The Imperial Japanese Navy

by Fred T. Jane

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
The Battleship Chin Yen (photograph)	[Frontispiece]
Map of Japan	[ 3]
The Tsukuba	[20]
The Fuji Yama	[23]
The Adsuma	[27]
Japanese Officers in 1866	[30]
The Moisshin	[31]
The Asama	[33]
Battle of Hakodate (from a Japanese print)	[37]
The Seiki	[41]
Japanese Fleet at Manœuvres (photograph)	[45]
The Chin Yen at Evolutions (photograph)	[51]
The Tsukushi (photograph)	[55]
The Esmeralda (now Idzumi) (plan)	[58]
The Naniwa (photograph)	[61]
The Naniwa (plan)	[63]
The Sai Yen (photograph and plan)	[65]
The Fuso at Sea (photograph)	[69]
The Takao (photograph)	[73]
The Unebi	[75]
The Tschichima	[79]
The Hashidate (photograph)	[83]
The Matsushima (photograph)	[83]
The Hei Yen (photograph)	[87]
The Chiyoda (photograph)	[89]
The Chiyoda (plan)	[91]
The Akitsushima (photograph)	[93]
The Akitsushima (plan)	[95]
The Yoshino (plan)	[96]
The Yoshino (photograph)	[97]
The Tatsuta (plan)	[100]
The Japanese Fleet in line abreast off Chemulpo
during the War	[107]
Admiral Ito (photograph)	[117]
A Japanese Picture of Yalu	[133]
Sinking of the King Yuen
(sketch by a Japanese Officer)	[137]
Plans of Battle of Yalu	[121], [125], [129], [141]
The Chen Yuen after Action	[145]
Map of Wei-hai-wei	[157]
Celebrating Surrender of Chinese Fleet
at Naval Club, Tokio	[161]
Japanese Fleet bombarding Wei-hai-wei	[165]
The Suma (photograph)	[169]
The Fuji (plan)	[173]
The Yoshima (plan)	[173]
The Fuji (photograph)	[175]
The Shikishima (plan)	[177]
The Hatsuse (photograph)	[179]
The Mikasa (plan)	[183]
The Mikasa (photograph)	[187]
The Idzumo (photograph)	[193]
The Asama (plan)	[196]
The Yakumo (photograph)	[197]
The Azuma (plan)	[200]
The Nisshin (photograph)	[201]
The Kasuga (plan)	[204]
The Nisshin (plan)	[204]
The Kasuga (photograph)	[205]
The Kasagi (photograph)	[209]
The Takasago (plan)	[211]
The Niitaka (plan)	[212]
The Chihaya (plan)	[214]
The Miyako (plan)	[214]
The First Japanese Torpedo Boat	[216]
The Kashima (plan)	[221]
Yokosuka (map)	[235]
Sassebo (map)	[238]
Sassebo Naval Club (photograph)	[239]
Maitzuru (map)	[241]
Takeshiki (map)	[244]
Kobé Harbour (photograph)	[247]
Admiral Gombey (photograph)	[253]
Japanese Flags	[274]
The Shikishima entering Portsmouth Dockyard	[287]
“At Home” on board the Kasagi	[291]
Schneider-Canet Gun 24-cm.
for Coast Service (photograph)	[312]
12-in. Guns of the Mikasa (plan)	[314]
Canet Guns 24-cm. for Coast Service (photograph)	[315]
Vickers 6-in. Gun (plan)	[318]
Vickers 6-in. Gun (photograph)	[319]
Canet 27-cm. Gun (photograph)	[323]
Elswick Submerged Tube (plan)	[326]
Canet 15-cm. Gun (photograph)	[327]
Elswick Submerged Tube (photograph)	[331]
Belleville Boiler	[333]
Niclausse Boiler	[335]
The Variag	[341]
Admiral Togo	[344]

THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY

I
EARLY HISTORY

The earliest Japanese history, like that of all other nations, is a mass of myths and legends. But out of this one solid fact has been evolved: the Japanese were a race who invaded the island kingdom by way of Korea, much as the Saxons and other Teutonic tribes invaded Britain. They therefore used the sea at a very early period of their history.

They found aboriginal tribes when they came, and of these the Ainu still exist in the north, a race as distinct as our Celts in the north of Scotland. The immigrant race are always spoken of and accepted as Mongolians, though in Japanese legend the invaders had, as in similar Western myths, a divine origin. Incidentally, it is interesting to note that a Japanese, with kindred tastes to those Western savants who have found the cradle of the human race in Lapland or in Central Africa, has built a theory by which ancient Egypt was the early home of the Japanese. To support this theory numerous small similarities were brought forward; but it does not seem to have made headway in Japan, or to be known in the Western world. It is, as regards plausibility, about on a par with the Anglo-Israelite theory that had once quite a vogue in this country, and is by no means without disciples to-day.

Whence they came, however, is a matter of no moment here. Japanese national history begins with the expedition led by the Emperor Jimmu, at a date which a loose chronology fixes at 660 b.c. This is the earliest over-sea operation unconnected with deities and myths.

Jimmu, who, according to the legends, was the grandson of the Sea Deity’s daughter, led an expedition eastward from Mount Takachiho, and eventually found himself on the shores of the Inland Sea, and here built a fleet, by means of which he reached Naniwa (Osaka), and consolidated the empire.

For the next seven or eight centuries the nation was forming; but beyond a legend, suggestive of the story of Jonah, nothing is heard of ships or boats till 202 a.d., when the Empress Jingo equipped a great fleet for the invasion of Korea. As an early instance of the use of “sea-power,” this expedition has laid great hold on Japanese imagination; but since the transportation of the flagship by legions of fishes, with which the Empress has made an alliance, is the central point of the story, its nautical details can hardly be seriously considered. What is of more moment is the undoubted fact that the expedition took place, that it was a complete success for Japan, and laid the foundations of that Japanese interest in Korea which is to-day so potent a factor in the Far Eastern problem.

MAP OF JAPAN.

Korea paid tribute without question for some three hundred years. About the year 520, however, the Emperor Keitai Tenno collected a fleet, and conducted some operations against the Koreans that served to tighten Japan’s hold on her over-sea possessions. From this time onward for the next two or three hundred years Japan grew as a trading nation, and intercourse with both Korea and China became common. As in those days every merchant ship became a warship when required, Japan must have ranked as a considerable naval power.

As for the ships, these may have been either mere boats or small coasting junks, probably differing very little from the boats and junks of the present day.

About the year 650 Japanese garrisons were driven out of Korea by hostile tribes, assisted by the Chinese, and with the expelled Japanese came many Koreans, an immigration that continued for some considerable period.

In the middle of the ninth century the Samaurii, or military caste, whose descendants to-day provide the bulk of naval officers, first began to arise. The Shoguns, afterwards to become such a power, were originally generals, there being one in command of each of the four military districts into which the Emperor Sujin had divided Japan. A Shogun with any special powers did not arise till the year 1200 or so, when Yoshinaka made himself Sei-i-Shogun (Chief Shogun).

As he was driven to suicide soon afterwards in the civil war then desolating the empire, the post did not convey any great advantage to him; but Yaritomo whose troops had defeated him, became after a time Sei-i-tai-Shogun (great barbarian compelling Shogun). This civil war—between the Taira and the Minamoto clans—culminated in a naval battle. The former are credited with 500 junks, which, in addition to the soldiers, were crowded with women and children and the fugitive emperor. At Dan-no-ura, on the Inland Sea, these were overtaken by the Minamoto with 700 vessels, and the smaller fleet was annihilated. This decisive action ended the civil war, but it created the system of Shogun rule, whereby all the governing of the country was in the hands of Yoritomo, the Emperor being a mere figure-head and puppet in his hands.

The descendants of Yaritomo, as Shoguns de jure, did not exercise much power de facto, for regents (the Hojo) acted for them. In time, too, tutors came to act for the regents, and under this condition of government, plunged into a species of anarchy, Japan faced the great Chinese invasion of 1281.

Having resolved on the capture of Japan, the Chinese sent envoys demanding its surrender. These, after being sent from pillar to post in a search for the real governing power, were eventually killed by the populace. The Chinese then prepared a fleet of 300 of their own and Korean ships, added the Japanese sun to the consuming dragon on the Chinese flag, and invaded to consummate the capture. On the water they encountered no opposition, but on landing they were met and defeated by the Japanese, united in the presence of a common danger. A great storm at the same time destroyed the hostile fleet, and the invasion was at an end.

It was followed by more internal strife, till in 1333 the Hojo were finally put down. Shortly afterwards the chief power came into the hands of the Shoguns.

Despite the civil warfare, Japan still made headway as a maritime State. Trade and piracy were conducted not only with Korea and China, but Japanese vessels sailed regularly to the distant shores of Siam.

In 1542 the Portuguese first came into touch with Japan. Three cannon were presented to the Shogun, and a little later Pinto arrived on the scene, and taught the manufacture of gunpowder. Jesuits followed, and made such headway that in the next civil war the Christian Japanese, to the number of 600,000 or more, were a strong political factor.

In 1587 Hideyoshi the Taikio, the de facto ruler of Japan, issued an edict against the Christians, many missionaries were expelled, and the ports open to foreign vessels were finally limited to one only, Nagasaki, as at that time the suspicion first began that soldiers would presently follow the missionaries.

