Japanese cruiser Naniwa

Naniwa in 1887
History
Empire of Japan
Name:	Naniwa
Ordered:	1883 Fiscal Year
Builder:	Armstrong Whitworth, United Kingdom
Laid down:	27 March 1884
Launched:	18 March 1885
Completed:	1 December 1885
Struck:	6 August 1912
Fate:	Wrecked 26 June 1912
General characteristics
Type:	Naniwa-class protected cruiser
Displacement:	3,650 long tons (3,710 t)
Length:	91.4 m (299 ft 10 in)
Beam:	14 m (45 ft 11 in)
Draft:	6.4 m (21 ft 0 in)
Installed power:	7,604 ihp (5,670 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × reciprocating steam engines 6 × boilers 2 × screws; 7,604 hp (5,670 kW)
Speed:	18.5 kn (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph)
Range:	9,000 nmi (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) at 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement:	325
Armament:	2 × 260 mm (10.3 in) L/35 Krupp guns 6 × 150 mm (5.9 in) L/35 Krupp guns 6 × QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss 10 × 1-inch Nordenfelt guns 4 × 11-mm, 10-barrel Nordenfelt guns 4 × 356 mm (14.0 in) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Deck:5–7.5 cm (2.0–3.0 in) Gun shields: 3.7 cm (1.5 in) Conning tower: 3.7 cm (1.5 in)

Naniwa (浪速^?) was the lead ship of the Naniwa-class protected cruisers, built in the Newcastle upon Tyne-based Armstrong Whitworth Elswick shipyard in the United Kingdom. Together with her sister ship, Takachiho, these were the first protected cruisers acquired by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The name Naniwa comes from an ancient name for Osaka, which appears in the Nara period chronicle Nihon Shoki. She played a major role in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95.

The revolutionary design of the "Elswick" protected cruiser, initially developed as a private-venture by Armstrong Whitworth in the mid-1880s, and implemented in the cruiser Esmeralda for the Chilean Navy (subsequently purchased by Japan as Izumi) was of great interest to Japan because of its high speed, powerful armament, armor protection and relatively low cost, especially since the Imperial Japanese Navy lacked the resources at the time to purchase modern pre-dreadnought battleships. Pioneering Japanese naval architect Sasō Sachū requested that Armstrong Whitworth make modifications to the Esmeralda design to customize it for Japanese requirements, and two vessels, Naniwa and Takachiho were ordered under the 1883 fiscal year budget. When completed, Naniwa was considered the most advanced and most powerful cruiser in the world.

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