Japanese cruiser Tsugaru

For other ships with the same name, see Japanese ship Tsugaru.

Tsugaru in 1918
History
Japan
Name	Tsugaru
Namesake	Tsugaru Strait
Ordered	1895 Fiscal Year
Builder	Admiralty Shipyard, Russia
Laid down	1 December 1895
Launched	26 August 1899
Completed	2 November 1901
Acquired	by Japan as prize of war, 1905
Commissioned	22 August 1908
Stricken	1 April 1922
Fate	Scuttled, 27 May 1924
General characteristics
Type	Protected cruiser
Displacement	6,731 long tons (6,839 t) standard 6,932 long tons (7,043 t) full load
Length	126 m (413 ft 5 in) w/l
Beam	16.8 m (55 ft 1 in)
Draught	6.4 m (21 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	2 shaft reciprocating VTE engines; 24 boilers; 11,610 hp (8,660 kW)
Speed	20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Range	3,700 nmi (6,900 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)
Complement	514
Armament	8 × 152 mm (6 in) guns 12 × 80 mm (3.1 in) guns 3 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes
Armour	Deck: 50–62 mm (2.0–2.4 in) Conning tower: 150 mm (5.9 in)

Tsugaru (津軽) was a protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, acquired as a prize of war during the Russo-Japanese War from the Imperial Russian Navy, where it was originally known as Pallada. The cruisers Aurora and Diana were its sister ships.

Background

Pallada was built by the Admiralty Shipyard in St Petersburg, Russia for the Imperial Russian Navy. As the lead ship of the Template:Sclass-, it was one of the most modern cruisers in the Russian navy when assigned to the Russian Far East squadron based at Port Arthur, Manchuria.

With the start of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, Pallada was trapped at Port Arthur, and subsequently sunk by Japanese artillery during the Siege of Port Arthur on 8 December 1904.

Service record

For the record of Pallada prior to being captured by Japan, see Russian cruiser Pallada (1899).

After the capture of Port Arthur by the Japanese, the wreck of Pallada was raised, repaired, and commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy as the second-class cruiser Tsugaru on 22 August 1908. Her new name came from the Tsugaru Strait between Honshū and Hokkaidō.

After commissioning into the Japanese navy, Tsugaru was used almost exclusively for training duties, especially for mechanical systems training, and rarely left Japanese home waters.

On 1 April 1920, Tsugaru was re-classified as a minelayer with 300 mines. She was removed from the active list on 1 April 1922, and scuttled with explosive charges in the Pacific Ocean off Yokosuka, Japan, on 27 May 1924.

The cruiser Tsugaru should not be confused with the Pacific War era minelayer of the same name.

Gallery

• 
  Russian cruiser Poltava, mislabelled Pallada sunk in Port Arthur
• 
  Tsugaru in 1912
• 
  Tsugaru in 1914

References

• Evans, David. Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press (1979). ISBN 0-87021-192-7
• Howarth, Stephen. The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum; (1983) ISBN 0-689-11402-8
• Jane, Fred T. The Imperial Japanese Navy. Thacker, Spink & Co (1904) ASIN: B00085LCZ4
• Jentsura, Hansgeorg. Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press (1976). ISBN 0-87021-893-X
• Schencking, J. Charles. Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press (2005). ISBN 0-8047-4977-9