About the same period Hideyoshi, who had designs upon China and Korea, began to prepare warships. He also endeavoured to create a fleet of European-built ships, but the traders whom he approached on the matter refused to sell their vessels. He had, therefore, to content himself with a junk navy, which was raised much as fleets were raised in England at the same period, by levies upon the coast districts. The princes of these districts were required to furnish sailors to man the ships that they provided.

The invasion of Korea was carried out by two divisions, the first of which, under Konishi, reached Fusan on April 13, 1592. The town, which had for some two hundred years been used as a Japanese trading port, was easily captured, and the army then marched to the capital. The fleet lay inactive at Fusan for some time, but Konishi, in the midst of a victorious career on land, presently conceived the idea of using his fleet also. It was, therefore, sent round to the westward, where it met a Korean fleet.

The Koreans, whose ships were constructionally superior, made out to sea, and the Japanese following, sustained a defeat that caused them to retire to Fusan again.

After this Chinese troops appeared in large numbers, and, though the invaders won a few battles, they were checked, and compelled to fall back.

Peace negotiations were opened in 1596, but these fell through, and in 1597 130,000 fresh Japanese troops were sent to Korea.

In the latter part of this same year the Korean fleet attempted to signally defeated by the Japanese vessels. Most of the attacking fleet were destroyed. No headway was, however, made by the Japanese land force, and in 1598 the expedition withdrew.

In the year 1600 William Adams, an Englishman, reached Japan, and, though for a time imprisoned at the instigation of the Jesuits, he eventually gained liberty and consideration from Ieyasu, the Shogun. He built for the Shogun, first a small 18-tonner, and then, in 1609, a ship of 120 tons. In this ship some Spaniards who had been wrecked on the east coast of Japan were sent to Acapulco. They appear to have navigated themselves, and the vessel was kept, but a much larger ship was sent to the Shogun as a present in return for his kindness.

In 1611, owing to Adams’s partiality for the Dutch, these secured from the Shogun permission to trade with any port in the country. A little later the British East India Company secured the same advantages, but, owing to the outbreak of war between England and Holland, a good deal of isolated fighting took place between the traders, till it ended in the withdrawal or destruction of the English.

In 1614 the Japanese ruler began to be thoroughly alarmed at the progress of Christianity, and the expected advent of Portuguese soldiers to take possession of the land. All foreign Christians were ordered to leave the country, all native ones to renounce their creed. In 1616 the majority of Christians who still held to their faith were disposed of by the same means that in Europe were used to ensure conversion to Christianity.

In 1637 a revolution broke out amongst some of the Samaurai, or soldier class, who had been compelled to become farmers. Such Christians as had survived the massacres joined these.

After some defeats, the rebels were shut up in a large deserted castle at Hara, where 160,000 men besieged them. A tremendous defence was made, and the besiegers, failing to make much headway, applied for and secured aid from the Dutch factory at Hivado. Guns were lent, and finally a Dutch warship, the de Ryp, 20 guns, bombarded the castle from the bay, without, however, effecting its reduction. Eventually the castle was taken, and practically the whole garrison executed.

In 1640 the rivalry between the Dutch and Portuguese, of which the Dutch assistance against the rebellious Jesuit converts was probably an incident, came to a head. It ended in the expulsion of the Portuguese, and the establishment of the Dutch at Nagasaki as the sole Western nation having dealings with Japan.

Here for two hundred years the Dutch traded unmolested. The civil commotion quieted down, and with her seclusion from the outside world Japan entered upon an era of domestic peace. There were no more great civil wars, and, save for the conflicts of the Samaurai against each other, the nation grew ignorant of the art of war.

As these Samaurai were the ancestors of modern Japanese naval officers, some account of their methods of training may be worthy of study, for to them it is undoubtedly due that Japan exists as one of the great Powers to-day. Otherwise she would assuredly have sunk to the Chinese level of an ultra-high civilisation in which courage has no place, and in which the military profession is lower than the meanest civil calling. From all this the Samaurai saved Japan.

The country was then under a feudal system. The Emperor, the nominal head of the State, was a mere figure-head, too sacred to concern himself with mundane affairs—a condition of mind which generations of clever tutelage at the hands of various Shoguns had produced. More often than not the Shogun’s rule was of a similar nature, a regent being the real head of the State. Under the Shogun or his regent were the governors of provinces; under these the great feudal lords, each of whom maintained his Samaurai, or fighting men. The soldier-ant is the nearest natural equivalent to these Samaurai, who only very partially resembled our knights of the Middle Ages. Below the Samaurai, and cordially despised by them, were the lower classes, engaged in trade and agriculture. The exact social equivalent of the Samaurai in our society system does not exist, but probably the old “squireens,” a now almost extinct class of small country gentry, would most nearly occupy the same social status. The Samaurai might be richer or poorer than the working class, but in all cases they cordially despised them, and were in turn respected or feared.

These Samaurai lived in a constant state of killing and being killed. If one of them left his house, he took his life in his hand from that moment. Duels were frequent, murders common, and the fearful form of suicide known as hari-kari was performed by them without a shudder at the slightest hint of an insult that could not be avenged. Vendettas, too, were everlasting, so that altogether the Samaurai were by heredity inured to a callous disregard of life and suffering. In all their crimes and vices they cultivated the grand Spartan virtues, and Japan will yet, perhaps, reap the benefit of those centuries of training.

II
THE OPENING OF JAPAN

The knowledge of the Dutch hold upon Japan inspired other nations with a desire to secure similar benefits. Russia, in particular, strove to secure a footing, but all her attempts were unavailing. British and Americans met with a like fate; there was no Government that would deal with them, the law of isolation had gone forth, and isolated Japan remained. So greatly, too, did the nation esteem its state, that a law long existed whereby the building of a ship of any size was a crime punishable by death.

At last, in 1848, the United States, which had deep interests in the whale fisheries in Far Eastern waters, and was also concerned in establishing a line of steamers between California and the recently opened free ports in China, took official instead of merely individual measures to open up communication with Japan. A coaling station in Japan was an absolute necessity if the projected line of steamers was to be realised; but the reaching of any governing body with power to grant such a station was the difficulty. However, in 1852, Commodore Perry was sent with a squadron to Japan, and reached the Bay of Yeddo in July, 1853, bearing a friendly letter from the President of the United States to the Emperor of Japan.[1] The commodore had orders to use force, if necessary, as a last resort;[2] but the thousands of troops that were gathered to meet him made no attack. Having managed to deliver his message and impress the authorities with the fact that an answer would be required, the commodore left.

So soon as he had gone the Shogun’s Government found itself on the horns of a dilemma. If a treaty were made with the foreigners, internal trouble from a people already permeated with a desire to restore to power the real Emperor might be expected to a certainty; if they refused, the American show of force convinced them that grave trouble would lie ahead, trouble which the Japanese, with their old-fashioned fighting methods, could never successfully combat.

The most prominent personage in Japan at that moment was the Daimio of Mito. He advocated absolute refusal of the American demands, and the exclusion of all foreigners by force of arms, if necessary. He recalled the famous wars of the past, and nearly every Daimio in the country followed his lead. Forts were erected on the shore, the bells of temples melted and made into cannon, and as many Samaurai as possible were drilled with the most modern fire-arms procurable. They got these through the Dutch at Nagasaki.

In the midst of this a Russian squadron appeared, also demanding a treaty and the opening up of the country, but again no force was used. Seven months after his first visit, Commodore Perry returned for his answer, and the war fever having evaporated to some extent, a treaty was actually signed on March 31, 1854.

This treaty provided for peace and goodwill between the United States and Japan, the opening of Shimoda as a treaty port, and the similar opening of Hakodate after an interval, the Americans agreeing that their ships should visit no other ports except from necessity. The other articles dealt with the care of shipwrecked mariners and the like, and “the most favoured nation” clause. England, Russia, and Holland soon secured similar treaties, Russia having the same ports as America, England and Holland having Nagasaki instead of Shimoda.

All this split Japan into two hostile parties, the Jo-i and the Kai-koku. The former, under the leadership of the Daimio of Mito, were bitterly anti-foreign, and also desirous of restoring the Emperor. The Kai-koku, on the other hand, supported the Shogun action, and had as their watchword the words spoken by one of them at the debate over Commodore Perry’s demands: “As we are not the equals of the foreigners in the mechanical arts, let us have intercourse with foreign lands, let us learn their drill and tactics. Then, when we shall have made our nation united as one family, we shall be able to go abroad, and give lands in foreign countries to those who have distinguished themselves in battle.”

For a time this party had the upper hand. Commercial treaties were made, and by 1860 Ni-igata, Hyogo, and Yokohama had been opened, with the Consuls of most nations established there. Ii-Kamon-no-kami, head of the Kai-Koku party, imprisoned the Daimio of Mito, and executed several Samaurai who had killed his adherents. Then, in 1860, on March 23, Ii-Kamon-no-kami was assassinated, and his party, no longer with a powerful head, made isolated preparations for civil war. Ships were purchased and manned by the retainers of the local governors of provinces, and troops raised. Meanwhile the foreign Legations were attacked, an American secretary was murdered, and other foreigners injured. Other murders, notably that of an English merchant named Richardson, followed, and an indemnity was refused. This led to the arrival of Admiral Kuper with seven ships at Kagoshima, August 11, 1863. He bombarded the forts and city, and also sank or burned three steamers belonging to the Daimio of Satsuma, whose men had committed the murder. After this the indemnity was forthcoming, but the Daimio promptly ordered more warships, and sent many of his naval officers to Holland to learn European methods.

