Nihhon Kaigun: Protected Cruiser (1883) Commissioned 1894-1912IJN Izumi (和泉) was purchased in 1894 as the Sino-Japanese war just broke up, to Chile, and through a murky transfer using Ecuador as a middleman. This was the former Chilean cruiser Esmeralda already well active for ten years in the Chilean Navy but also as the world’s first protected cruiser. She was the first with a “turtledeck” protecting vital areas below the waterline and first export from the Armstrong Mitchell Co. at Elswick, laid down in 1881. In Japanese service she only saw the tail end of the war but was still around for the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War, seeing the Battle of Tsushima. In 1912, she was stricken, but used for secondary roles during WWI and sold for BU in 1920.
IJN Izumi at Kure, March 1905. Colorized by Irootoko Jr.
Development
Izumi was the ex-armoured cruiser Esmeralda. The latter was ordered by Chile in 1880 in replacement alongside the later cancelled unprotected cruiser Artuto Prat, started earlier at the Armstrong Elswick Yard. The cruiser was worled famous when launched in 1883 and abundantly marketed by the company by 1884 as the “best cruiser in the world” and taunter even as a better warship than ironclads. The most prominent aspect in the design was its protective deck created by naval architect George Wightwick Rendel, famous for his armoured gunboats. He worked already for Chile, creating an innovative heavy guns, fast unprotected cruiser laid down on 10 February 1879, famous for having a pair of 254 mm or 10 inch guns fore and aft for 16.5 knots. Arturo Prat was built at Newcastle upon Tyne on principles borrowed from French naval engineer Emile Bertin and the French Jene Ecole at large, later to be also hugely influential on the Japarnse Navy as well at the eve from 1881 to the eve of the 1st Sino-Japanese war. The success of Esmeralda, and the press campaign that went with it, not only shok up the USA into spurring the “new navy” after the acquisition of ironclads by Brazil at the same time, but despite criticism from the Royal Navy which developed its own brand of cruisers, the company was flooded with exports which made its fortune…
The previous cruiser IJN Tuskushi, also ex-Chilean (Arturo Prat). Colorized by Irootoko Jr.
The Esmeralda had been reassessed then and now by historians. It was not the perfect ship presented to the press. Yes, she had a high freeboard, was very fast for the time at 18 knots, heavy guns and still a potent secondary artillery, looked very modern by its absence of rigging, and sported this innovative turle deck protection, starting below the waterline and rising up to the middle of the ship above waterline level, seconded by coal-filled compartments. Still, her guns were just too large and not usable in realistic conditions for the missions of a cruiser, either escorting or attacking trade, they lacked conning protection, lacked range, and had a fatal flaw in the coal bunker arrangement. The Royal Navy stuck to its own brand of cruisers and Amstrong itself renounced to such heavy guns and swapped to a more reasonable caliber of 8.2 inches (210 mm).
Esmeralda in 1884
Esmeralda in Chilean hands still proved useful especially in the 1891 civil war opposing the Congress and Presidential Factions, mostly used for interceptions and shoer bombardments, she proved vital in the battles of Iquique and Concón, helping the Congressional faction to win the war. When tensions rose in the south with Argentina a new arms race emerged however by long-standing border disputes along the Andes and mutual distrust. Chile recoignized that the Esmeralda’s design had passed its prime and looked to acquire new warships, and to finance them, decided, after planning for a time a full modernization, to sell the ship to Japan, then just at war with China since July (see below). She then started her new career as IJN Izumi.
Design of the class
Hull and general design
Izumi was made in all Schneider steel, mixing hard and mild steel, and ended as a large ship, 270 feet (82 m) between perpendiculars, with the waterline, with a straight stem and ram bow, clipper style rounded poop. She had a beam of 42 feet (13 m), mean draft of 18 feet 6 inches (5.6 m), displacement of 2,950 long tons (3,000 t). She had two pole masts, reduced rig for signals. She had two funnels with the bridge behind them and a conning tower, had its two main guns fore and aft in unprotected barbette, and six secondary guns on sponsons under shields, plus bulwarks over a flush deck hull. She had a crew of 296 and carried two whalers, one barge, one pinnace, one yawl and one steam cutter all under davits usable for landing parties. She received upgrades in Japanese service: Her aft mast was topped by an extra topmast, sporting a gaff and cables for, critically, installation of a wireless telegraphy set before the 1904-1905 war. On some online sources it was a Type 36 spark-gap transmitter.
