Japanese cruiser Yaeyama

nihongo|IJN Yaeyama|八重山 通報艦|Yaeyama tsūhōkan was a protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The name "Yaeyama" comes from the Yaeyama Islands, the southernmost of the three island groups making up current Okinawa prefecture. Due to its small size, it is sometimes classified as a corvette, torpedo boat, or dispatch vessel.

Background

"Yaeyama" was designed under the supervision of French military advisor Emile Bertin, and built in Japan by the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal. With a small displacement, powerful engines, and a 20.75 knot speed, the lightly armed and lightly armored "Yaeyama" was often used for scout and dispatch duties. It was a good example of the "Jeune Ecole" philosophy of naval warfare advocated by Bertin.

ervice record

"Yaeyama" was active in the First Sino-Japanese War, protecting troop transports to Korea, and covering the landing of Japanese forces at Port Arthur.

It later assisted in escorting transports for Japanese ground forces to mainland China during the Boxer Rebellion.

Although removed from active service on 21 March 1898, "Yaeyama" was recalled to duty during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, and participated in the naval Battle of Port Arthur and subsequent blockade of that port. Despite its small size and obsolescence, it was also present at the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the final decisive Battle of Tsushima, were its high speed made it useful to carrying sensitive orders and messages between ships and from ship to shore.

The advent of wireless communication made the use of dispatch vessels obsolete, and "Yaeyama" was scrapped on 1 April 1911.

References

* Dull, Paul S. (1978) "A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy" ISBN 0-85059-295-X
* Evans, David. "Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941". US Naval Institute Press (1979). ISBN 0870211927
*Gardiner, Robert (editor) (2001) "Steam, Steel and Shellfire, The Steam Warship 1815-1905", ISBN 0-7858-1413-2
* 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