Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by MChew (talk | contribs) at 15:15, 8 June 2007 (minor tweak). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Japanese cruiser Otowa in 1905
Career
Builder:	Yokosuka Naval Yards, Japan
Ordered:	1897 Fiscal Year
Laid down	3 January 1903
Launched:	2 November 1903
Completed:	6 September 1904
Fate:	Wrecked 1 August 1917
General characteristics
Displacement:	3,000 tons
Length:	98.0 meters at waterline
Beam:	12.62 meters
Draught:	4.8 meters
Propulsion:	2-shaft VTE reciprocating engines, 10 boilers; 10,000 hp
Speed:	21 knots
Fuel:	575 tons coal
Complement:	280-312
Armament:	2 × 152 mm guns 6 × 120 mm guns 4 x 12 pounder guns
Armor:	75 mm deck (slope):50 mm deck (flat) 37 mm gunshield 100 mm conning tower

The IJN Otowa (音羽 巡洋艦, Otowa junyōkan) was a 3rd class protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built by the Yokosuka shipyards in Japan. The name Otowa comes from a mountain in Kyoto, located behind Kiyomizu-dera. The waters from a waterfall at this temple were traditionally held to be a cure for all illnesses.

Background

Authorized under the 2nd Naval Expansion Program of 1897, the Otowa was originally intended to be the third vessel in the Niitaka class cruiser series. However, due to budget constraints, the Otowa was redesigned with 10 percent smaller displacement, and with considerably lighter weaponry. The ship was completed in less than 20 months; its rapid construction time set a new record for Japan.

The Otowa was the first ship to be equipped with the Japanese-designed Kampon water-tube boiler which developed 227 psi compared to the 213 psi pressure of the previous Niclausse boilers in the Niitaka-class. The engines were identical to those of the Niitaka-class with a slight increase in power. It was intended that lack of armor and armament in the Otowa be partially offset by higher speed, but in fact the Otowa was only very slightly faster than the Niitaka-class cruisers.

Service record

The Otowa was rushed into service in order to participated in the Russo-Japanese War, joining the Japanese fleet blockading Port Arthur, and later joining the 3rd squadron of the 2nd Fleet in the crucial Battle of Tsushima.

On 28 August 1912 it was re-designated as a 2nd class cruiser.

During World War I, the Otowa fought at the Battle of Tsingtao, and was subsequently assigned to patrol the sea lanes between Singapore, Polynesia and the Philippines from its forward base at Manila Bay against the Imperial German Navy, as part of the Japanese contribution to the Allied side under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.

During the mutiny of Indian troops against the British in Singapore in February 1915, the Otowa was the first ship to respond to the British government's request for assistance.

On 25 July 1917, when in route from Yokosuka to Sasebo, the Otowa ran aground off Daiozaki, Shima peninsula, Mie prefecture (34ﾟ14'N/136ﾟ53'E). Subsequent efforts to save the vessel failed, and it broke apart and sank on 10 August 1917.

Gallery

• IJN Otowa in 1905

References

• Evans, David. Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press (1979). ISBN: 0870211927
• Howarth, Stephen. The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum; (1983) ISBN: 0689114028
• 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). ISBN: 087021893X
• Schencking, J. Charles. Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press (2005). ISBN: 0804749779

• World War I naval ships of Japan
• Cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy