Japanese cruiser Tokiwa

Colorized photo of Tokiwa at anchor
History
Empire of Japan
Name:	Tokiwa
Awarded:	6 July 1897
Builder:	Armstrong Whitworth, United Kingdom
Laid down:	6 January 1897
Launched:	6 July 1898
Completed:	18 May 1899
Commissioned:	19 May 1899
Decommissioned:	9 August 1945
Struck:	30 November 1945
Fate:	Sunk by air attack, 9 August 1945 Scrapped, 1947
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Asama-class armored cruiser
Displacement:	9,667 t (9,514 long tons)
Length:	134.72 m (442 ft 0 in) (o/a)
Beam:	20.48 m (67 ft 2 in)
Draft:	7.43 m (24 ft 5 in)
Installed power:	18,000 ihp (13,000 kW) 12 Cylindrical boilers
Propulsion:	2 Shafts 2 Vertical triple-expansion steam engines
Speed:	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range:	10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	676
Armament:	2 × twin 20.3 cm/45 Type 41 naval guns 14 × single QF 6-inch guns 12 × single QF 12-pounder 12-cwt guns 8 × single QF 2.5-pounder Yamauchi guns 5 × single 457 mm (18.0 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Waterline belt: 89–178 mm (3.5–7.0 in) Deck: 51 mm (2.0 in) Gun Turret: 160 mm (6.3 in) Barbette: 152 mm (6.0 in) Casemate: 51–152 mm (2.0–6.0 in) Conning tower: 356 mm (14.0 in) Bulkhead: 127 mm (5.0 in)

Tokiwa (常盤^?) was the second and last Asama-class armored cruiser built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s. As Japan lacked the industrial capacity to build such warships herself, the ship was built in Britain. She played minor roles in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and World War I, but was very active during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 where she participated in the Battle of Port Arthur, the Battle off Ulsan, and the Battle of Tsushima. After the war she was sometimes used as a training ship for naval cadets.

Tokiwa was converted into a minelayer in 1922–24. She was placed in reserve in 1927 after she was damaged by an accidental explosion of several mines. The ship was deployed to Northern China in 1932–33 after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. After her refit in 1937, Tokiwa returned to active duty and was assigned to the 4th Fleet in 1939. During the Pacific War, she participated in the occupation of the Gilbert Islands and Rabaul and Kavieng in New Guinea. Damaged by American aircraft shortly afterwards, the ship was forced to return to Japan for repairs. Tokiwa laid minefields during 1944–45 until she was twice damaged by American mines in 1945. After repairs were completed, the ship was badly damaged by American aircraft and her crew was forced to beach her lest she sink shortly before the end of the war. Tokiwa was salvaged in 1947 and subsequently broken up for scrap.