years and ten months to complete. She was launched on 4 September 1876 (six months after Verny had departed Japan) and commissioned on 5 August 1881 with Lieutenant Commander

Tsuboi Kōzō Baron was an admiral of the early modern Imperial Japanese Navy, known primarily for his role in the First Sino-Japanese War. Biography Tsuboi Kōzō was born as Hara Kōzō, the second son of a doctor in what is now part of Hōfu, Yamaguchi, ...

as her first captain, and Lieutenant

Tōgō Heihachirō Marshal-Admiral Marquis , served as a '' gensui'' or admiral of the fleet in the Imperial Japanese Navy and became one of Japan's greatest naval heroes. He claimed descent from Samurai Shijo Kingo, and he was an integral part of preserving ...

as her

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

Operational history

Initially intended to serve as an ocean-going imperial yacht, ''Jingei'' was completed with luxurious internal fittings. However,

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 ...

showed little interest in travelling by sea, and the vessel was seldom used. On 15 April 1882, ''Jingei'' accidentally rammed the American survey vessel which was steaming in Kii Channel en route from

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

. Although the night was clear and both vessels had their running lights in sight of each other for an hour, ''Jingei'' inexplicably turned hard to starboard just as the vessels passed each other, gashing a large hole in the side of USS ''Alert''. ''Jingei'' suffered only minor damage, but ''Alert'' took two months to complete repairs. page 195 On 29 January 1886, she was designated as a mine-warfare training vessel. On 1 April 1896, she was re-designated as a utility vessel, however continued to be used as a training vessel, and for the development of

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...

s. She 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 2 December 1903. Her hulk was subsequently sold on 25 January 1909.Nishida, '' Ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy''

Notes

References

*Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik (editors), ''All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905'', Conway Maritime Press, 1979 reprinted 2002, *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jingei Ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1881 ships Royal and presidential yachts Paddle steamers Ships built by Yokosuka Naval Arsenal Naval ships of Japan