Japanese cruiser Tatsuta (1918)

Tatsuta in August 1919
History
Empire of Japan
Name:	Tatsuta
Namesake:	Tatsuta River
Ordered:	1915 Fiscal Year
Builder:	Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Japan
Laid down:	24 July 1917
Launched:	29 May 1918
Commissioned:	31 May 1919
Out of service:	13 March 1944
Struck:	10 May 1944
Fate:	Sunk by USS Sand Lance NNE of Hachijōjima
General characteristics
Class and type:	Tenryū-class cruiser
Displacement:	3,948 long tons (4,011 t) standard 4,350 long tons (4,420 t) full load
Length:	142.9 m (468 ft 10 in) o/a
Beam:	12.3 m (40 ft 4 in)
Draught:	4 m (13 ft 1 in)
Propulsion:	3 shaft Brown Curtiss geared turbine engines 10 Kampon boilers 51,000 shp (38,000 kW) 920 tons oil, 150 tons coal
Speed:	33 knots (38 mph; 61 km/h)
Range:	5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement:	327
Armament:	4 × 14 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns 1 × 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval guns 2 × Type 93 13 mm AA machine guns 6 × 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes 3x2
Armour:	Belt: 63 mm (2 in) Deck: 25 mm (1 in) Conning tower: 51 mm (2 in)

Tatsuta (龍田^?) was the second ship in the two ship Tenryū class of light cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). She was named after the Tatsuta River in Nara Prefecture, Japan.

The Tenryū class was designed to act as flagships for destroyer flotillas. The design represented an intermediate class between the light cruiser and the destroyer, which had few counterparts in other navies of the time, although it was inspired by a similar concept to the Royal Navy's Arethusa and C-class cruisers. The IJN and Japanese shipbuilding industry were still closely associated with that of the British because of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, and were able to improve on that experience.

The Tenryū-class vessels were essentially enlarged destroyers, similar in many aspects to the Kagerō class. With improvements in oil-fired turbine engine technology and the use of Brown Curtiss geared turbine engines, the Tenryū class had more than twice the horsepower of the previous Chikuma class, and were capable of the high speed of 33 knots (61 km/h), which was deemed necessary in their role as flagships for destroyer squadrons. However, by the time of their completion, newer Japanese destroyers, such as the Minekaze class had a design speed of 39 knots, and newer American cruisers, such as the Omaha class also exceeded it in firepower.