Powerplant
Izumi when purchased in 1894 was “in her juice”. Her powerplant remained unchanged, and had been likely overhauled before purchased, as her boilers were worn out due to the lackof proper maintenance in the war of 1891. She had two horizontal compound steam engines (HC) from R. and W. Hawthorn, driving two 4-bladed bronze propellers, fed by four double-ended fire-tube boilers. These engines were in separate compartments for survivability. On sea trials in 1884 she was rated for 6,803 indicated horsepower (5,070 kW) and a max top speed of 18.3 knots (34 km/h; 21 mph), 18.2 knots max in service when loaded. Izumi also carried carried 400 long tons (410 t) of coal in normal conditions, 600 long tons (610 t) in side compartments in wartime. She likely carried that quantity during the trip to Japan. Her endurance is unknown. During her 1899 and 1901 refits she had her boilers were modernized, to a Niclausse small tube type.
Brassey’s left elevation plan of Izumi in 1902. Note her 11 internal compartments. By then she had 6-in and 4.7-in guns and a proper bridge.
Protection
Protection included an arched protective deck below the waterline on the sides, a bit above in the middle, with slopes, and running from bow to stern. It was 1 inch (25 mm) thick over the machinery, down to .5 inches (13 mm) near both ends. In addition she carried secondary gun shields 2 inches (51 mm) thick and had a conning tower forward with 1-inch armor, efficient against small arms and shrapnel.
She also had side compartments filled by coal and other permanently filled by cork along the waterline to limit flooding and increase buoyancy in the case of shell penetration. However the coal compartments were not compartimented and could be flooded rapidly in case of a hit. In Japanese service her main guns were protected by new gun shields for her new 8 inches guns replacing her 10 inches. By the way she was extensively modernized for her superstructures as well, however it is not known if she had her conning tower increased but it was likely plastered with sandbags in the 1905 war.
Armament
Izumi in 1894 kept her original armament of two 10-inch (254 mm)/30 in single barbettes fore and aft six 6-inch (152 mm)/26 caliber guns in Vavasseur central pivot mountings on sponsons, shielded plus two 6-pounder guns on the bridge wings, also shielded, and five 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolving cannons in elevated positions. She had provision for torpedo tubes, never puchased or installed.
-In her 1899 refit and overhaul her 6-in/30 were removed as her five Hotchkiss 47mm/30, and two 11.4mm/94 MGs. She was rearmed with six modern 4.7-in(120mm)/40 Armstrong T, two 57mm/40 6pdr Hotchkiss Mk I, and six 47mm/40 3pdr Hotchkiss Mk I.
-In 1902 in her second refit, she saw the removal of her two large 10-in(254mm)/30 replaced by two 152mm/40 Armstrong Z. They shared little with the secondary guns despite being of the same caliber.
QF 6-inch (152mm)/40 Armstrong Z
The main guns were pattern Z. The Elswick export designation for guns sold to Italy and Japan was Pattern Z and Pattern Z1 respectively. The gun was later renamed “Type 41” (41st year of the reign of Emperor Meiji, 25 December 1908). They fired an armour piercing, high explosive or general purpose warhead. The Japanese version was tailored, a slightly modified version of the Elswick Ordnance Company QF pattern 6-inch.
Gun weight was 5.8 to 6.6 tons (6.0 to 6.8 mt) for a bore Length of 240 in (6.096 m). Rate Of Fire was 5-7 rounds per minute. On Gunlayers Test it was 12 rounds per minute but in Battle Practice fell to 4 rounds per minute (measured at Tsushima). This was still an immense progress compared to the 10-inches which fired a round every two minutes.
They fired a Common Mod 1: 100 lbs. (45.4 kg) or Common Type 0 HE: 100 lbs. (45.4 kg) and later the Common Type 3 IS 1a: 100 lbs. (45.4 kg).
