Japanese gunboat Banjō

Japanese gunboat Banjō in 1889
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Banjō
Ordered	1877
Builder	Yokosuka Naval Arsenal
Laid down	1 February 1877
Launched	16 July 1878
Commissioned	5 July 1880
Decommissioned	12 July 1907
Stricken	23 May 1911
General characteristics
Type	Gunboat
Displacement	656 long tons (667 t)
Length	47.7 m (156 ft)
Beam	7.7 m (25 ft 3 in)
Draught	3.7 m (12 ft 2 in)
Propulsion	reciprocating steam engine 1 shaft, 4 boilers, 659 hp (491 kW)
Speed	10.0 knots (11.5 mph; 18.5 km/h)
Range	107 tons coal
Complement	112
Armament	1 × 170 mm (7 in) Krupp breech-loading gun 1 × 120 mm (4.7 in) Krupp breech-loading gun 2 × 12-pdr guns 3 × 25 mm (0.98 in) quadruple Nordenfelt guns

Banjō (磐城, Cliff Castle) was a steam gunboat, serving in the early Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship was named after a mountain in Shizuoka prefecture.

Background

Banjō was a three-masted wooden-hulled gunboat with a double-expansion reciprocating steam engine with four rectangular boilers driving one screw. Her design was based on the basic outlines of the foreign-designed Amagi, but Banjō built in Japan at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal and was the fourth vessel to be completed at that shipyard. Her first captain was Lieutenant Commander Tsuboi Kōzō.

Operational history

Banjō saw combat service in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, patrolling between Korea, Dairen and Weihaiwei in a reserve capacity in the IJN 2nd Fleet.

On 21 March 1898, Banjō was re-designated as a second-class gunboat, and was used for coastal survey and patrol duties as well as a fisheries protection vessel.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Banjō assisted in maintaining the Japanese blockade during the Siege of Port Arthur. She was also present as the Battle of Tsushima in a reserve role.

Banjō was removed from the active list on 12 July 1907 and was struck from the navy list on 25 May 1911. She was demilitarized and sold on 23 April 1912 to the Niigata Prefectural Commercial High School in Niigata for use as a training vessel. Her eventual fate is unknown.

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.
• Lengerer, Hans (September 2020). "The 1882 Coup d'État in Korea and the Second Expansion of the Imperial Japanese Navy: A Contribution to the Pre-History of the Chinese-Japanese War 1894–95". Warship International. LVII (3): 185–196. ISSN 0043-0374.
• Lengerer, Hans (December 2020). "The 1884 Coup d'État in Korea — Revision and Acceleration of the Expansion of the IJN: A Contribution to the Pre-History of the Chinese-Japanese War 1894–95". Warship International. LVII (4): 289–302. ISSN 0043-0374.