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

. She was named after the island of Ōshima off

Shizuoka prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

Background and design

''Ōshima'' was a steel-hulled three-masted gunboat with a triple-expansion reciprocating

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 ...

with two boilers driving two screws which gave her a speed of .Chesneau, ''All the World’s Fighting Ships'', p. 236. Her design was based on a modified version of the and the French naval architect

Louis-Émile Bertin Louis-Émile Bertin (23 March 1840 – 22 October 1924) was a French naval engineer, one of the foremost of his time, and a proponent of the "Jeune École" philosophy of using light, but powerfully armed warships instead of large battleships. ...

contributed to her design. She is noteworthy in that she was the first ship to be built in Japan with a vertical triple-expansion steam engine. She was equipped with four QF guns, one each on the bow, stern, and in

sponson Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing. Watercraft On watercraft, a spon ...

s on either side of the hull. Secondary armament included five Hotchkiss guns. ''Ōshima'' 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 the Onohama Shipyards in

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 ...

under direction of the

Kure Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. History The Kure Naval District was established at Kure, Hiroshima in 1889, as the second of the naval districts responsible for the defense of the J ...

on 29 August 1889 and launched on 14 October 1891. She was completed on 31 March 1892.Nishida, ''Ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy''

Operational history

''Ōshima'' saw combat service in the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...

, during which time an additional three guns and an additional three guns were fitted, patrolling between

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

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. Located on the ...

and

Weihai Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popula ...

wei in a reserve capacity in the

IJN 2nd Fleet The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) created as a mobile strike force in response to hostilities with Russia, and saw action in every IJN military operation until the end of World War II. History Established on 27 October 1903, ...

. On 21 March 1898, ''Ōshima'' was re-designated as a second-class

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

, and was used for coastal survey and patrol duties. In September 1898, the Chinese reformer and journalist

Liang Qichao Liang Qichao (Chinese: 梁啓超 ; Wade–Giles, Wade-Giles: ''Liang2 Chʻi3-chʻao1''; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Lèuhng Kái-chīu'') (February 23, 1873 – January 19, 1929) was a Chinese politician, social and political act ...

fled to exile in Japan aboard ''Ōshima'', which took him to

Miyajima may refer to: Places * Miyajima, another name for the Japanese island Itsukushima * Miyajima, Hiroshima, a former town on this island, merged into Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima is a city located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The name derives from a m ...

with the assistance of the Japanese government. page 32 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 ...

, ''Ōshima'' assisted in 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 18 May 1904, under the command of Commander

Hirose Katsuhiko (September 20, 1862October 20, 1920) was a Japanese Rear-Admiral of the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War. He was known as the elder brother of the war hero Hirose Takeo as well as the commander of the '' Akitsushima'' during ...

(the elder brother of the famous

Takeo Hirose , (May 27, 1868 – March 27, 1904) was a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He commanded the cargo vessel ''Fukui Maru'' during the Battle of Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanese War. The ship was hit by coastal artillery, and despite ...

) she collided in a heavy fog with the gunboat and sank in the early hours of the following morning in Liaotung Bay off of Port Arthur at position . ''Ōshima'' 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 15 June 1905.

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, *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oshima Gunboats of the Imperial Japanese Navy Ships built in Japan 1891 ships First Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan Russo-Japanese War naval ships of Japan Shipwrecks in the Yellow Sea Maritime incidents in 1904 Shipwrecks of the Russo-Japanese War Ships sunk in collisions ja:大島 (砲艦)