The bursting charge ranged between 6.8 lbs. (3.1 kg) for the HE and 11.4 lbs. (5.2 kg) for the common charge Mod 1.
Muzzle velocity was 2,300 fps (701 mps).
At 15° elevation the shell took 27.32 seconds to cross 10,134 meters (11,000 yds) and landed at a terminal velocity of 278.94 m/s at an angle of 27.48° according to the 40-cal. 15-cm No. 2 gun (EOC Pattern Z).
At 20° degrees the range was about 10,000 yards (9,140 m). The Pedestal Mounts Weighted 5.8 to 6.6 tons (5.9 to 6.7 mt).
QF 4.7-inch (120mm)/40 Armstrong T
Calibre: 4.724 inches (120 mm). Barrel Length: 189 inches (4.8 m) or 40 cal. Mass (Barrel & Breech): 4,592 lbs (2,083 kg).
Breech Mechanism: Single-motion interrupted screwRecoil System: 12 inches (305 mm) on Mark I.
Muzzle Velocity:1,786 feet per second (544 m/s) with black gunpowde, 2,150 feet per second (660 m/s) with Cordite smokeless propellant
Maximum Firing Range: 10,000 yards (9,100 m) at a 20° elevation, 12,000 yards (11,000 m) at a 24°.
Rate of Fire: 5 to 6 rounds per minute under typical battle conditions
Ammunition Specs: Shell Weight: 45 pounds (20.41 kg). Projectile Types: Separate-loading quick-firing ammunition, including Armour-Piercing (AP), Shrapnel, Common Lyddite, Common Pointed, and High Explosive (HE) variations.
QF 6 pdr (57mm)/40 Hotchkiss Mark I
Calibre: 2.244 in (57 mm). Barrel Length: 40 calibres (L/40). Shell Type: Fixed QF 57x441mmR. Weight: Approximately 8 cwt (hundredweight / 406 kg for the barrel/gun assembly).
QF 3 pdr (47mm)/40 Hotchkiss Mark I
Caliber: 47 mm (1.85 inches). Barrel Length: 40 calibers (1.88 m / 5 ft 11 in). Gun Weight: 528 lb (240 kg). Shell Weight: Approx. 3.3 lb (1.5 kg). Muzzle Velocity: 1,870 ft/s (571 m/s). Rate of Fire: 20 to 30 rounds per minute. Maximum Range: 4,000 to 5,900 yards depending on elevation mount. Both 6 and 3 pdr were produced under Hotchkiss licence in Britain by Elswick.
⚙ specifications (1894) |
|
| Displacement | 2,950 long tons (2,997 t) |
| Dimensions | 270 x 42 x 18 ft 6 in (82 x 13 x 6 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 shaft Compound Steam engines, 4 double-ended fire-tube boilers 6,803 ihp (5,073 kW) |
| Speed | 18.3 knots (33.9 km/h; 21.1 mph) |
| Range | 600 tons coal |
| Armament | 2× 6 in/40 Z, 6× 6 in/40 T, 2× 6 pdr, 6× 3pdr |
| Protection | 1 in (25 mm) deck armor, 1 in CT, 0.3 in gun shields. See notes |
| Crew | c290 |
Career of Izumi (1894-1912)
Izumi at Nagasaki between 1895 and 1901. She had wartime grey livery. AI colored below (src Facebook).
Esmeralda was laid down on 5 April 1881 in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, launched on 6 June 1883, completed on 15 July 1884 and she departed for home on 16 October 1884. By April 1885 she showed the flag in Panama, and took part later in the 1891 Chilean Civil War, supporting the victorious Congressionalist rebellion over the Presidential-led faction. By April 1891 she escorted the Congressionalist cargo ship Itata later loaded with rifles but interned (“Itata affair”) and at some point at risk of engaging USS Charleston (1888). She covered the Congressionalist troops at Quintero Bay near Valparaíso and shelled Presidential ground forces at the Battle of Concón as the forts of Viña del Mar. After the Chilean Civil War, the Navy considered modernizing her by March 1894 but engaged in a new naval arms race with Argentina, eventiually decided instead to sell her to Japan and get the funds to purchase new ships aboard.