In this same year the Daimio of Choshu, a member of the Jo-i, who had also secured a small fleet for himself, fired upon an American steamer, and afterwards upon the French gunboat Kienchang, which latter he damaged severely. The Dutch frigate Medusa was also roughly handled by his shore batteries at Shimonoseki, but replying, silenced them.

Both these acts led to reprisals. The United States warship Wyoming at once proceeded to Shimonoseki, where she blew up one Japanese steam warship, and sank a second, a small brig. The French warships Sémiramis and Tancrède followed, and subjected Shimonoseki to a bombardment that did considerable damage.

An indemnity was demanded and paid by the Shogun’s Government for these attacks of foreign shipping, while the suppression of the Daimio of Choshu at Shimonoseki was also promised. This, however, was a task beyond the power of the Government, and finally the Powers interested decided to take action. A combined fleet, consisting of nine British, four Dutch, three French, and one hired United States steamer, went to Shimonoseki to reduce this bar to passage on the Inland Sea.

The attacking vessels were:—

British	Tartar (screw corvette),	20 guns.
	Barrosa (screw corvette),	22 guns.
	Leopard (paddle frigate),	18 guns.
	Conqueror (two-decker),	101 guns.
	Euryalus (screw frigate),	51 guns.
	Perseus,	4 guns.
	Bouncer (screw gunboat),	4 guns.
	Coquette (screw gunboat),	4 guns.
	Argus (paddle sloop),	6 guns.
French	Dupleix (screw corvette),	24 guns.
	Sémiramis (frigate),	36 guns.
	Tancrède (gunboat),	4 guns.
Dutch	Amsterdam.
	Djambi.
	Metal Cruyis.
	Medusa (frigate),	36 guns.
United States Takiang, no guns.

The United States ship was merely chartered to indicate American interest; all American vessels were then busy sinking each other in the civil war.

This fleet left Yokohama on August 28, 1864, and from September 5th to 9th it bombarded all the new forts that the Daimio had erected. At the end of that time Shimonoseki surrendered unconditionally, and an indemnity of three million dollars was claimed from the Shogun, and eventually paid.

For the next two years the Shogun’s Government was busy trying conclusions with the Daimio, but as he had raised a large force of the common people, and drilled these in Western fashion, he easily held his own. British and French troops meanwhile were permanently stationed at Yokohama to guard foreign interests. Friction between these and the Jo-i party was common, and more than one assassination took place, but no naval demonstrations followed.

[By a Japanese artist.

THE FIRST SHIP OF THE JAPANESE NAVY,
THE TSUKUBA.

III
EARLY WARSHIPS AND
THE CIVIL WAR

As already recounted, the sight of foreign ships had gradually put ideas of sea-power into the minds of the various governors of Japanese provinces. One of the first, if not the first, ships to be acquired was the Tsukuba, which still survives as a hulk. Her first name was the Malacca, and she was launched in the United States in 1851. She was, in her time, a fine-looking screw frigate of 1950 tons, carrying 20 guns, and able to steam at the then satisfactory speed of 8 knots.

The Riaden, a small screw yacht of 370 tons, and the Chiyoda-nata (Chiyoda type), of less than 140 tons, both schooner rigged, were enrolled about the same time, and then followed by the Kasuga, a two-funnelled, three-masted paddler, originally the Kiang-tse. She carried six guns, and for some time served as the Shogun’s yacht.

Following this, the Fuji Yama, a full-rigged ship—a sailing frigate of about 1010 tons and 24 guns—and the 523-ton barque-rigged sailing-ship Ken-he were purchased.

To learn how to work this naval militia, Japan imported instructors of various kinds from the Western world. In response to applications, the present Admiral Tracy was sent out by the British Government, and with him a small host of other Westerners. With their natural aptitude, the Japanese rapidly acquired the rudiments of sea service, while on shore the beginnings of a shipbuilding yard were made at Yokosuka. The British naval uniform was adopted with some slight differences. Officers were sent to Europe—chiefly to Holland—to study the principles of naval warfare, and at once a desire to possess ironclads arose.

Out of this came the purchase of Japan’s first ironclad, the Adsuma.

The dimensions, etc., of the Adsuma were as follows:—

Displacement	1387 tons.
Material of hull	Iron.
Length	157 ft.
Beam	30 ft.
Draught (maximum)	13¼ ft.
Armament	One 9-in. 12½ M.L. Armstrong.
	Four 6½-in. Parrot M.L. rifled.
Horse-power (nominal)	700.
Screws	Two.
Speed	9 knots.

FUJI YAMA.

The armour was 4½ to 4¾ ins. thick, and distributed on a complete water-line belt and over both of the raised batteries. Though a very famous vessel as the Stonewall Jackson, her war services under that name were not extensive. She was built in France, and at the end of 1864, when ready for sea, carried one large 13-in. 300-pounder (smooth bore) in the bow, and the two 70-pounders (rifled) in the main battery. No ship like her had ever been constructed before, and the Confederates, to whom she then belonged, spread alarming reports as to her power. Putting to sea, she reached Corunna in February, 1865, and was there blockaded by the unarmoured Federal ships Niagara and Sacramento. The former was a famous vessel in her way, of 5013 tons, 345 ft. long, 12-knot speed, and armed with twelve 11-in. smooth bores, throwing a 135-lb. shell each. These guns were not able to fire shot apparently, and the Sacramento was a weaker vessel. The Stonewall Jackson challenged these two to a duel à la Kearsarge and Alabama, but Craven, the Federal commodore, declined—wisely enough, for he could not have done anything against the ironclad with his few heavy pieces, while the ironclad would certainly have disabled and then rammed him.[3] Consequently, the Stonewall Jackson did not smell powder on that occasion, and the war ended very soon afterwards.

In 1866 a mysterious Japanese deputation came to America. Its object was long unknown, but the curiosity it excited was sufficient to cause telegraphic reports of its movements, and surmises as to its intentions, to appear in the London Times every now and again. Finally came the news that “the Japanese deputation have come to buy ironclads”—a statement at first treated as a joke.

The Japanese do not, however, appear to have been large bidders for the forty odd ironclads that America then had to dispose of. Few of these “on sale” craft were fit for a sea voyage—they were merely hastily constructed monitors intended more often than not for river service. The Stonewall Jackson, however, being a sea-going ship, was purchased for the Shogun, and re-named Adsuma.

A gunboat or two changed hands at this period, and altogether the various Japanese governors collected between them a small, heterogeneous fleet, the very existence of which was scarcely known outside their own country. Indeed, twenty years later comparatively few people knew, and still fewer cared, that Japan possessed a navy at all.

The Adsuma has long been removed from the effective list and relegated to hulk duty. On account of her enormous ram, she was somewhat of a curio to naval visitors for many years, and the most vivid memory retained by some of our people of the harbour in which the Adsuma lay was the fashion in which the Japanese sailors used her ram. They walked down over it into the water when bathing.

Of the smaller vessels previously referred to the following may be mentioned:—

No. 1 Tébo was a swan-bow, three-masted, schooner-rigged screw steamer of 250 tons only. Two or three other ships like her existed.

[By a Japanese artist.

THE ADSUMA (ex STONEWALL JACKSON).

The Unyo, built at Amsterdam, was little larger—295 tons only. She was a brig-rigged and ram-bowed screw steamer, carrying three pivot guns (Krupp’s), disposed in the centre line, as were the three big guns in the French Baudin and Formidable till these ships were reconstructed. The Unyo was wrecked many years ago.

The Moisshin, screw gunboat of 357 tons, is worthy of more attention, as she was the first ship ever built in Japan since the days of Adams. She was an enlarged edition of No. 1 Tébo, and exactly like her in appearance. Between the funnel and foremast a single Long Tom was carried. She was launched somewhere about the year 1865. Her construction was not, of course, purely Japanese—she was a craft upon which the Islanders practised and learnt construction with important material.

The Setsu, 935 tons, 8 guns, a sailing frigate, and the Chio-bin, a barque of 650 tons, originally used for trading purposes, also belong to this early period.

So also does a ship with more history, the Asama, a composite sailing-ship of 1445 tons and 14 guns. Her exact early history is shrouded in some mystery, but just previous to her entry into the Japanese fleet she was the property of a too-confiding pirate, who went into a Japanese harbour to refit, and had his ship taken possession of by the Japanese in consequence. The ship still exists as a gunnery hulk, and carries, or did till recently, eight 7-in. breech-loaders and four 4½-in. muzzle-loaders.

With these ships, built and building, Japan found herself engaged in that civil war of which the Mikasa, Asama, and other ships of to-day are the direct outcome. The officers had had some years of Western training, chiefly in Holland and Denmark. The accompanying [illustration], from a Japanese photograph, indicates the uniform of the period. There were in the Navy in those days two schools—the party of progress and those opposed to change—by no means necessarily identical with the same political parties. Indeed, of the two, the Jo-i seem to have chiefly availed themselves of the war-training to be secured from the foreigners whose expulsion was one of their political tenets. This, perhaps, was due in part or in great measure to the other factor in the dispute—the question as to whether the Emperor or the Shogun and his representatives should be ruler of the country. This became eventually the sole question.

THE MOISSHIN.

[By a Japanese artist.

THE EX-PIRATE SHIP ASAMA.

In 1867 the Emperor Kōmei died, and was succeeded by his son, the present Emperor, Mutsohito, then a boy. His advisers had by now concluded that the anti-foreign agitation was a mistake, and thence forward it was only carried on by a few isolated Daimios. The real problem was one of ruling, and this culminated in 1867 by the Shogun resigning his power, and becoming a species of minister.

