was an iron-hulled, 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 ...

. page 115 She was the second vessel to be completed in the four vessel , and was named after

Mount Chōkai is an active volcano located on the southern border of Akita and Yamagata in the Tōhoku region of Japan, and is tall. Because of its (roughly) symmetrical shape and massive size, it is also variously known as , or depending on the location ...

in between Yamagata and Akita Prefectures.

Background

''Chōkai'' was an iron-hulled, two-masted gunboat with a horizontal 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 ...

with two cylindrical boilers driving two screws.Chesneau, ''All the World’s Fighting Ships'', p. 236. She also had two masts for a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...

sail rig. ''Chōkai'' 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 Ishikawajima-Hirano Shipyards in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

on 1 January 1886 and launched on 20 August 1887. She was completed on 27 December 1888.Nishida, ''Ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy''

Operational history

''Chōkai'' was captained by Lieutenant Commander Kamimura Hikonojō from October 1893 to June 1894. ''Chōkai'' 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 p ...

under the command of Lieutenant Commander Tōgō Masamichi, 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 ...

, Dairen and played a role at the Battle of Weihaiwei. On the night of 5 February, ''Chōkai'' participated in a night operation with , in which the gunboats made a feint attack on the north entrance to the harbor as a diversion while torpedo boats attacked from the east entrance, sinking the Chinese battleship and damaging the cruiser . After the surrender of China, ''Atago'' and ''Chōkai'' remained at Weihaihei as part of the Japanese occupation force. On 21 March 1898, '' Chōkai '' was re-designated as a second-class gunboat, and was used for coastal survey and patrol duties. During the Boxer Rebellion, she was assigned to patrol off the Taku Forts. 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 ...

, ''Chōkai'' assisted in the Siege of Port Arthur. During the third attempt to sink old freighters in an attempt to block the entrance to Port Arthur harbor, ''Chōkai'' was present as one of the escorts. On a shore bombardment mission on 26 May 1904 to support the Japanese Second Army at the Battle of Nanshan (together with the cruiser ), ''Chōkai'' came under fire, and her captain, Lieutenant Commander Hayashi Michio was killed. He was replaced by Lieutenant Commander Hirose Katsuhiko, the older brother of the famed war-hero Takeo Hirose, who commanded ''Chōkai'' through the end of the war, including the Invasion of Sakhalin towards the end of the war. ''Chōkai'' was removed from active combat status on 1 April 1908, and was used as a training vessel at the Sasebo Naval District. 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 ...

and transferred to the Home Ministry on 1 December 1911 for use as a police boat in Kobe Harbor. She was subsequently demilitarized and sold for scrap in 1912.

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, * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chokai Ships built by IHI Corporation 1887 ships First Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan Russo-Japanese War naval ships of Japan Naval ships of Japan Maya-class gunboats