| Japanese corvette Musashi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Career |  |
| Name: | Musashi |
| Ordered: | 1883 Fiscal Year |
| Builder: | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan |
| Laid down: | 1 October 1884 |
| Launched: | 30 March 1886 |
| Commissioned: | 9 February 1887 |
| Struck: | 1 April 1928 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1935 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Katsuragi-class corvette |
| Displacement: | 1,476 long tons (1,500 t) |
| Length: | 62.78 m (206 ft 0 in) |
| Beam: | 10.7 m (35 ft 1 in) |
| Draft: | 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in) |
| Propulsion: |
Horizontally-mounted reciprocating engine, 1,622 hp (1,210 kW) 6 boilers, 1 shaft |
| Sail plan: | Barque-rigged sloop |
| Speed: | 13 knots (15 mph; 24 km/h) |
| Range: | 145 tons coal |
| Complement: | 231 |
| Armament: |
• 2 × 170 mm (6.7 in) Krupp breech-loading guns • 5 120 mm (4.7 in) guns • 1 × 80 mm (3.1 in) gun • 4 × 25 mm (0.98 in) quadruple Nordenfelt guns • 2 × 380 mm (15 in) torpedo tubes |
Musashi (武蔵 Masashi) was the third and final vessel in the Katsuragi-class of three wooden-hulled, sail-and-steam corvettes of the early Imperial Japanese Navy. It was named for Musashi province, a former province of Japan located in the Kantō region. The name was used again for the more famous World War II battleship Musashi.
History[]
Musashi was designed as an iron-ribbed, wooden-hulled, three-masted barque-rigged sloop with a coal-fired double expansion reciprocating steam engine with four boilers driving a single screw. Her basic design was based on experience gained in building the Kaimon and the Hiei-class screw sloops, but was already somewhat obsolescent in comparison to contemporary European warships when completed.
Musashi was laid down at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 1 October 1884, launched on 30 March 1886 and commissioned on 9 February 1887.
Musashi saw service in the First Sino-Japanese War, patrolling between Korea, Dairen and Weihaiwei, from her base at the Korean port of Chemulpo. She was assigned to the Western Fleet.
On 21 March 1898, Musashi was re-designated a third-class gunboat, and was used for coastal survey and patrol duties.
During the Russo-Japanese War, Musashi served as a guard ship in Hakodate harbor. On 28 August 1912, she was reclassified a second class coastal patrol vessel, but was used primarily for training duties. On 1 April 1922, she was officially re-designated a survey vessel, and her armament was replaced by two 8-inch guns. Musashi was retired on 1 April 1928, and was broken up for scrap in 1935.
References[]
- Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik (editors), All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905, Conway Maritime Press, 1979 reprinted 2002, ISBN 0-85177-133-5
- Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
External links[]
- Nishida, Hiroshi. "Materials of IJN". Imperial Japanese Navy. http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0615.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
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