The adherents of neither party were favourably disposed towards this middle course; and ultimately civil war, in which the ex-Shogun’s party were continually defeated, resulted.

The ironclad Adsuma was in the hands of the Imperialists, as also were most of the other warships; but the ex-Shogun had owned seven ships, mounting between them 83 guns, and these Yenomoto, his admiral (one of the Dutch-trained officers) absolutely refused to surrender. Chased by Nahamoto, the Imperial admiral, he took refuge in Hakodate, where the remnants of the rebels had collected. A naval action resulted disastrously for Yenomoto. In July, 1869, the rebels finally surrendered, and Japan entered upon a new era, in which much of the power hitherto wielded by the Daimios passed into the hands of the Samaurai, whose descendants now supply the bulk of naval and military officers, retaining all the courage of their fierce ancestors, and more of their exclusiveness than is generally supposed. But further particulars under this head will be found in a later chapter.[4]

IV
THE IMPERIAL NAVY

With the sea fight off Hakodate the civil war ended. The feudal fleets were abolished, and all ships were enrolled in an Imperial Navy—a proceeding that, of course, increased its strength. Some reorganisation of personnel was also effected, bringing the Navy more into line with the Western model.

Naval advisers came and went. They included, during the period 1865-1885, the present British admirals Tracy and Hopkins, the eminent French naval architect M. Bertin, and finally Captain Ingles, R.N., of whom more will be found in the Appendix.

The same year in which the Adsuma was launched the Riu Jo[5] was set afloat at Aberdeen. She, too, was possibly originally destined to fly the Confederate flag, but about this details are hard to procure. Particulars are:—

Displacement	2530 tons.
Material	Composite.
Length	213 ft.
Beam	41 ft.
Draught (extreme)	19 ft.
Armament	One 6½-in. Krupp. Six 70-pdrs.

Fleet of Nahamoto, Adsuma leading.

[By a Japanese artist.

BATTLE OF HAKODATE.

The horse-power was 975 nominal, the speed 9 knots. She was single-screwed, and carried 350 tons of coal. Like all the early sea-going ironclads, she had a 4½-in. iron armour belt, and 4 inches over the amidship battery. The heaviest gun was carried in the bow on a pivot. The ship still exists as a hulk. She did not reach Japan till the Civil War was over.

The he-sho, launched in England in 1867, is also retained as a gunnery tender at the present day. She is a small gunboat of 320 tons, carrying one 7-in. Armstrong M.L. and one 5½-in. Krupp B.L.

Some other early Japanese ships may now be referred to.

The Nisshin was built at Amsterdam, and ordered, probably, previously to the Civil War.

Tonnage	1470.
Material of hull	Wood.
Armament	One 7-in. M.L.
	Six smaller M.L.
Speed on trial	11 knots.
Single screw, swan-bow, barque-rigged corvette.

The Amagi of the same period was built in Japan. Particulars of her are:—

Tonnage	526.
Material of hull	Wood.
Armament	One 6-in. 2½-ton Krupp.
	Four 4¾-in. Krupp.
Horse-power (nominal)	720.
Speed	11 knots.
Screws	One.

In appearance she more or less resembles the foregoing.

She was followed by the Seiki, also built in Japan, and famous in her way, because she was the first Japanese ship to make a voyage to England. Particulars:—

Tonnage	857.
Material of hull	Wood.
Length	200 ft.
Beam	30 ft.
Draught	13 ft.
Armament	One 6-in. 2½-ton Krupp.
	Four 4¾-in. Krupp.
Horse-power	1270.
Speed	11 knots.

Save that her stern was sharper, she was, to look at, much like the Amagi. She is now removed from the Japanese Navy list.

A sailing training brig of 153 tons, the Ishikawa, and a larger brig, the Tateyama, of 543 tons, were built or acquired prior to 1877.

The Banjo was built by the Japanese on the same model as the Amagi. Particulars are:—

Displacement	667 tons.
Material of hull	Wood.
Length	154 ft.
Beam	25 ft.
Draught (mean)	12 ft.
Armament	One 6-in. 2½-ton Krupp.
	Two 4¾-in. Krupp.
I.H.P.	590.
Speed	10.5 knots.
Screws	One.
Coal supply	107 tons.
She is swan-bow, barque-rigged, and has one funnel.

This ended this particular period of Japanese shipbuilding.

[By a Japanese artist.

THE SEIKI.

(The first Japanese warship to visit England.)

In the year 1875, or thereabouts, the Japanese finally decided to embark upon a war navy, and laid the foundations of that fleet which some twenty years later was to vindicate its existence at Yalu and Wei-hei-wei. In that year a then modern ironclad, up-to-date ironclad, and two armoured cruisers, on what was then the best accepted model, were ordered.

Of these the Fu-So,[6] designed by Sir E. J. Reed, and launched at Samuda’s Yard, Poplar, England, in 1877, was then a powerful second-class battleship. In design she resembles the French Rédoutable, though of only half her size. Particulars are:—

Material of hull	Iron.
Displacement	3718.
Length	220 ft.
Beam	48 ft.
Draught	18⅓ ft.
Original armament	Four 9.4-in. Krupps in the main deck,
	central-armoured battery.
	Two 6.6-in. Krupps in unarmoured
	barbettes above the armoured battery.
Horse-power	3500.
Nominal speed	13 knots.
Screws	Two.
Coal	360 tons.
Nominal radius	3500 miles at 10 knots.

The armour is distributed in a complete belt of iron from 9 to 4 ins. in thickness. The battery armour is 8 ins., with 7-in. bulkheads forming a redoubt. The engines, by Penn, are horizontal compound trunk. She was then barque-rigged, with a single funnel. She carried no torpedo tubes, but these were added later. Just previous to the war with China the Japanese reconstructed and re-armed her, removing the mainmast, and fitting military tops to the fore and mizzen; 6-in. Q.F. were mounted in the barbettes in place of the old 6.6-in. Either immediately before or directly after the war, two additional 6-in. Q.F. (as shown in the photograph of her at sea) were mounted, one on the forecastle and one on the poop behind shields; and subsequently four further 6-in. Q.F. replaced the old guns in the battery, these having been found well-nigh useless for modern warfare. This by no means exhausts the history of the Fu-So, but her subsequent adventures will be found on a later page.[7]

[Official photograph.

Chin Yen. Chiyoda.

THE JAPANESE FLEET IN LINE ABREAST.
NAVAL MANŒUVRES.

Russia with the General Admiral would appear to have inspired the idea of the Hi-Yei[8] and Kon-go. The former of these was launched early in 1878 at Milford Haven, the latter at Hull towards the end of 1877. The ships are sisters. Details are:—

Material of hull	Composite.
Displacement	2250 tons.
Length	231 ft.
Beam	40¾ ft.
Draught	17½ ft.
Armament	Three 6.6-in. Krupp.
	Six 6-in. 2½-ton Krupp.
	Four Nordenfelts.
	Two torpedo tubes.
Horse-power	Hi-Yei, 2270.
	Kon-go, 2035.
Screws	One.
Speed (nominal)	Hi-Yei, 13 knots.
	Kon-go, 13.7 knots.
Engines (by Earle)	Horizontal compound.

The armour is a mere iron strip on the water-line, varying from 4½ to 3 ins. in thickness.

In 1876 a new Imperial yacht, the Jin-Jei, was launched. She is a paddler, with swan-bow, two funnels, and two high pole masts—a pretty-looking vessel.

Displacement	1464 tons.
Material of hull	Wood.
Length	249 ft.
Beam	32 ft.
Draught	14½ ft.
Armament	Two 4¾-in. Krupp.
Horse-power	1430.
Speed	12 knots.

In 1879 began what later events constituted the supplementary Japanese shipbuilding programme. In 1879 Elswick built for China those once famous “alphabetical gunboats,” a series of “flat-irons” of the Rendel type, to carry one gun. Like a good many other Chinese vessels, they were destined to fly the Japanese flag at a later period of their existence. Altogether there were eleven of these craft, named after letters of the Greek alphabet, but re-named by the Chinese. They were named Lung-shang (Alpha), he-wei (Beta), Fei-ting (Gamma), Tche-tien (Delta), the first two of 340 tons, the other two of 420 tons, and which the Chinese still own. The remainder are a little larger, four, Cheng-tung (Epsilon), Chen-Sei (Zeta), Chen-nan (Eta), Chen-pei (Theta), of 490 tons, and Chin-pen (Kappa), Hai-chang-ching (Lambda), and Chen-chung (Iota) of 500 tons. Japan now owns all of this last batch, except the Hai-chang-ching.

Gamma and Delta carry a 38-ton Armstrong M.L.; all the others are armed with the 11-in. 25-ton gun. Horse-power varies from 235 in the smaller craft to 472 in the larger. There are slight differences in dimensions, but the largest only runs to 125 ft. long by 29 ft. broad. Two other rather smaller gunboats once existed, but these the French sunk at Foochow in the early eighties. The development of small guns has long since rendered this type of gunboat useless; but, apart from that, the bad care taken of them by the Chinese would have made them of no service.

