Japanese cruiser Takao (1888)

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Takao at Yokosuka, October 1889
History
Empire of Japan
NameTakao
BuilderYokosuka Naval Arsenal
Laid down30 October 1886
Launched15 October 1888
Completed16 November 1889
Stricken1 April 1911
FateScrapped, 27 March 1912
General characteristics
TypeUnprotected cruiser
Displacement1,750 long tons (1,778 t)
Length69.9 m (229.3 ft)
Beam10.4 m (34.1 ft)
Draught3.9 m (12.8 ft)
Installed power2,330 ihp (1,740 kW)
Propulsion2 shafts, 2 Horizontal compound steam engines, 5 boilers
Speed15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement220
Armament

Takao (高雄) was an unprotected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The name Takao comes from the Mount Takao, near Kyoto. Takao was used by the Imperial Japanese Navy primarily as an aviso or dispatch boat, for scouting, reconnaissance and the conveying of important messages.

Background

Takao was designed under the supervision of

Jeune Ecole naval strategy of using of small, heavily armed and lightly armored ships in naval warfare.[1] Due to its small size Takao is sometimes classified as a corvette or gunboat
.

Design

Takao was a steel-ribbed and steel-hulled vessel. It retained a full

QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I–IVs gun and one QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss gun as its secondary battery. In addition, the ship had two quadruple 1-inch Nordenfelt guns and carried two torpedoes, mounted on the deck.[2]

Service record

Takao was

launched on 15 October 1888 and completed on 16 November 1889. Takao's first captain was Commander Yamamoto Gonnohyōe
.

Takao was active in the

Port Arthur. It was subsequently involved in patrols of the Yellow Sea and was present at the Battle of Weihaiwei.[3]

In 1900, Takao's rigging was removed, and weaponry modernized.

.

Considered obsolete by the time of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, Takao was assigned to rear guard patrols of Chemulpo harbor and Tsushima Strait, but was present with the rest of the Japanese fleet at the final decisive Battle of Tsushima.

The advent of

navy list on 1 April 1911 [2]
and was demilitarized and sold on 27 March 1912. The ship was used as a survey vessel until being broken up in 1918.

Notes

  1. ^ Roksund, The Jeune École: The Strategy of the Weak;
  2. ^ a b Chesneau, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905, p. 234.
  3. ^ Paine, The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perception, Power, and Primacy page 133-134
  4. ^ Jentsura, Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy p. 92.

References