Japanese cruiser Naniwa

 was the lead ship of her class of two protected cruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the 1880s. As Japan lacked the industrial capacity to construct such vessels, the ship was designed and built in the United Kingdom. She participated in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, playing a major role in the Battle of the Yalu River and lesser roles in the Battles of Port Arthur, Weihaiwei, the Pescadores Campaign and the invasion of Taiwan. "Naniwa" played a minor role in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 where she participated in the Battle of Chemulpo Bay, briefly helped to blockade Port Arthur at the beginning of the war, helped to sink a Russian armored cruiser during Battle off Ulsan and participated in the climatic defeat of the Imperial Russian Navy in the Battle of Tsushima.
Design and description.
The "Naniwa"-class cruisers were designed by Armstrong Mitchell's chief naval architect, William White, as improved versions of the pioneering Chilean protected cruiser (later purchased by the IJN and renamed "Izumi") and the Royal Navy's equivalent ships. When completed, "Naniwa" and her sister ship, "Takachiho", were considered the most advanced and most powerful cruisers in the world. The cruisers displaced at normal load. The ships had a length between perpendiculars of and an overall length of , a beam of and a draft of at deep load. The cruisers were fitted with a plough-shaped naval ram of mild steel below the waterline and had a partial double bottom extending between the forward and aft magazines. They were powered by a pair of horizontal, two-cylinder double-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft using steam produced by six cylindrical boilers. The engines were designed to produce a total of with forced draught to give the ships a maximum speed of . During her speed trials, "Naniwa" reached a speed of from . The "Naniwa"-class cruisers carried enough coal to gave them a range of about at a speed of . The ship's crew consisted of 338 officers and men.
The main armament of the "Naniwa"-class ships initially consisted of two single Krupp cannon on pivot mounts in barbettes fore and aft of the superstructure. Each barbette was fitted with a fixed loading station in its rear and the guns had to return to this position to reload. The secondary armament was initially six Krupp cannon on pivot mounts in semi-circular sponsons on the main deck, three guns on each broadside. All of these guns were protected against the weather by gun shields. Defense against torpedo boats was provided by two quick-firing (QF) 6-pounder () Nordenfelt guns on the forward bridge, ten Nordenfelt guns positioned the length of the superstructure and four 10-barrel, Nordenfelt organ guns mounted in the fighting tops of the military masts. In addition, there were four above-water tubes in the hull for Schwartzkopff torpedos, two on each broadside.
"Naniwa"s armament frequently changed over her career and the first such was the replacement of her slow-firing 15-centimeter guns with Armstrong's QF guns in 1896 after the First Sino-Japanese War. At the same time four of the 1-inch Nordenfelt guns were replaced by four 3-pounders. The fighting tops and the 10-barrel organ guns were removed in 1898 and the main guns were replaced by a pair of Armstrong 6-inch guns in 1900. At the same time the 6-pounders and the remaining Nordenfelt guns were exchanged for more 3-pounders, giving the ship a total of ten 3-pounders and a pair of lighter Yamauchi QF 2.5-pounder (47-millimeter) guns.
The protection of the "Esmeralda" had been much criticized by the British Admiralty and White raised the height of the steel protective deck to a foot (30.5 centimeters) above the waterline. The sloped portion of the deck extended to a depth of below the waterline. Amidships, the highly-subdivided compartments formed by the sloped portion of the protective deck were filled with coal and the fore and aft areas were fitted with cofferdams to limit any flooding. The walls of the conning tower were three inches thick and the loading station was protected by two inches of steel armor.
Construction and career.
"Naniwa" was ordered from Armstrong Mitchell on 22 March 1884. The ship was laid down at the company's Low Walker shipyard in Newcastle upon Tyne on 27 March as yard number 475 and launched on 18 March 1885. She was completed on 15 February 1886 and departed for Japan on 28 March with a Japanese crew under the command of Captain Itō Sukeyuki, the first warship purchased overseas to be brought to Japan with an entirely Japanese crew.
"Naniwa" arrived at Shinagawa, Tokyo, on 26 June and was assigned to the Standing Fleet in July as a second-class warship. The ship and her sister "Takachiho" hosted Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken, on 26 November as the ships conducted torpedo-firing exercises. "Naniwa" transported Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi, the Army Minister, Major General Ōyama Iwao, the Navy Minister, Lieutenant General Saigō Jūdō, and the Justice Minister from Yokohama to Kobe on 1 December and then to Pusan, Kingdom of Korea, before returning to Yokohama on 13 December. In early 1887 the sisters transported the Emperor and Empress from Yokohama to Kyoto and back again and then participated in the fleet maneuvers from 22 August to 5 September. Two months later they circumnavigated the Home Islands together with four other ships. On 17 June 1888 "Naniwa" became the flagship of the Standing Fleet and the sisters cruised to Okinawa, Taiwan, Wonsan, Korea, and Chifu, China later that year. The cruiser hosted the Emperor as he observed the launching of the protected cruiser in the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 15 October. By 1889, "Naniwa" was assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District. Together with her sister, she visited ports in the Russian Far East, Korea and China while also participating in fleet maneuvers in the last half of the year.
