Japanese ironclad Kongō

	Kongō at anchor
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Kongō
Namesake	Mount Kongō
Ordered	24 September 1875
Builder	Earle's Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Hull, England
Laid down	24 September 1875?
Launched	17 April 1877
Completed	January 1878
Reclassified	1887 as training ship; 21 March 1898 as 3rd-class coast defense ship; 1906 as survey ship;
Stricken	20 July 1909
Fate	Sold for scrap, 20 May 1910
General characteristics
Class and type	ironclad corvette
Displacement	2,248 long tons (2,284 t)
Length	220 ft (67.1 m)
Beam	41 ft (12.5 m)
Draft	19 ft (5.8 m)
Installed power	6 cylindrical boilers ; 2,450 kW);
Propulsion	1 shaft, 1 HRCR steam engine
Sail plan	Barque rigged
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Range	3,100 nmi (5,700 km; 3,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	234
Armament	3 × 172 mm (6.8 in) Krupp guns; 6 × 152 mm (6 in) Krupp guns; 2 × short 75 mm (3 in) guns;
Armor	Belt: 3–4.5 in (76–114 mm)

Kongō (金剛, Kongō) was the

survey ship in 1906 and was sold for scrap

in 1910.

Design and description

During the brief Japanese

Edward Reed,^[1]

The contract for Kongō was awarded to Earle's Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. in Hull, England on 24 September 1875 for the price of £120,750, exclusive of armament. The vessel was named for Mount Kongō.^[3]

Kongō was 220 feet (67.1 m) long between perpendiculars and had a beam of 41 feet (12.5 m).^[4] She had a forward draft of 18 feet (5.5 m) and drew 19 feet (5.8 m) aft. The ship displaced 2,248 long tons (2,284 t) and had a crew of 22 officers and 212 enlisted men. Her hull was of composite construction with an iron framework planked with wood.^[5]

Propulsion

Kongō had a single two-cylinder double-expansion

kW) to give the Kongō-class ironclads a speed of 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph).^[6] During her sea trials on 7 December 1877, the ship reached a maximum speed of 13.73 knots (25.43 km/h; 15.80 mph) from 2,450 ihp (1,830 kW), enough to earn the builder a bonus of £300.^[7] She carried enough coal to steam 3,100 nautical miles (5,700 km; 3,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).^[4] The ironclad was barque-rigged and had a sail area of 14,036 square feet (1,304 m²).^[5] The ship was reboilered at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in 1889; the new boilers proved to be less powerful during sea trials, with Kongō reaching a maximum speed of 12.46 knots (23.08 km/h; 14.34 mph) from 2,028 ihp (1,512 kW).^[8] Her topmasts were removed in 1895.^[9]

Armament and armor

Kongō was fitted with three 172-millimeter (6.8 in) Krupp rifled breech-loading (RBL) guns and six RBL 152-millimeter (6 in) Krupp guns. All of the 172-millimeter guns were positioned as chase guns, two forward and one aft. The 152-millimeter guns were mounted on the broadside. The ship also carried two short 75-millimeter (3 in) guns for use ashore or mounted on the ships' boats.^[10]

During the 1880s, the armament of the ship was reinforced with the addition of four quadruple-barreled 25-millimeter (1 in) Nordenfelt and two quintuple-barreled 11-millimeter (0.4 in) Nordenfelt machine guns for defense against torpedo boats. Around the same time she also received two 356-millimeter (14 in) torpedo tubes for Schwartzkopff torpedoes. The anti-torpedo boat armament was again reinforced in 1897 by the addition of a pair of 2.5-pounder Hotchkiss guns. After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, Kongō's armament was reduced to six ex-Russian 12-pounder guns and six 2.5-pounders.^[10]

The Kongō-class corvettes had a wrought-iron armor waterline belt 4.5 inches (114 mm) thick amidships that tapered to 3 inches (76 mm) at the ends of the ship.^[5]

History

Japanese sources universally give the date for Kongō's

Meiji Emperor and many senior government officials. The ship was opened for tours by the nobility, their families and invited guests for three days after the ceremony. On 14 July, the general public was allowed to tour the ship for a week.^[12]

Kongō hosted the

Crown Prince Constantine. Making stops at Alexandria, Port Said, Aden, Colombo, Singapore and Hong Kong, the sister ships arrived at Shinagawa on 10 May where Kongō resumed her training duties.^[15]

Kongō began another cadet cruise on 24 September 1892 and visited

Hawaiian Revolution of 1893. Though playing no part in the affair, she remained there to protect Japanese interests until relieved by the cruiser Naniwa^[16] and reached home on 22 April. Kongō began another cadet cruise on 19 April 1894, but on arrival at Honolulu, transferred her cadets to the cruiser Takachiho on 16 June and relieved Takachiho as the patrol ship. Kongō's tenure there was brief as she was recalled home on 5 July due to rising tensions ahead of the First Sino-Japanese War. She did not participate in the Battle of the Yalu River in September, but was present during the Battle of Weihaiwei in January–February 1895.^[17]

After the war, Kongō and Hiei alternated annual cadet training cruises, with Kongō making the 1896 cruise to China and Southeast Asia from 11 April to 16 September. The Kongō's stop in Manila during that cruise coincided with the start of an uprising against Spanish rule in the Philippines. The captain of the ship was approached by the leaders of the rebellion in an attempt to buy arms from Japan, but ultimately no deal was made.^[18]

In 1898 the Kongō cruised to Australia from 17 March to 16 September.