China in 1881 was making some considerable efforts towards being a naval power, efforts that continued till 1889, when they suddenly died out, or resolved themselves into the building of small craft by Chinamen. A Chino-Japanese war was a possibility in 1881 as much as in 1890. Neither side was, however, ready for the conflict, and in the early eighties Japan’s energies were concentrated on training personnel, China’s on acquiring materiel. In 1881 the latter had launched for her the big ironclad Ting Yuen at Stettin, followed a little later by the Chin Yuen, now in the Japanese service. From the time China first had them, Japan coveted these ironclads; by the irony of fate, she did not secure them (or rather the one that was left) till far superior ships of her own were on the stocks.

The Tung Yuen sank at Wei-hai-wei during the war; the Chen Yuen, her sister, was taken at the same time. Her details are:—

Displacement	7350 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	308 ft.
Beam	59 ft.
Draught	23 ft.
Armament (originally)	Four 12-in. 20 cals. Krupp.
	Two 6-in. Krupp.
	Eight machine guns.
	One torpedo tube in the stern;
	one on each beam forward of barbettes.
Horse-power	6200.
Screws	Two.
Speed (on first trials)	14.5 knots.
Engines	Two sets, three-cylinder horizontal compound.
Coal	1000 tons.

The arrangement of the heavy armament is upon the system that in 1880 was held to be the system of the future—four big guns able to fire end-on or on the broadside. The ideal warship of those days was to fight in line abreast. The advantages of that disposition were seen, while its disadvantages were ignored. It was not realised how easily an enemy could get round upon either flank and mask the fire of nearly all the units in this cumbersome formation, the advantages of which lie only in going into action against an enemy right ahead.

When the Chin Yen was the Chinese Chen Yuen she carried thin shields over her big guns. The 6-in. pieces were in the extreme bow and stern, each in a 3-in. turret. The big gun shields were removed before the war. The Japanese captured these with Port Arthur, and have since replaced them. They have also mounted a 6-in. Q.F. in the bow turret, substituted a 6-in. Q.F. behind a shield for the after turret, and mounted two additional Q.F.’s upon sponsons specially built near the mainmast. Two 6-pounder Q.F. and a number of 3- or 2½-pounders have also been added on the upper deck. The [photograph] shows the ship as she now is.

The armour of the Chin Yen is distributed as follows: Amidships for 150 ft. is a 14-in. compound belt. Under-water and at the end of it this belt thins to 10 ins. Forward and aft of it is a protective deck 3 ins. thick. The ends of the belt are joined by flat bulkheads of 14 ins. Rising from this redoubt are the barbettes, 12 ins. compound. The starboard one is forward, the port somewhat aft of it.[9] The big gun hoods are quite thin, 4 ins. or less; between the big guns in the conning-tower, 8 ins. in thickness.

[Official photo.

THE CHIN YEN AT EVOLUTIONS
WITH THE JAPANESE FLEET.
1902.

The ship, it will be seen, is of the British Ajax or Colossus type—very much a “soft ender.” She is, however, given a good deal of protection in the way of specially arranged watertight compartments, and there is also a species of cofferdam.

In 1881 Elswick set afloat the Arturo Prat, a small cruiser originally intended for Chili, but subsequently purchased by Japan and re-named Tsukushi. China had two sisters built at the same time, the Tchao Yong and Yang-wei, both of which were sunk at Yalu. Particulars of the Tsukushi are as follows:—

Displacement	1350 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	210 ft.
Beam	32 ft.
Draught (maximum)	16½ ft.
Armament	Two 10-in. 32 cals. Elswick.
	Four 4.7 in. Q.F.[10]
	Four 1-pdr. Q.F.
	Two torpedo tubes.
Horse-power	2887.
Screws	Two.
Speed on trial	16.4 knots.
Sea speed	(circa) 12 knots.
Coal	250 tons.
Engines (by Hawthorn Leslie)	Horizontal compound.

The ship has no armour deck, or protection of any sort.

In 1882 the construction of wooden ships was still proceeding in Japan. In that year they launched at Yokosuka the Kaimon, of which the measurements are:—

Displacement	1367 tons.
Material of hull	Wood.
Length	211 ft.
Beam	32 ft.
Draught (mean)	16½ ft.
Armament	Eight 4¾-in. Krupp.
	Two 3-pdr. Q.F.
Horse-power	1125.
Trial speed	12 knots.
Screws	One.
Coal	180 tons.
Complement	230.

The engines were constructed in Japan at the Yokosuka Dockyard, and are of the horizontal compound type. This was the first ship put together by them of which they constructed the engines also.

The following year they launched the Tenriu at Yokosuka. Details are:—

Displacement	1547 tons.
Material of hull.	Wood.
Length	212 ft.
Beam	32½ ft.
Draught (mean)	16½ ft.
Armament	Eight 4¾-in. Krupp.
	Two Nordenfelts.
Horse-power	1165.
Trial speed	12 knots.
Screws	One.
Coal	256 tons.
Complement	214.

Tsukushi.Naniwa.Itsukushima.

[Official photo.

JAPANESE CRUISER TSUKUSHI AT SEA.

The ship is practically a sister to the Kaimon. The engines of both were made at Yokosuka, and are of the same type. Both ships have swan bows, one funnel, and are barque-rigged. The sterns are rather square.

In 1884 Elswick suddenly sprang the deck-protected cruiser on the world. In that year was launched the famous Esmeralda. She was, like the Arturo Prat, built for Chili, and as a Chilian cruiser bore a share in the Chilian revolution. When the Chino-Japanese war broke out Japan made overtures for this ship, and in 1895 purchased her through the agency of Ecuador. The war was over before the cruiser could be employed, but she was probably purchased against possible eventualities with Russia, France, and Germany. Being now obsolete, she has not proved a valuable acquisition, and the Japanese speak of her as a very bad sea boat. Particulars of this once famous vessel are:—

Displacement	3000 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	270 ft.
Beam	42 ft.
Draught (maximum)	19½ ft.
Armament (originally)	Two 10-in. 32 cals.
	Six 6-in. 32 cals.
	Two 6-pdr. Q.F.
	Five 1-pdr. Q.F.
	Two Gardners.
	Three torpedo tubes, one of them
	in the bow.

The six 6-in. B.L. have been removed by the Japanese, and six 4.7-in. Q.F. of 40 calibres substituted.

When new the Esmeralda was one of the swiftest ships afloat. Her I.H.P. natural draught was 6500, with an 18.5-knot speed on her trials in 1885. She carries 400 tons of coal, with provision for 200 tons more.

Protection is afforded by a steel deck 1 in. thick on the slopes and ½ in. on the flat. Over the loading stations of the big guns a 1-in. steel skin is carried.

ESMERALDA, NOW IDZUMI.

News of the Esmeralda’s fame soon reached Japan, and two glorified editions of her, the Naniwa and Takachiho, were promptly ordered. Japanese home construction was not, however, affected, and three composite vessels, Yamato, Katsuragi, and Mushashi, were put in hand, and launched in 1885-86. Details of these are as follows:—

Displacement	1502 tons.
Material of hull	Composite.
Length	207 ft.
Beam	36 ft.
Draught (mean)	15 ft.
Armament	Two 6.6-in. Krupp.
	Six 4¾-in. Krupp.
	Four Nordenfelts.
	Two torpedo tubes.
Horse-power	1600.
Trial speed	13.5 knots.
Complement	231.

As before, Yokosuka made the horizontal compound engines, and in the Katsuragi twin screws were attempted for the first time. These ships are now employed for training squadron duties. They have clipper bows, and are, generally speaking, small editions of the British Raleigh. They are all three barque-rigged. The Mushashi is distinguished by a red band, the Katsuragi a yellow one.

The “warship Naniwa-kan,” as she used to be called in England, in defiance to all explanations to the effect that the affix “kan” simply meant “warship,” attained a good deal of celebrity while under construction. The British Navy had then no ships like her, and the Mersey class, then building, though more heavily gunned on about the same displacement, were popularly considered very poor substitutes, since their biggest guns were 8-in. pieces only, against the Naniwa’s 10-in. The big gun had at that time a very great hold on popular imagination.

Details of the Naniwa, and her sister, the Takachiho, are as follows:—

Displacement	3700 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	300 ft.
Beam	46 ft.
Draught	20 ft.
Armament	Two 10-in. 32 cals. Krupp.
	Six 6-in. B.L. Krupp.
	Two 6-pdr. Q.F.
	Fourteen smaller Q.F. and machine.
	Four torpedo tubes.

(Elswick 6-in. Q.F. have lately been substituted for the old 6-in. B.L.).

The big guns are generally described as Elswick pieces, but they are not, although Elswick built the ships.

Engines (Hawthorn, Leslie & Co.)	Horizontal compound.
Horse-power	7120.
Speed on trial	18.7 knots
Sea speed	(circa) 15 knots.
Screws	Two.
Coal (normal)	350 tons.
”  (maximum)	800 tons.
Radius with full bunkers	(circa) 5000 miles.
Complement	357.
Search-lights	Four.

Protection is afforded by a steel deck 3 ins. on the slopes, 2 ins. on the flat. The engine hatches have a 3-in. glacis. The conning-tower is 1½-in. steel, and the loading stations of the big guns have a similar protection.

THE NANIWA (present rig).

(This is the cruiser that sunk the Kow-shing.)

Note.—The sinking of the Kow-shing will be found described in the chapter on the Chino-Japanese war. Special interest attaches to the Naniwa on account of the fact that during this war she was commanded by the present Admiral Togo.