After taking part in the April 1890 Great Maneuvers with the Imperial Japanese Army, the cruiser was reviewed by the Emperor and then cruised off the eastern coast of Korea and visited Vladivostok in the Russian Far East in June and July. On 23 August "Naniwa" and "Takachiho" were reclassified as first-class warships. On 2 February 1892, the sisters departed Shinagawa to cruise to Hong Kong before participating in the annual Great Maneuvers later that year. "Naniwa" steamed to Honolulu, Hawaii, in early 1893 to protect Japanese citizens and interests during the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by American marines and colonists and returned home in May. The cruiser arrived back in Honolulu in December. Marines from "Naniwa" and the Royal Navy's cruiser were asked to land to defend their respective citizens during the "Black Week" hysteria of December 1893–January 1894, when the Provisional Government of Hawaii feared invasion by the United States to restore the legitimate government. During the confusion created by the revolution, a Japanese who had been convicted of murder escaped from prison in Honolulu, and sought refuge on "Naniwa". Captain Tōgō Heihachirō's refusal to hand the convict over to authorities from the Provisional Government nearly caused a diplomatic incident between Japan and the United States. "Naniwa" arrived back in Japan on 15 April and became the flagship of Rear Admiral Tsuboi Kōzō, commander of the First Flying Squadron, on 19 July.
First Sino-Japanese War.
Prior to the official declaration of war in First Sino-Japanese War, and under the command of Captain (later Fleet Admiral) Tōgō Heihachirō, "Naniwa" sank the British transport ship "Kowshing" during the Battle of Pungdo. "Kowshing" was working under contract for the Imperial Chinese Beiyang Fleet ferrying Chinese reinforcements towards Korea. The sinking caused a diplomatic incident between Japan and Great Britain, but it was recognized by British jurists as being in conformity with international law of the time.
Later in the First Sino-Japanese War, "Naniwa" was in combat during the critical Battle of the Yalu River, where as part of Admiral Itō Sukeyuki's "flying squadron" including , and , she assisted in sinking the Imperial Beiyang Fleet cruisers and . During the battle, "Naniwa" took a hit from a 210 mm shell, which did virtually no damage.
"Naniwa" was subsequently used in patrols of the Bay of Bohai and in operations off of Port Arthur. During the Battle of Weihaiwei, she bombarded the coastal forts guarding the Beiyang Fleet navy base.
"Naniwa" was among the Japanese fleet units that took part in the invasion of Taiwan in 1895, and saw action on 3 June and 13 October 1895, during the respective bombardments of the Chinese coastal forts at Keelung and Takow (Kaohsiung). Her captain at the time was future admiral Kataoka Shichirō.
Interwar years.
"Naniwa" was again sent to Hawaii in a show of force from 20 April – 26 September 1897, when the new Republic of Hawaii banned Japanese immigration and anti-Japanese sentiment appeared to endanger the Japanese population.
"Naniwa" was re-designated as a 2nd-class cruiser on 21 March 1898, and was based in Taiwan, partly as a counterpoint to the build-up of American forces in Asia during the Spanish–American War. From 1898 to 1900, her role was primarily to patrol the sea lanes between Taipei and Manila. She was subsequently assigned to help cover the landings of Japanese forces in China during the Boxer Rebellion at the end of 1900.
Around 1900–1901, her main battery and secondary battery of Krupp guns was replaced with smaller Elswick QF 6-inch /40 naval guns for stability, and for standardization of ammunition with other ships of the Japanese Navy.
Russo-Japanese War.
During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, "Naniwa" was based at Tsushima, and participated in the Battle of Chemulpo Bay, against the forward deployed units of the Imperial Russian Navy in Korea. On 10 March 1904, "Takachiho" and "Naniwa" assisted in the blockade of the Russian Pacific Squadron within the confines of Port Arthur and subsequent naval Battle of Port Arthur. During the Battle off Ulsan, "Naniwa" assisted in the sinking of the Russian cruiser , and in the rescue of her survivors.
"Naniwa" was subsequently assigned to the Fourth Division of the Combined Fleet, where she served as the flagship for Rear Admiral Uryū Sotokichi during the crucial Battle of Tsushima, where she took damage on both days of the battle.
Final years and loss.
After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, "Naniwa" was assigned to patrol of the northern seas around Hokkaidō. On 26 June 1912, while on a surveying mission mapping the coastline of the Kurile Islands, she ran aground on the coast of Urup at . Efforts to refloat her were abandoned on 12 July 1912. 
'Naniwa' Stuck rock Broton Island "Naniwa" was officially struck from the navy list on 6 August 1912.