Navy List on 20 July 1909 and sold on 20 May 1910 for scrap.^[20]

Notes

^ ^a ^b Lengerer, Pt. I, pp. 40–42
^ Evans & Peattie, pp. 13–14
^ Silverstone, p. 333
^ ^a ^b Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 13
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lengerer, Pt. III, p. 50
^ Lengerer, Pt. II, p. 42
^ Lengerer, Pt. I, pp. 47–48
^ Lengerer, Pt. II, p. 43
^ Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 220
^ ^a ^b Lengerer, Pt. II, p. 39
^ Lengerer, Pt. I, pp. 43, 47
^ Lengerer, Pt. I, pp. 49, 51–52
^ Lengerer, Pt. III, p. 46
^ Dixon, p. 430
^ ^a ^b ^c Lengerer, Pt. III, p. 47
^ Wakukawa, pp. 61–65
^ Lengerer, Pt. III, pp. 47–48
^ Hirama, Yoichi (1994). "The Philippine Independence War (1896-98) and Japan" (PDF). XX International Colloquium of Military History Warsaw Poland: 197–199. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
^ ^a ^b Lacroix & Wells, p. 654
^ ^a ^b Lengerer, Pt. III, p. 48

References

Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press.
ISBN 0-8317-0302-4
.

OCLC 224684938
.

Evans, David & Peattie, Mark R. (1997). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887–1941. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 0-87021-192-7
.

Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter; Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute.
ISBN 0-87021-893-X
.

Lacroix, Eric & Wells, Linton (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 0-87021-311-3
.

Lengerer, Hans (September 2020). "The 1882 Coup d'État in Korea and the Second Expansion of the Imperial Japanese Navy: A Contribution to the Pre-History of the Chinese-Japanese War 1894–95". Warship International. LVII (3): 185–196.
ISSN 0043-0374
.

Lengerer, Hans (December 2020). "The 1884 Coup d'État in Korea — Revision and Acceleration of the Expansion of the IJN: A Contribution to the Pre-History of the Chinese-Japanese War 1894–95". Warship International. LVII (4): 289–302.
ISSN 0043-0374
.

Lengerer, Hans (September 2006). Ahlberg, Lars (ed.). "The IJN's First Warship Order to a Foreign Country: Armoured Frigate Fusô and Belted Corvettes Kongô and Hiei – Part I". Contributions to the History of Imperial Japanese Warships (Paper I): 40–53.(subscription required)(contact the editor at [email protected] for subscription information)
Lengerer, Hans (March 2007). Ahlberg, Lars (ed.). "The IJN's First Warship Order to a Foreign Country: Armoured Frigate Fusô and Belted Corvettes Kongô and Hiei – Part II". Contributions to the History of Imperial Japanese Warships (Paper II): 31–43.(subscription required)
Lengerer, Hans (September 2007). Ahlberg, Lars (ed.). "The IJN's First Warship Order to a Foreign Country: Armoured Frigate Fusô and Belted Corvettes Kongô and Hiei – Part III". Contributions to the History of Imperial Japanese Warships (Paper III): 45–54.(subscription required)
Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books.
ISBN 0-88254-979-0
.

Wakukawa, Ernest Katsumi (1938). A History of the Japanese People in Hawaii. Honolulu, Hawaii: Toyo shoin.
OCLC 13601801
.

[Lengerer,_Pt._I,_pp._40–42-1] Lengerer, Pt. I, pp. 40–42

[2] Evans & Peattie, pp. 13–14

[3] Silverstone, p. 333

[j7-4] Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 13

[l50-5] Lengerer, Pt. III, p. 50

[6] Lengerer, Pt. II, p. 42

[7] Lengerer, Pt. I, pp. 47–48

[8] Lengerer, Pt. II, p. 43

[9] Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 220

[l39-10] Lengerer, Pt. II, p. 39

[11] Lengerer, Pt. I, pp. 43, 47

[12] Lengerer, Pt. I, pp. 49, 51–52

[13] Lengerer, Pt. III, p. 46

[14] Dixon, p. 430

[l7-15] Lengerer, Pt. III, p. 47

[16] Wakukawa, pp. 61–65

[17] Lengerer, Pt. III, pp. 47–48

[18] Hirama, Yoichi (1994). "The Philippine Independence War (1896-98) and Japan" (PDF). XX International Colloquium of Military History Warsaw Poland: 197–199. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2020.

[lw-19] Lacroix & Wells, p. 654

[l48-20] Lengerer, Pt. III, p. 48

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v t e Major Japanese naval combatants of the First Sino-Japanese War
Protected cruisers	Matsushima (flagship) Itsukushima Hashidate Naniwa Takachiho Yaeyama Akitsushima Yoshino Chiyoda Takao Tsukushi
Armored corvettes	Hiei Kongō Yamato Katsuragi Musashi Kaimon Tenryū Amagi
Ironclad warship	Fusō
Gunboats	Maya Chōkai Atago Akagi Banjō Ōshima