Niitaka-class cruiser

The Niitaka class was the second cruiser class built to a completely Japanese design and was ordered as part of the 2nd Emergency Fleet Replenishment Program, with a budget acquired by the indemnity awarded to Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki ending the First Sino-Japanese War. These small cruisers were intended for high speed reconnaissance. The lead ship Niitaka was built at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, which already had considerable experiencing in building small cruisers. Its sister ship, Tsushima, was built at the new Kure Naval Arsenal, at Kure, Hiroshima and took considerably longer to complete.

File:Tsushima Brassey's.jpg

In terms of design, the Niitaka class was very conservative in layout and similar to, but somewhat larger and the earlier Japanese-designed {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Suma||2}}. The increased displacement, heavier armor and lower center of gravity resulted in a more seaworthy and powerful vessel than Suma, and enabled Tsushima to outclass many other contemporary protected cruisers.Chesneau, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905, page 230

In terms of armament, the Niitaka-class cruisers were not equipped with torpedoes. Observing problems experienced by the United States Navy during the Spanish–American War with torpedo reliability and the dangers of sympathetic detonation, it was decided not to use this weapon on the new cruisers. The main battery was standardized to the QF 6 inch /40 naval gun used on most contemporary Japanese cruisers.

The Niitaka-class cruisers were fitted with 16 Niclausse boilers, a great improvement on the locomotive boilers of Suma.

Two Niitaka-class cruisers were built. Both were lost before the start of World War II.

;{{ship|Japanese cruiser|Niitaka||2}}

Ordered in 1897, launched 15 November 1902, and completed 27 January 1904, Niitaka played a major role in the Russo-Japanese War. During World War I, Niitaka participated at the Battle of Tsingtao and was subsequently assigned to patrol of shipping lanes in Southeast Asia, and in the Indian Ocean from its base at Cape Town. After the war, the ship served during Japan's Siberian Intervention. The cruiser was lost after running aground in a typhoon on 26 August 1923 on the coast of Kamchatka.{{cite web| last = Nishida| first = Hiroshi| url = http://admiral31.world.coocan.jp/e/stc0316.htm| title = Materials of IJN| work = Imperial Japanese Navy| accessdate =22 April 2020}}

File:Japanese cruiser Tsushima.jpg

;{{ship|Japanese cruiser|Tsushima||2}}

Ordered in 1897, launched 15 December 1902, and completed 14 February 1904, Tsushima participated in the closing stages of the Russo-Japanese War. In World War I, Tsushima played an active role in the Battle of Tsingtao and pursuit of the German East Asia Squadron. The ship was subsequently assigned to Cape Town, where the cruiser assisted its sister ship Niitaka in patrol of shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean. The ship subsequently was used in the Siberian Intervention. Tsushima was struck from the navy list in 1936 and expended as a torpedo target in 1944.

{{Reflist}}

• {{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= 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=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/imperialjapanes00janegoog|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=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}}
• {{cite book|last=Tucker|first=Spencer C|title=Encyclopedia of World War I: A Political, Social, And Military History |publisher=ABC-Clio Inc |year=2005|isbn=1-85109-420-2 }}
• {{cite book|last= Warner |first= Dennis & Peggy |title=The Tide at Sunrise; A History of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904–1905|url= https://archive.org/details/tideatsunrisehi00warn |url-access= registration |publisher= Charterhouse |year=1974|isbn= 0-7146-8234-9}}

{{Commons category|Niitaka class protected cruisers}}

• {{cite web| last = Nishida| first = Hiroshi| url = http://admiral31.world.coocan.jp/e/stc0316.htm| title = Materials of IJN| work = Imperial Japanese Navy| accessdate =22 April 2020 }}

{{Niitaka class cruiser}}

{{Russo-JapaneseWarJapaneseShips}}

{{WWI Japanese ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niitaka class cruiser}}

Category:Cruiser classes

Category:World War I cruisers of Japan