TORPEDO BOATS
Till recently, the fastest Japanese torpedo boat was one captured from the Chinese at Wei-hai-wei. Some very fast boats were built in the period 1898-1901, the types being Normand and Yarrow (Viper type), mostly the former. Details will be found in the [Appendix]. Some recent boats reached 29 knots on trial, and they are practically small destroyers.
The early Japanese torpedo boats were of the “second-class” variety, usually of the Normand or some similar French type, and the boats which sealed the fate of the Chinese Fleet at Wei-hai-wei were mostly of this pattern.
THE FIRST TORPEDO BOAT BUILT IN JAPAN.
(Nos. 5-19 are of this type.)