Matsushima-class cruiser

Forming the backbone of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the First Sino–Japanese War, the Matsushima-class cruisers were based on the principles of Jeune Ecole, as promoted by French military advisor and naval architect Louis-Émile Bertin.Roksund, The Jeune École: The Strategy of the Weak; The Japanese government did not have the resources or budget to build a large battleship navy to counter the heavier vessels of the Imperial Chinese Beiyang Fleet; instead, Japan adopted the radical theory of using smaller, faster warships, with light armor and small caliber long-range guns, coupled with a massive single main weapon. The design eventually proved impractical, as the recoil from the huge cannon was too much for vessels of such small displacement, and reloading time on the cannon was impractically long; however, the Matsushima-class cruisers served their purpose well against the poorly equipped and poorly led Imperial Chinese Beiyang Fleet.{{cite book|last=Evans|first=David C.|author2=Peattie, Mark R.|author2-link=Mark Peattie|title=Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, MD|year=1997|isbn=0-87021-192-7}}

There were originally plans to build a fourth vessel in this class, and its cancellation due to concerns over the design was one of the factors that led to Bertin's resignation and return to France.

The Matsushima-class vessels had steel hulls with 94 frames constructed of mild steel, and a double bottom, divided into waterproof compartments, with the area between the bulkheads and armor filled with copra. The bow was reinforced with a naval ram. The vital equipment, including boilers and ammunition magazines, were protected by hardened steel armor, as were the gun shields. The main armament consisted of one breech-loading {{Convert|320|mm|in|1|adj=on}} Canet gun mounted in the bow of the ship (or in the stern in the case of Matsushima), which could fire {{Convert|450|kg|lb|adj=on}} armor-piercing or {{Convert|350|kg|lb|adj=on}} explosive shells at an effective range of {{Convert|8000|m|yd}}. The maximum rate of fire was two rounds per hour, and the ship carried 60 rounds. Secondary armament consisted of QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I–IV Armstrong guns, with a maximum range of {{Convert|9000|m|yd}} and maximum rate of fire of 12 rounds/minute. Ten were mounted on the gun deck, five to each side, with the 11th gun located on the upper deck of the fantail on Itsukushima and Hashidate, whereas Matsushima has a 12th gun on the fantail. Each gun was equipped with 120 rounds. Tertiary protection was by QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss mounted in sponsons on the upper deck, with a maximum range of {{Convert|6000|m|yd}} and rate of fire of 20 rounds/minute. Each gun had 300 rounds. In addition, QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss were mounted at various locations, with range of {{Convert|2200|m|yd}}, rate of fire of 32 rounds/minute, and 800 rounds per gun. Each ship in the class also had four 356-mm torpedo tubes, three in the bow and one in the stern, with a total of 20 torpedoes carried on board.Chesneau, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905.{{cite web |url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNRussian_47-45_m1892.htm |title= Japanese 12.6"/38 (32 cm) Canet |date=2006-03-16 | work=navweaps.com }}

File:IJN_MATSUSHIMA.jpg

Propulsion was by two triple expansion steam engines with six boilers, driving two shafts at a rated power of {{convert|5400|hp|abbr=on}}. Theoretical speed was {{convert|16.5|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}, which was seldom realistic in actual service.

;{{ship|Japanese cruiser| Itsukushima||2}} (厳島)

Built by the Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée naval shipyards in France; launched on 18 July 1889; completed on 3 September 1891. Struck on 12 March 1926 and scrapped.Jentsura, Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy;

;{{ship|Japanese cruiser| Matsushima ||2}} (松島)

Built by the Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée naval shipyards in France; launched on 22 January 1890; completed on 5 April 1892. Matsushima differed from her two sister ships in that the Canet gun was mounted abaft the superstructure, rather than forward. Sunk on 30 April 1908 after an accidental explosion while at anchor in the Pescadores islands off Taiwan, with the loss of 207 of her 350 crewmembers.

;{{ship|Japanese cruiser| Hashidate ||2}} (橋立)

The only ship of the class built in Japan, by the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal; launched on 24 March 1891; completed on 26 June 1894. Struck on 1 April 1922 and scrapped in 1927.

All three ships of the Matsushima class were completed just prior to the start of the First Sino-Japanese War, and saw combat in the Battle of the Yalu River and the subsequent Battle of Weihaiwei.

During the Russo-Japanese War the three ships of the Matsushima class, by then hopelessly obsolete, were assigned to the 5th squadron of the reserve IJN 3rd Fleet, together with the equally outdated ironclad battleship {{ship|Japanese battleship|Chin'en||2}}, under the command of Admiral Shichiro Kataoka. All were present at the blockade of Port Arthur, the Battle of the Yellow Sea, and the final Battle of Tsushima. Later assigned to the IJN 4th Fleet, all were part of the flotilla that provided protection for the Japanese invasion of Sakhalin.

• {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Akitsushima}} – originally planned as the fourth Matsushima-class cruiser, but eventually built to a different design

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last= Chesneau |first= Roger|title= Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. |publisher= Conway Maritime Press |year=1979|isbn=0-85177-133-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Evans|first=David C.|author2=Peattie, Mark R.|author2-link=Mark Peattie|title=Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, MD|year=1997|isbn=0-87021-192-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Howarth|first=Stephen|title=The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945|publisher=Atheneum|year=1983|isbn=0-689-11402-8}}
• {{cite book|last=Jane|first=Fred T.|title=The Imperial Japanese Navy|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030895795|publisher=Thacker, Spink & Co|year=1904}}
• {{cite book|last=Jentsura|first=Hansgeorg|title=Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, MD|year=1976|isbn=0-87021-893-X}}
• {{cite book|last= Roberts |first= John (ed). |title='Warships of the world from 1860 to 1905 - Volume 2: United States, Japan and Russia |publisher= Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz |year=1983|isbn=3-7637-5403-2}}
• {{cite book|last= Roksund |first= Arne |title=The Jeune École: The Strategy of the Weak|publisher= Brill |location= Leiden |year=2007|isbn=978-90-04-15723-1}}
• {{cite book|last=Schencking|first=J. Charles|title=Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=2005|isbn=0-8047-4977-9}}

{{Commons category|Matsushima class protected cruisers}}

• {{cite web| last = Nishida| first = Hiroshi| url = http://admiral31.world.coocan.jp/e/stc0303.htm| title = Materials of IJN| work = Imperial Japanese Navy| access-date =17 February 2020 }}
• [http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNSpain_126-35_m1884.htm The Canet gun]

{{Matsushima class cruiser}}

{{Russo-JapaneseWarJapaneseShips}}

{{WWI Japanese ships}}

Category:Naval ships of Japan

Category:First Sino-Japanese War cruisers of Japan

Category:Russo-Japanese War cruisers of Japan