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 ...

. The ship was named after a mountain in

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

''Banjō'' was a three-masted wooden-hulled gunboat with a double-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 four rectangular boilers driving one screw.Chesneau, ''All the World’s Fighting Ships'', p. 236. Her design was based on the basic outlines of the foreign-designed , but ''Banjō'' built in Japan at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal and was the fourth vessel to be completed at that shipyard. Her first captain was 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, ...

Operational history

''Banjō'' 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 ...

of 1894-1895, 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 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. On 21 March 1898, ''Banjō'' was re-designated as a second-class gunboat, and was used for coastal survey and patrol duties as well as a fisheries protection vessel. page 111 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 ...

, ''Banjō'' assisted in maintaining the Japanese blockade during the Siege of Port Arthur. She was also present as 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 ...

in a reserve role. ''Banjō'' was removed from the active list on 12 July 1907 and was struck 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 25 May 1911.Nishida, ''Ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy'' She was demilitarized and sold on 23 April 1912 to the Niigata Prefectural Commercial High School in Niigata for use as a training vessel. Her eventual fate is unknown.

Notes

References

*Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik (editors), ''All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905'', Conway Maritime Press, 1979 reprinted 2002, * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Banjo Gunboats of the Imperial Japanese Navy Ships built by Yokosuka Naval Arsenal 1878 ships Naval ships of Japan First Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan Russo-Japanese War naval ships of Japan