Chinese cruiser Ping Hai

The Ping Hai was a light cruiser in the Chinese fleet before World War II and the second ship of the Ning Hai class cruiser. It was laid down in China to the specifications supplied by the Japanese, and Japanese advisors were hired to oversee the construction. Compared to its sister ship Ning Hai, it had a lower-output powerplant and lacked seaplane facilities. Its anti-aircraft armament was also different from that of its sister.

The progress of its construction was affected by the Mukden Incident (18 September 1931) and the January 28 Incident (28 January – 3 March 1932). Disruption of parts supply and non-cooperation of Japanese advisors delayed its launch date from the originally planned 10 October 1933 to 28 September 1935. Blocked delivery of originally-specified anti-aircraft weapons meant that equivalent replacements of those weapons had to be bought via Germany. When it was completed in 1936, official outbreak of war was barely a year away.

Service record
Ping Hai served as the flagship of the Republic of China Navy since April 1937.

As one of the most powerful surface combatants within the ROCN, Ping Hai was subjected to aerial attacks by the Imperial Japanese Navy since the Battle of Shanghai, but it was not until September 23, during the Japanese assault on the Kiangyin Fortress (which guarded the segment of Yangtze River near Nanking), for Ping Hai to finally succumb with its sistership to airstrikes launched from both carrier Kaga and airfields around occupied Shanghai.

It was then re-floated by the Japanese in 1938 as sunken ships would not be as badly corroded by river water as they would be by sea water. Originally it was to be transferred to the Collaborationist navy under Wang Jing-Wei, but the Japanese elected to seize it instead and outfitted it first as a barracks hulk and ultimately as escort ship Yasoshima on 10 June 1944.

Yasoshima
Yasoshima Second-Class Cruiser (八十島 二等巡洋艦) was an escort ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the second ship of its class.

Service record
It was originally built in China as the cruiser Ping Hai, which was the Republic of China Navy's flagship until it was sunk on September 23, 1937, by Japanese navy aircraft launched from both carrier Kaga and airfields around occupied Shanghai. Also going down on the same day was its Japanese-built sister ship Ning Hai.

In 1938 the Japanese refloated the two ships and agreed to transfer them to the Collaborationist Chinese navy under Wang Jing-Wei; but instead, the Japanese seized them and had Ping Hai towed to Sasebo, where it was outfitted first as a barracks hulk Mishima (見島), and on June 10, 1944 as Yasoshima. It was re-rated first as a coastal defense ship and then as an escort vessel. It lost all cruiser armaments but received radar sets as well as standard Japanese dual-purpose and anti-aircraft weapons.

Yasoshima was deployed for combat operations on September 25, 1944, participating in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and escorting troop convoys. Aircraft from the Ticonderoga caught it with heavy cruiser Kumano and sank them both on November 25, 1944.