As originally rigged, the Naniwa and Takachiho carried a top on each mast. After the war, in which they did not exhibit the best of sea-keeping qualities, these tops were lowered, and light platforms erected where they used to be, as in the [illustration]. The old rig, which is tolerably familiar, will be noticed in the illustrations dealing with the war. The Naniwa and Takachiho both took part in the first engagement at Asan; the Naniwa subsequently made her name familiar to the world over the Kow-shing affair. Both ships participated at Yalu and Wei-hai-wei. The Naniwa was launched on March 18, 1885, at Elswick, the Takachiho on May 16th in the same year. In appearance the two craft are almost absolutely identical; for convenience, and to enable their own officers to distinguish them, the Takachiho has a red band round her instead of the orthodox black one. As a further guide, she carries a couple of signal yards on the main, in place of the single yard carried there by the Naniwa.

Meanwhile China continued to have ships built in England and Germany, and in 1886 there was launched at Stettin a small cruiser, the Tche-Yuen (Tsi-Yuen is a more familiar spelling), which was destined to be taken over by the Japanese at Wei-hai-wei in 1895. Her details are:—

Displacement	2300 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	246 ft.
Beam	33 ft.
Draught (maximum)	18 ft.
Armament	Two 8.2-in. Krupp, forward in an armoured turret.
	One 6-in. Krupp aft.
	Four 4-pdr. Gruson Q.F.
	Two Gatlings.
	Four torpedo tubes.
Horse-power	2800.
Speed on trial	15 knots.
Screws	Two.
Coal (normal)	230 tons.
Radius	(circa)1000 miles.
Complement	180.

This ship represents an application of the Italian Lepanto idea to a small cruiser. She is provided with a steel protective deck, 3 ins. thick on the slopes; the hull is otherwise unprotected, but the fore turret, containing the 8-in. guns, is heavily armoured with 10-in. compound, thus rendering it proof against any of the 10-in. guns afloat in the Japanese Fleet at the time she was built. Indeed, at Yalu there were only three guns present in the Japanese Fleet against which the Tche-Yuen’s turret armour was not proof. However, the possession of a little impenetrable armour is of small service to a warship—the odds being always against any one particular spot being hit. At Asan, in which the Tche-Yuen suffered rather severely, none of the Japanese guns against her were able to pierce this forward turret.

SAI YEN (ex TCHE-YUEN).

In 1879 Japan had already had four torpedo boats built for her at Yarrow’s. These craft displaced only 40 tons. In 1886, however, Yarrow’s built the first-class twin-screw torpedo boat Kotaka. This boat is remarkable as the first armoured torpedo boat ever constructed. She has 1-in. steel plating all over her machinery compartment, and the subdivision of the hull is, for a torpedo boat, singularly complete. In her way the Kotaka was the forerunner of the destroyers, being larger than the run of torpedo boats even now. Full details of her are:—

Displacement	190 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	170 ft.
Beam	19½ ft.
Draught	5 feet.
Horse-power	1400.
Speed on trial	19 knots.
Screws	Two.
Coal carried	50 tons.
Torpedo tubes	Six.
Armament	Four machine guns.

The torpedo tubes are thus disposed: two forward, firing right ahead, a pair amidships, and another pair a little abaft of them. The Kotaka made a name for herself in the war, and previously to that was a successful craft. However, for some reason Japan had no more boats from Yarrow, or, indeed, from England, for the next ten years, the next, a batch of fourteen, being ordered from Creusot. These were launched in 1889. The Kotaka, after being built, was sent out to Japan in sections, and there put together again. The Creusot boats were sent out in similar fashion, while a further seven were put together entirely at Kobé, in Japan. All these boats were small ones of 56 tons, 114½ ft. long, 10½ ft. beam, and 6 ft. draught. With 525 I.H.P., they made 20 knots on trial. They have two torpedo tubes, carry two 1-pounder Q.F., a complement of 16 men, and are single screw. One of them was lost off the Pescadores in December, 1895, and a couple at Wei-hai-wei in February of the same year.

Japan still continued the construction of other craft, having launched the Maya[11] at Onohama in 1886, the Akagi[12] at the same yard in 1887, the Atago[13] at Yokosuka in 1887, and the Chiokai[14] at Tokio in the same year. The Maya and Chiokai were, as before, composite, but the other two are noteworthy as being constructed entirely of steel. A large proportion of the material for them was imported, and the building was rather a case of merely putting together.

The dimensions, etc., of all are identical, and are as follows:—

Displacement	622 tons.
Length	154¼ ft.
Beam	27 ft.
Draught (mean)	9¼ ft.
Horse-power	700.
Trial speed	(circa) 12 knots.
Screws	Two.
Coal supply	60 tons.
Complement	104.

[Official photo.

JAPANESE FLEET AT SEA.
FUSO LEADING.

In appearance and armament they vary much. The Maya carries a couple of 6-in. Krupp’s, with two 3-pounder Q.F. and a couple of machine guns; the Chiokai and Atago are armed with one 8-in. Krupp and one 4.7-in. gun and two machine guns; the Akagi carries two special French guns of about 4.7-in. calibre. These guns are the only ones of the kind in the world, and singularly powerful pieces—Hebrieu guns. The objection to them is that their lives are short. They proved too powerful for the little Akagi, and shook her up badly on trial. They were afterwards fired with reduced charges, except at Yalu, where they proved very useful, owing to their power.

The Akagi has a raised forecastle, the other three have not. All used to be schooner-rigged, but just before the war a fighting-top was fitted to the Akagi’s foremast, and a crow’s-nest to her main. To distinguish them, the Maya has a black band, the Chiokai a red one, the Atago yellow. The Akagi’s band is black, but her forecastle and fighting-top distinguish her. In addition, she has a rather elaborate green scrollwork on the bow. She has also sponsons for her machine guns. At Yalu this ship lost her mainmast, and the damage was left unrepaired for a long time in deference to naval sentiment; it has, however, been replaced lately.

Reference has already been made to the transfer of torpedo-boat building from British to French firms. M. Bertin was at that time naval adviser to the Japanese Government, consequently French design for large ships secured a similar victory in the year 1887-8. With such ships as she now had, Japan was beginning to be able to stand alone, many English instructors were dispensed with; but she was yet some distance from her present independence. French enterprise saw its chance and took it; all the foreign-built ships of the new programme came from France.

These were the Itsukushima, Matsushima, and Hashidate (this last put together in Japan), the Unebi, Tschishima, and some smaller ships (laid down in Japanese yards), Yayeyama, Oshima, and Takao.

The ships built in Japan during the Bertin régime, 1887 to 1890, are distinctly French in design and appearance. The first to take the water was the Takao, launched at Yokosuka in 1888. Particulars are:—

Displacement	1778 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	229 ft.
Beam	34 ft.
Draught	14 ft.
Armament	Four 6-in.
	One 4.7-in. Q.F.
	Two torpedo tubes.
Horse-power	2300.
Speed on trial	15 knots.
Sea speed	(circa) 12 knots.
Screws	Two.
Coal supply	300 tons.
Boilers	Two cylindrical.
Engines (made at Yokosuka)	Two sets horizontal compound.
Complement	220.

She is fitted with military and searchlight tops on both masts. The four 6-in. guns are in sponsons in the waist, the 4.7-in. is carried right aft. There is no protection of any sort to the machinery. She was the first steel ship built in Japan.

TAKAO.

About 1887 Japan definitely decided to draw all her Q.F. guns, 6-in. or 4.7-in., from Elswick, and all heavy guns from Canet. Krupp’s pieces were discarded. This resolution was adhered to till 1902-03, so far as Elswick was concerned, but Canet guns were given up some years ago. Elswick guns were, in 1890, shipped to France for the Itsukushima and her sister. At present (1904) new guns are on the Vickers model.

Following the Takao, Yokosuka launched the despatch vessel Yayeyama in 1899. She was designed by M. Bertin. Her dimensions, etc., are:—

Displacement	1605 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	315 ft.
Beam	34½ ft.
Draught	15 ft.
Armament	Three 4.7-in. Q.F.
	Six machine guns.
	Two torpedo tubes.
Horse-power (forced draught)	5630.
Speed on trial	20.7 knots.
Screws	Two.

The engines were provided by Messrs. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. of England, and, instead of the horizontal compound previously fitted in Japanese-built ships, are horizontal, direct-acting, triple expansion. The boilers are of steel; there are six of these—cylindrical.

Over the engines and boilers a ½-in. steel deck is carried, affording, in conjunction with the bunkers, some slight protection.

The Onohama Yard laid down a vessel in this year, the Oshima. She was launched in 1890. Particulars:—

Displacement	640 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	233 ft.
Beam	25½ ft.
Draught	15¾ ft.
Armament	Four 4.7-in. Q.F.
	Eight 3-pdr. Q.F.
Horse-power (forced draught)	1200.
Speed on trial	16 knots.
Screws	One.

[From a Japanese print.

THE UNEBI (NOW LOST).

There is no protection to the machinery. The engines were built at Yokosuka.

Meanwhile, shipbuilding abroad had been proceeding apace, but disaster attended both the earlier vessels. The first, the Unebi, a cruiser of 3650 tons, with four 6-in. Q.F. as her principal armament, mysteriously disappeared while on her way out to Japan[15] and still in the contractors’ hands. Her loss was officially attributed to instability, and seems to have inspired the Japanese authorities with a profound distrust for French shipbuilding; at any rate, the Chiyoda, a vessel generally resembling the lost Unebi, was given to Thomson Yard at Clydebank for construction. She will be described in due course later on.