Japan was just engaged since July in a war with China. The 1st Sino-Japanese war started in May with the religiously inspired Tonghak Peasant Rebellion which broke out in Korea. King Gojong requested military aid from China’s Qing government but Japan viewed the deployment of Chinese troops as a casus belli, a violation of previous conventions and swiftly dispatching 8,000 of its own soldiers to Korea. On 23 July Japanese forces occupied Seoul, took King Gojong captive, installed a pro-Japanese puppet government. On 25 July, Japanese cruisers ambushed a Chinese convoy at the Battle of Pungdo, officially kicking off the war before a formal declaration was made on 1 August. So Japan welcomed any new addition to its fleet. On paper indeed, the Chinese Navy was way superior (see the battle of Yalu). The Beiyang Fleet itself almost dwarved the IJN, which at the time lacked battleships, only featuring armoured, protected and nprotected cruisers and gunboats. A commission investigated any potential sale and trhough a broker, obtained an agreement for the sale of Esmeralda from Chile possibly this summer, to be purchased for ¥3.3 million.
Izumi in kobe 1900-1901 still with her 10 in guns, and prewar white livery.
However according to international rules, Chile declared its neurality in this war between japan and China and could not sell the cruiser directly. So instead a scheme was setup, using a middleman, via the Ecuadorian government, and President Luis Cordero Crespo, through a broker, Charles Ranlett Flint’s (Flint & Co.). Before being Japanese, she ship was purchased officially by Ecuador. There was a formal commissioning, and later off the Galapagos she was secretely handed over to Japanese sailors. This became after the fact the “Esmeralda Affair”, the entire secret arrangement contributed to the fall of president Cordero and a revolution in Ecuador. In any case, the cruiser was named after the Izumi province. The whole schemetook time however. In between the cruiser was still not commissioned for the Battle of the Yalu River in September 1894. Later Port Arthur (Lüshunkou) and Weihaiwei were seized and the war ended with the Treaty of Shimonoseki on 17 April 1895. It’s only in January 1895 she departed and arrived in February. By that stage the war was practically over. She likely covered troop convoys in and out of Japan and Korea until peace was signed. Her name was transliterated also as “Idzumo”, modern “Izumo,” and earlier “Izumi”.
However she took part actively in the post-war invasion of Formosa (Taiwan) later that year. She then returned tyo Japan and trained, had likely an overhaul, and it was clear she needed a modernization. So in 1899, she had in the first phase her secondary armament removed and replaced by six quick-firing 4.7-inch guns. Her fighting tops were also removed and the mast beck to their initial pole form to improve stability. In 1901 she had he much more exhaustive refit: Her massive 10-inch guns were removed (likey ended in coastal batteries) and instead she received new quick-firing 6-inch guns, protected by shields. All this time she remained active as part of the standing naval squadron. ONI called her exercizes “by far the most comprehensive” ever conducted by Japan with the majority of the Japanese Navy. Izumi was assigned to a green water blocking squadron, facing a blue water attacking fleet. At some point in 1903 or 1904 she also received a wireless telegraphy system.
Then by 1904, tensions grew again in Korea with the far east expansion of Russia. Tensions were already building up when Russia was attributed what became Port Arthur, considerably fortified.
She was deployed on a patrol line south of Dalian Bay after IJN Akashi struck a mine and returned to Japan for a refit and at her return she was deployed in the formation barring the way of the reinforcement Russian fleet (Baltic) in which became the Battle of Tsushima. Izumi was one of four cruisers of the 6th Division (Rear Admiral Tōgō Masamichi), 3rd Squadron (Vice Admiral Kataoka Shichirō).
