Japanese cruiser Izumi

The nihongo|IJN Izumi|和泉巡洋艦|Izumi Junyokan was a 2nd class protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built by the Newcastle upon Tyne-based Armstrong Whitworth shipyards at Elswick in Great Britain. Its name is also sometimes (archaically) transliterated as "Iduzmi", and refers to an ancient province of Japan, now part of Osaka-fu.

Background

The "Izumi" was originally built for the Chilean Navy as the "Esmeralda" and purchased by the Imperial Japanese Navy on 15 November 1894 as part of Japan's Emergency Fleet Replenishment Program during the First Sino-Japanese War.

ervice life

Soon after arrival at Yokusuka in Japan, on 5 February 1895, the "Izumi" was placed into service patrolling the sea lanes between Japan and Pusan, and between Japan and Taiwan.

After the First Sino-Japanese War, the "Izumi" was reclassified as a 3rd class protected cruiser on 31 March 1898. It helped support Japanese forces landing in China during the Boxer Rebellion by escorting troops and supplies.

The "Izumi" served again during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, but for the most part it was assigned to rear-line duties, due largely to its inadequate armor. Based out of Tsushima, Nagasaki, the "Izumi" was assigned to patrol the sea lanes between Japan and Korea. However, it was present as part of the Japanese 3rd Fleet at the final crucial Battle of Tsushima.

The cruiser "Izumi" should not be confused with the Russo-Japanese War period transport, "Izumi-maru", which was sunk by the Vladivostok-based Russian cruiser "Gromoboi" on 12 June 1904.

The "Izumi" was scrapped on 1 April 1912. Its figurehead Imperial crest is preserved in the museum at the memorial battleship "Mikasa".

References

* Evans, David. "Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941". US Naval Institute Press (1979). ISBN 0870211927
* 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