The second French-built ship, upon the same general plan as the French Milan and Japanese Yayeyama, was the Tschishima, of 750 tons displacement. In appearance she was nearly identical to the French Milan. She met with disaster in the Inland Sea almost immediately after the Japanese took her over (1892), and all her crew were drowned. The Tatsuta was ordered from Elswick to replace her.

The Itsukushima, the first of the “Bertin cruisers,” so-called after their designer, was launched at La Seyne in 1889. Captain Ingles, R.N., naval adviser to the Japanese, had strongly persuaded them against ironclads; they had been advised against the big gun also. However, they were bent on mounting a gun able to pierce any armour in the Chinese Navy or in foreign warships likely to come to the Far East. By the irony of fate, these big guns contributed nothing to the victory of the Yalu; however, the decision of the Japanese to have them cannot be condemned, in view of the fact that naval construction everywhere in ’88 was based upon the big gun. Having a full idea of their requirements, the Japanese settled upon the Italian Lepanto as embodying the most useful type of ship for them, and the Itsukushimas were ordered on that principle.

Particulars of the Itsukushima are as follows:—

Displacement	4278 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	295 ft.
Beam	50½ ft.
Draught (maximum)	21¼ ft.
Armament	One 12.8-in. Canet.
	Eleven 4.7-in. Q.F. Elswick of 32 cals.
	Five 6-pdr. Q.F.
	Eleven 3-pdr. Q.F.
	Six machine guns.
	Six torpedo tubes
	(bow, stern, and four on the broadsides).
Horse-power (natural draught)	3400.
Trial speed (natural draught)	15.7 knots.
Horse-power (forced draught)	5400.
Trial speed (forced draught)	16.5 knots.
Screws	Two.
Engines	Triple expansion.
Boilers	Six cylindrical.[16]
Furnaces	18.
Coal supply	400 tons.
Complement	360.

TORPEDO GUNBOAT TSCHICHIMA—

LOST BY CAPSIZING IN THE INLAND SEA.

For protection there is a steel deck 1½ ins. thick on the slopes. With this is associated a cellulose belt and coal protection. The total protection, so far as penetration is concerned, is not, however, more than equivalent to what a 6-in. belt of old iron armour would afford, and it would keep out nothing above a 4.7-in. shot, and that only at long ranges. Over the engine hatches is a patch of thick steel armour.

The heavy gun barbette is a strip of 12-in. Creusot steel, with a 4-in. steel shield over the breech of the gun. There is an armoured hoist that affords some support, but, speaking generally, the gun is more or less at the mercy of shell bursting underneath it.

The Hashidate was built from the same designs at Yokosuka, and is practically identical with the Itsukushima, save that the battery guns aft are in small unarmoured sponsons, and obtain thereby a slightly greater angle of fire. She is further distinguished by a red band; the Itsukushima, being the first of the class, has, of course, a black band.

Grave doubts were soon entertained as to the seaworthiness of these two ships, and the Matsushima being a little more behindhand than the others, her design was altered. She carries the big gun aft, which makes her a better sea boat. The battery is shifted forward in the main deck. In place of the single 4.7-in. that her companions carry in the stern, the raised fok’s’le of the Matsushima contains two of these pieces, firing through recessed port.

Her small quickfiring armament is also different, there being sixteen 3-pounders.

All three ships have a single tripod mast abaft the funnel, with a couple of tops on it. Each now carries three signal yards.

The Itsukushima was launched on July 11, 1889, and commissioned in Japan in 1891. The Matsushima, launched on January 22, 1890, went out in 1892. The Hashidate was not launched till March 24, 1891, but early in 1893 she was in commission.

It had been hoped that these ships would attain speeds of 17.5 knots; none of them, however, ever reached it.

[Official photo.

HASHIDATE.

MATSUSHIMA.

Torpedo Boats. 1891.

In 1891 Japan had built for her by Normand at Le Havre a 75-ton torpedo boat, 118 ft. long, two tubes, and a trial speed of 23 knots. She is a twin-screw boat.

Two other boats, 90-tonners, were also launched in Germany at Elbing. Length, 128 ft.; trial speed, 23 knots; one screw; armament, three tubes and three 1-pounder Q.F.

China in 1890 launched a home-built diminutive of the Itsukushima, the Ping Yuen. The Japanese took her at Wei-hai-wei, but she has never been of any use to them, and she now does duty as a gunnery hulk. Particulars of this craft are:—

Displacement	2600 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	200 ft.
Beam	40 ft.
Draught	19 ft.
Armament (originally)	One 10.2-in. Krupp, 25 cals.
	Two 6-in. Krupp.
	Eight 3-pdr. Q.F.
	One 1-pdr. Q.F. (in the top).
	Four torpedo tubes.

The old 6-in. Krupp are now replaced by a couple of 45-calibre Elswick 6-in. Q.F. for drill purposes. The old 10-in. gun remains, and, being always cocked up in the air at an extreme elevation, is the most noticeable and characteristic feature of this ship, which every Japanese regards as a standing joke. An enormous dragon adorns each broadside. Japanese officers who come to Portsmouth always, by the way, christen our Hero “the British Ping Yen.”

The Ping Yuen was begun as a 16-knot, 2850-ton ship, a copy in fine of the Stettin-built King Yuen. In an early stage of construction, however, her length was much reduced, for economical reasons. She appears to have had much the same machinery as the King Yuen originally. This, however, was tinkered in fitting, and some of her boilers were stolen, or otherwise dispensed with! On trial she made 10.5 knots for a short period, but, after being taken care of by the Chinese, soon sank below that modest speed. It is doubtful whether she made as much as 6 knots at Yalu.

There is a 2-in. steel protective deck in places; amidships and under water there is a small patch of 8-in. compound armour. The barbette is a 5-in. strip of armour; the conning-tower has the same thickness. A thin shield—removed during the war—covers the big gun.

On June 3, 1890, the third-class cruiser Chiyoda, built to replace the lost Unebi, took the water at Clydebank. Particulars of her are as follows:—

Displacement	2450 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	308 ft.
Beam	43 ft.
Draught (maximum)	17 feet.
Armament	Ten 4.7-in. Q.F. 40 cals.
	Fourteen 3-pdr. Q.F.
	Three Gatlings.
	Three torpedo tubes
	(of which one is fixed in the bow).
Horse-power	5600.
Trial speed	19 knots.
Engines	Two sets, triple expansion.
Boilers	Belleville.
Complement	350.
Coal supply	420 tons.

HEI YEN.

CHIYODA

THE CHIYODA AT SEA WITH THE FLEET. 1903.

She was the first ship in any navy to be fitted with water-tube boilers, which were barely coming into existence in those days. Hers are of the Belleville type.

For protection she depends on a 4¼-in. chrome steel armour belt, 200 ft. long, amidships. Forward and aft of this is a protective deck 1½ ins. thick on the slopes. Throughout the entire water-line is a cellulose belt, and she is divided into 84 watertight compartments. The guns have no protection beyond the ordinary shields. They are, however, very well disposed.

In 1898 she was practically re-boilered, the old tubes being replaced by some specially large ones, in order to enable her to burn Japanese coal, which sooted the ordinary tubes.

In 1890 the Akitsushima was laid down at Yokosuka. It was at first supposed that she was a sister to the Matsushima. The Yoshino was contracted for at Elswick towards the end of this year. Both were launched in 1892, and commissioned just before the war with China.

The Akitsushima was the last ship to be built in Japan with imported material. She is practically a small copy of the U.S.S. Baltimore. Details of the two, for comparison, are as follows:—

	Akitsushima.	Baltimore.
Displacement	3150 tons.	4600 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.	Steel.
Length	302 ft.	328 ft.
Beam	43 ft.	48½ ft.
Draught	18½ ft.	23 ft.
Armament	Four 6-in. Q.F. (D).	Four 8-in. 25 cals. (C).
	Six 4.7-in. Q.F. (E).	Six 6-in. (D.)
	Ten 3-pdr. Q.F.	Eight small Q.F.
	Four torpedo tubes.	Five torpedo tubes.
Horse-power
(forced draught)	8400.	10,060.
Speed on trial	19 knots.	20.1 knots.
Engines	Vertical triple	Horizontal triple
	expansion.	expansion.
Boilers	Cylindrical.	Four double-ended Scotch.
Screws	Two.	Two.
Coal (normal)	500.	400.
” (bunker capacity)	800.	900.
Armour deck on slopes	3-in. (e).	4-in. (d).
Other protection		Cellulose belt and cofferdam.
Complement	330.	395.

[Photo by favour of Commander Kurri, I.J.N.

AKITSUSHIMA.

The Akitsushima mounts 6-in. guns in the foremost and aftermost sponsons; four 4.7-in. are carried amidships, the fifth on the forecastle, and the sixth astern. She has thus a broadside fire of two 6-in. and four 4.7-in., against two 8-in. and three 6-in. in the Baltimore. Assuming that ship’s guns to be now replaced by Q.F., the Akitsushima would bring the equivalent of a 6-in. gun less.

The Yoshino, when new, was the swiftest cruiser in the world, and very few ships are equal to her yet. Particulars of her are:—

Displacement	4150 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	350 ft.
Beam	46 ft.
Draught (maximum)	19 ft.
Armament	Four 6-in. Q.F.
	Eight 4.7-in. Q.F.
	Twenty-two 3-pdr. Q.F.
	Five torpedo tubes
	(one of them fixed in the bow).
Horse-power (forced draught)	15,000.
Trial speed	23.031 knots.
Engines	Vertical triple expansion.
(Humphrys, Tennant & Co.)
Boilers	Cylindrical.
Screws	Two.
Coal (maximum bunker capacity)	1000 tons.
Complement	360.

