Japanese cruiser Chitose

. It should not be confused with the later aircraft carrier "Chitose". Its name comes from Chitose, Hokkaidō.

Design and development

The "Chitose" was designed and built in San Francisco in the United States by the Union Iron Works, with specifications very similar to that of the . It was intended for naval support and supply operations.

ervice

Its launch was filmed by Thomas Edison. It was christened by May Budd, niece of California governor James Budd, with a bottle of California wine. Gladys Sullivan, niece of San Francisco mayor James Phelan, pressed the button that sent the ship down the slipway. To symbolize the peace-keeping role of the warship 100 doves were released as it was launched. Japanese Consul General Segawa explained in a speech at the following luncheon that "Chitose" meant "a thousand years of peace" in Japanese, and that he hoped that the ship would fulfill that wish.

The "Chitose" arrived at Yokosuka on 30 April 1898, and was thus commissioned too late to see service during the First Sino-Japanese War. However, it was active in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 as a component of the Japanese 1st Fleet in the Siege of Port Arthur, and it saw combat in the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the final decisive Battle of Tsushima.

From 1 April 1907 to 16 November 1907, the "Chitose" made a round-the-world voyage, first stopping in the United States to attend the 300th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Jamestown Settlement, and continuing onwards to Europe.

During World War I, the "Chitose" was assigned to the Japanese 2nd Fleet, and participated in the Battle of Tsingtao against the Imperial German Navy. Later in the war, it was assigned to patrol the sea lanes between Singapore and Borneo, as part of Japan's contribution to the Allied war effort under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.

Downgraded to a "Second Class Coastal Defense Vessel" on 1 September 1921, the "Chitose" was deemed obsolete on 1 April 1928 and removed from the active list. It was scuttled on 19 July 1931 off Kochi, Shikoku.

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

External links

* [http://www.sfmuseum.org/loc/chitose.html Library of Congress site with video of launching of the Chitose]