Izumi at Sasebo in 1909
Her pre-battle assignment as to support a line of auxiliary cruisers in the Tsushima Strait, tasked with spotting the Russian fleet in advance in oprder to the battle line to form and engage the right way. The historian Julian Corbett later decribed it as “ill-covered”. Izumi was even herself 8–9 miles (13–14 km) out of position on 27 May 1905 and this was esaecerbated by erroneous signals and spotting reports radioed by Shinano Maru at 4:45 am. Around 6:30/6:40 am she made visual contact, and was even the first IJN warship in sight. Her skipper immediately corrected the wrong position and sent it in clear to the squadron. She then shadowed them for several hours and correctly identied the flagship as an Izumrud class cruiser. She reported their bearing all the way to HQ (Mikasa), and warned off an army hospital ship and troop transport in the area so that they could take refuge and avoid destruction or capture.
At some point the battle commenced, and she manoeuvered to avoid heavy fire at 1:50 pm, cutting off two of the Russian reaguard and kehelping to capture hospital ships, turned later into auxiliary cruisers. She was informed Togo had successfuly ‘crossed the T’ of the Russian fleet. Izumi and her division were scattered and eventually caught in proximity to battleships as they turned, Izumi managing to escape with minimal damage, save by the battleships of the Second Squadron. However she fired ony a few shots, if any in this battle. With her division she was deployed afterwards to escort and cover the invasion of Sakhalin. With the war over in September 1905, the pressed dubbed her as “obsolete” and she started a seocnd carrer in auxiliary roles. She was reported in February 1906 to have been modified with accomodations to carry the former Prime Minister of Japan and first Japanese Resident-General of Korea Itō Hirobumi in this new province. Her whereabouts are unclear though. On 1 April 1912, she was decommissioned and struck from the list, then sold for scrapping in Yokosuka for ¥90,975, possibly in 1914 ot even 1920.
Izumi in 1908, after the Russo-Japanese war.
Read More/Src
Books
“The Elswick Cruisers: Part I, The Early Types.” Warship International 7, no. 2 (30 June 1970): 154–176.
Warships for Export: Armstrong Warships, 1867–1927. Gravesend, UK: World Ship Society, 1999.
Corbett, Julian S. Maritime Operations in the Russo–Japanese War, 1904–1905. Volume 2. NIP
Grant, Jonathan A. Rulers, Guns, and Money: The Global Arms Trade in the Age of Imperialism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007.
Hichborn, Philip (1889). “Sheathed or Unsheathed Ships?”. Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute 15 (1889).
Jentschura, Hansgeorg, Dieter Jung, and Peter Mickel. Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Translated by Antony Preston and J.D. Brown. NIP
Lyon, Hugh. “Chile.” In Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1860–1905, edited by Robert Gardiner, Roger Chesneau, and Eugene Kolesnik, 410–415. NIP
Office of Naval Intelligence. General Information Series: Information from Abroad. 21 vols. General Information Series. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1883–1902.
Milanovich, Kathrin. “Naniwa and Takachiho: Elswick-built Protected Cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy”. Warship 200 Antony Preston 2014.
Perrett, J.R. “Some Notes on Warships; Designed and Constructed by Sir W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth, & Co., Ltd.” Mechanical Engineer 34, no. 867 1914
Pleshakov, Constantine. The Tsar’s Last Armada: The Epic Journey to the Battle of Tsushima. New York: Basic Books, 2008.
Rodger, Nicholas A. M. “The First Light Cruisers.” The Mariner’s Mirror 65, no. 3 (1979): 209–230.
Schencking, J. Charles. Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868–1922. Stanford, CA, US: Stanford University Press, 2005.
Sondhaus, Lawrence. Naval Warfare, 1815–1914. London: Routledge, 2001.
Van Duzer, L.S. “Naval Progress in 1895.” The United Service 15, no. 2 (February 1896), 167–184.
Vio Valdivieso, Horacio. Reseña historica de los nombres de las unidades de la armada de Chile [Historical review of the names of the units of the Chilean Navy]. Santiago: Imprenta Chile, 1933.
Links
nytimes.com 1894 speculations sales esmeralda
nytimes.com 1894
en.wikipedia.org
navypedia.org/ idzumi.htm
blog.livedoor.jp/irootoko_jr IJN cruisers gallery
Range tables for Pattern Z as used by Japan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_6-inch_naval_gun
https://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNJAP_6-40_EOC.php
Videos
Dr Alex video on esmeralda
Crucero Esmeralda y la Crisis de Panamá 1885