The normal coal supply, at 4150 tons displacement, is about 400 tons. Bunkers are disposed amidships in the usual fashion above the armour deck. Amidships this deck is 4½ ins. thick on the slopes (= c) and 2 ins. on the flat. Allowing for the additional resistance of the coal, nothing under a 10-in., or modern 9.2 or 9.4-in., could penetrate to the engine-room, and then only with solid shot. The watertight compartments are exceptionally numerous. With natural draught the ship has made 21.6 knots.

The 6-in. guns are thus distributed: one on the forecastle, one on the poop, the other two in the foremost sponsons. The other broadside guns are 4.7-in. and 3-pounders. The bow and stern chasers have an arc of fire of 270 degrees, the 6-in. guns in sponsons fire 3 degrees across the bow and 60 degrees abaft it.

Photo by Sir W. G. Armstrong, Mitchell & Co., Ltd., Elswick.

YOSHINO.

The aftermost 4.7-in. fire 3 degrees across the stern and 60 degrees before it. The broadside guns have an arc of about 120 degrees. Each of the fighting-tops carries a couple of 3-pounder Q.F., four on each bridge, two under the forecastle forward, two under the poop well aft, the remaining six between the guns amidships.

Towards the end of 1893 a violent agitation against the Navy filled the Japanese newspapers. The existing types of ships—particularly the Chiyoda and Itsukushima class—were unfavourably criticised. The personnel was not free from these attacks; it was in some quarters demonstrated useless and inefficient. In the midst of these attacks the war with China loomed and broke out. After that war nothing further was heard on the subject of the personnel’s “defects.”

The primary result of the agitation was a new shipbuilding programme. The only ships actually under construction at that time were the Suma, building at Yokosuka, and laid down in March, 1893, and the Tatsuta, ordered to replace the lost Tschishima, building at Elswick. The new programme embodied “two first-class battleships of the most powerful type,” a cruiser at Yokosuka of the Suma type, and a sloop Miyako, laid down at Kuré in 1894. This programme was also a subject of attack in a portion of the Japanese press.

Before, however, anything could be done, the battle of Asan and the affair of the Kow-shing precipitated the war with China. Consequently, on the outbreak of war, the Tatsuta, launched at Elswick on April 6, 1894, and hastily completed in August of the same year, was stopped as contraband on her way out at Aden.

The Tatsuta is a torpedo gunboat. Particulars as follows:—

Displacement	875 tons.
Material of hull	Steel.
Length	240 ft.
Beam	27½ ft.
Draught (mean)	9½ ft.
Armament	Two 4.7-in. Q.F.
	Four 3-pdr. Q.F.
	Five torpedo tubes (one fixed in bow, the
	others in pairs—a pair on each quarter).
Horse-power (forced draught)	5500.
Trial speed	21 knots.
Engines (Hawthorn, Leslie & Co.)	Vertical triple expansion.
Screws	Two.
Coal supply (normal)	188 tons.
””  ( maximum capacity)	200 tons.
Complement	100 men.

CHAPTER V
THE WAR WITH CHINA

Japan was not long in finding uses for her navy.

The massacre of some shipwrecked Japanese in Formosa led to the despatch of a punitive expedition, the expense of which was paid by China, the suzerain, without any too much goodwill.

In 1875 Koreans gave trouble, by attacking a Japanese steamer that had visited one of their ports for coal and provisions, and in the midst of wild excitement a fleet was despatched, which, however, accomplished its object without bloodshed. A commercial treaty was concluded, and Japanese influences once more begun to gain ground in the Hermit Kingdom.

Mention has already been made of the Satsuma clan, whose anti-foreign sentiments had brought them into conflict with the British ten years before. A large portion of this clan were still violently conservative, and Saigo, the then head, having retired from Tokio, set up military schools, which something like 20,000 young Samaurai entered. Owing to his known reactionary ideas, Saigo was naturally viewed with some suspicion, but it is questionable whether he was at first imbued with anything but a strong imperialism. Amongst other things, he advocated the seizure of Korea, which, at that time, could have been done without much opposition, if any, from Russia, then busy over her war with Turkey. The Russian danger crusade was not, however, taken seriously by the people at large, and Saigo, in preaching war with Russia, was regarded as a visionary, crying “wolf” where no wolf was to be found.

On the other hand, war with China was a foregone conclusion for a long time before it occurred. Both China and Japan wanted Korea, and while China claimed a suzerainty over Korea, Japan insisted that it was an independent State. On account of this, strained relations were continual.

In the spring of 1894 an insurrection broke out in Korea, and China, to indicate her suzerainty, despatched troops to quell it. At the same time she sent a Note to the Japanese Government, notifying her intentions, using the term “tributary State” for Korea.

Japan replied by a Note, refusing to accept the “tributary State” expression, and a little later announced her intention of sending 4000 troops to Korea—claiming this as her right under the Chemulpo Convention—which specified that if China sent troops to Korea, Japan might do the like.

China protested, and, after the exchange of many Notes, despatched ten transports full of troops from Taku between July 21 and July 23. She also sent to Asan in Korea the small cruiser Tche Yuen and the gunboat Kuang-ki.

THE BATTLE OF ASAN
(PHUNG-DO).

On July 25th the Chinese warships Tche Yuen (Tsi Yuen)[17] and Kwang-Yi (Kuang King), coming from Asan in Korea, with awnings up, and generally unprepared for action, encountered off the island of Phung-do a portion of the Japanese flying squadron, consisting of the Naniwa (Captain Togo),[18] Yoshino (Captain Kawara), and Akitsushima (Captain Kamimura), the Yoshino flying the flag of Rear-Admiral Tsuboi.

Many accounts of this action have been written. The one I give here differs in many details from the narrative currently accepted; however, it is based on the personal narratives to me of officers of the Japanese ships engaged, and appears to me to afford by far the most reasonable explanation as to how the fight came about.

The Tche Yuen was never a good steering ship, and her steering-gear, which had been for some time in a state of neglect, broke down just about the time the Japanese ships were sighted.

This caused her to alter her course, and she bore down upon the Japanese, coming nearer and nearer. The idea went round that she purposed torpedoing.

Every gun in the Japanese fleet was thereupon laid upon the Tche Yuen’s conning-tower, red flags hoisted, and the Chinese ships ordered to keep off. This the leading vessel, Tche Yuen (Captain Fong), was unable to do, and she pressed so closely on the Naniwa that Captain Togo turned and headed towards her.

The Tche Yuen hoisted a white flag, but still continued to approach. Thereupon the Naniwa opened fire, the other ships following suit. The Japanese version, that the Tche Yuen fired a torpedo first of all, while under the white flag, generally credited, is, on the evidence of Japanese officers, quite incorrect. No torpedo was fired; they expected one—that is all.

The conning-tower of the Tche Yuen was hit five times at the first discharge, the first lieutenant and a sub-lieutenant, who were inside, being killed, though the captain, who stood beside them, was unhurt. He vacated the tower, and gave orders to clear for action. In the circumstances he made a very passable fight for it, despite the subsequent Chinese allegations of cowardice. Caught unprepared, his fighting did not amount to much; but that was a natural sequel to his unpreparedness.

Long before the Chinese could reply, the Japanese, at 3000 yards, had practically put the ship hors de combat. A large shell hit the armour-deck, and glancing up, struck the fore-turret, disabling one of the 8-in. guns. All men on deck were killed, wounded, or driven away, and in a little while the fore-turret was again hit and the gun’s crews killed. A shell burst in the funnel base, killing or wounding men in the stokehold, and all the upper works were riddled.

At about this stage the Tche Yuen did what she should have done long before, got the hand-steering wheel going, and, this done, she made off for Wei-hai-wei, keeping up a mild fire on the Japanese ships from her after 6-in. gun. This retreat was the only thing she could do; to remain would have been madness.

The Japanese attempted no pursuit, despite Chinese stories to the contrary. They believed that the Chinese battle-fleet was near by, and were chary accordingly. The only hit obtained by the Tche Yuen was on the Yoshino’s bridge, and this did little harm. On the other hand, the Tche Yuen, though she lost three officers and thirteen men killed, and twenty-five wounded, was not seriously damaged structurally, for within a week she was repaired. She, however, looked a fearful wreck; and an idea obtains that the Japanese thought that the sight of her would have a strong moral effect on the Chinese, which to some extent it did. If so, it was no unwise move; the ship, sound or damaged, could never be a serious enemy to them.

While this was going on the Kuang-Yi, disregarding orders to retire, attempted to charge and torpedo the enemy.[19] In this, of course, she failed, and, being on fire, most of her crew killed or wounded, she ran ashore. What was left of her crew—eighteen men all told—reached the land. The Naniwa, which had engaged the gunboat, continued to pound her, till a torpedo in the stern-tube blew up, and practically destroyed her completely.

[Official photo.

JAPANESE FLEET IN LINE ABREAST
OFF CHEMULPO DURING THE WAR.

This battle, save that it began the war, was a quite unimportant event, and has never been regarded in the Japanese Navy for more than it is worth. It is chiefly interesting on account of the pluck exhibited by the Chinese captain of the Kuang-Yi, and for the fact that in it Togo of the Naniwa first came to the front.