Japanese cruiser Tokiwa

. The "Tokiwa" had one of the longest service lives of any ship in the Japanese fleet.

Background

The "Tokiwa" was one of six armored cruisers ordered to overseas shipyards after the First Sino-Japanese War as part of the "Six-Six Program" (six battleships-six cruisers) intended to form the backbone of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Construction of the "Tokiwa" began as a private venture by the British shipbuilder Armstrong Whitworth of Elswick, and the design had to be modified slightly to meet Japanese requirements. It arrived in Yokosuka on 17 July 1899.

ervice record

The "Tokiwa" served an important role in the Russo-Japanese War, as part of the 2nd Squadron of the 2nd Fleet. It was assigned to the force blockading the Russian squadron at Vladivostok, and also participated in the Battle off Ulsan, It was at the crucial Battle of Tsushima where she was damaged by gunfire.

In 1910, after the end of the war, the "Tokiwa" was retrofitted with new coal-fired Belleview boilers.

In World War I, the "Tokiwa" was assigned to the 4th Squadron of the 2nd Fleet, and participated in the occupation of the German port of Tsingtao. It was later assigned to Pacific Ocean patrols against the German navy, as part of the Japanese contribution to the Allied ware effort under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.

The "Tokiwa" was used as an oceanic navigation and officer candidate training ship after the end of World War I, cruising between Japan and Hawaii, California and to Shanghai, Singapore and the Indian Ocean.

The "Tokiwa" was re-designated a 1st-Class Coast Defence Vessel on 30 September 1921.

On 30 September 1922, the "Tokiwa" was converted to a minelayer at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal, with the removal of its 200 mm twin mount gun turrets and its 150 mm secondary batteries. Offensive mine maneuvers by the Japanese Navy began in the Russo-Japanese War, using modified merchant ships; afterwards cruisers captured from Russia were modified and used. The use of the "Tokiwa" as a minelayer gave the Japanese fleet a ship with an unprecedented large capacity. With mine launching tracks topside and on the mid-deck, the "Tokiwa" could deploy over 500 mines at a time.

On 1 August 1927 the "Tokiwa" suffered substantial damage in an accidental explosion in Saiki Bay during which 35 crewmen died and 65 were severely injured, and it was placed in the reserve fleet. In 1937, at the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the "Tokiwa" was retrofitted with eight Kampon boilers and returned to active duty.

In 1940, the "Tokiwa" was assigned to the 19th squadron of the 4th Fleet. Its operational area to mid-1943 was in primarily in the Southwest Pacific (around the Marshall Islands), and it was bombed by the US Navy on 1 February 1943 at Kwajalein Atoll, forcing a return to Sasebo for repairs. As the Pacific War situation deteriorated further for the Japanese, the "Tokiwa" was reassigned to mine laying in Japanese territorial waters.

Ironically, the "Tokiwa" was herself mined in April 1945, and was later severely damaged by a direct bomb hit and four near misses in an air attack on 9 August 1945 at Ominato port, northern Honshū (coord|41.20|N|141.60|E). The ship flooded and had to be beached on the nearby seashore. The wreck was later scrapped after the Pacific War.

Gallery

References

* Evans, David. "Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941". US Naval Institute Press (1979). ISBN 0870211927
* 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