Japanese corvette Hiei (1877)

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History

"Hiei" was designed by Edward James Reed and built at the Milford Haven shipyard at Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales. She arrived in Yokosuka on 22 May 1878 after her shake-down cruise from England, by a British crew, with the future admiral Togo Heihachiro onboard, who had just completed six years of study in Great Britain.

From 8 April 1880 to 17 September 1880, "Hiei" undertook one of Japan's first long distance navigational training voyages, visiting India, Persia and various ports in Southeast Asia. Further training missions, extending into the Mediterranean Sea were undertaken in 1889, 1890, 1891, 1897, and 1899.

With heightened tensions between Japan and Joseon dynasty Korea after the assassination of several members of the Japanese embassy", Hiei" was assigned to patrols of the Korean coast in the summer of 1882.

"Hiei" saw combat service in the first Sino-Japanese war, and was damaged in the battle of the Yalu river.

During the Russo-Japanese War, "Hiei" was based as a guard ship at Maizuru, and was subsequently relocated to Port Arthur after that naval base had fallen to the Japanese.

After the war", Hiei" was assigned to surveying duties until 1 April 1911 when she was stricken from the lists.

References

*Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik (editors), "All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", Conway Maritime Press, 1979 reprinted 2002, ISBN 0-85177-133-5
*Jentsura, Hansgeorg. Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press (1976). ISBN 087021893X

External links

*cite web
last = Nishida
first = Hiroshi
url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0104.htm
title = Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy