Japanese gunboat Chōkai

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see Japanese ship Chōkai.
Japanese gunboat Chōkai at Sasebo, 1889
History
Empire of Japan
NameChōkai
Ordered1883
BuilderIshikawajima-Hirano Shipyards
Laid down25 January 1886
Launched20 August 1887
Commissioned27 December 1888
Decommissioned1 April 1908
Stricken23 May 1911
FateScrapped 1912
General characteristics
Class and typeMaya-class gunboat
Displacement614 long tons (624 t)
Length47.0 m (154.2 ft)
Beam8.2 m (26 ft 11 in)
Draught2.95 m (9 ft 8 in)
Propulsion
  • reciprocating steam engine
  • 2 shafts, 2 boilers
  • 950 hp (710 kW)
Speed11.0 knots (12.7 mph; 20.4 km/h)
Range60 tons coal
Complement104
Armament
  • 1 × 210 mm (8 in) guns
  • 1 × 120 mm (4.7 in) guns
  • 2 × 25 mm (0.98 in) Nordenfelt guns
Service record
Operations:

Chōkai (鳥海) was an iron-hulled, steam gunboat, serving in the early Imperial Japanese Navy.[1] She was the second vessel to be completed in the four vessel Maya class, and was named after Mount Chōkai in between Yamagata and Akita Prefectures.

Background

Chōkai was an iron-hulled, two-masted gunboat with a horizontal double expansion reciprocating steam engine with two cylindrical boilers driving two screws.[2] She also had two masts for a schooner sail rig.

Chōkai was

launched on 20 August 1887. She was completed on 27 December 1888.[3]

Operational history

Chōkai was captained by Lieutenant Commander

Dairen and played a role at the Battle of Weihaiwei. On the night of 5 February, Chōkai participated in a night operation with Atago, 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 Dingyuan and damaging the cruiser Laiyuan. 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.[3] During the Boxer Rebellion, she was assigned to patrol off the Taku Forts.

During the

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

Kobe Harbor. She was subsequently demilitarized and sold for scrap in 1912.[3]

Notes

  1. ISBN 0-87021-893-X
    . page 115
  2. ^ Chesneau, All the World’s Fighting Ships, p. 236.
  3. ^ a b c Nishida, Ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy

References

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_gunboat_Chōkai&oldid=1095072436"