Japanese cruiser Yahagi (1911)
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 Japanese light criuiser Yahagi in 1916 |
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Builder: | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nagasaki, Japan |
| Ordered: | FY1907 |
| Laid down: | June 20 1910 |
| Launched: | October 03 1911 |
| Commissioned: | July 27 1912 |
| Fate: | Scrapped April 1 1940 |
| General Characteristics (initial – final) | |
| Displacement: | 5,040 tons |
| Length: | 144.8 meters overall |
| Beam: | 14.2 meters |
| Draft: | 5.1 meters |
| Propulsion: | Four Shaft Turbine Engines; 16 boilers; 22,500 shp |
| Speed: | 26 knots |
| Fuel & Range: | 1128 tons coal 10,000 nm @ 10 knots |
| Complement: | 414 |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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IJN Yahagi (矢矧) was the second vessel in the Chikuma class of 2nd class light cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Designed shortly after the Russo-Japanese War, it combined fairly heavy armament and displacement with newly-developed Parsons-type turbine engines, which gave it an incredible 26 knot speed. However, problems with material strength in the gears of the new engines created a maintenance nightmare, and the Yahagi could seldom live up to its potential.
The Yahagi had two sister ship, the IJN Chikuma and the IJN Hirado. The Yahagi was named after a river running from Gifu prefecture through Aichi prefecture.
The Yahagi participated in World War I, and in the chase for the German Asiatic Squadron led by Admiral-Graf Maximilian von Spee in 1914. The Yahagi and its sister ship Hirado were in the 2nd Southern Squadron lead by the battleship Satsuma and commanded by Rear-Admiral Matsumura Tatsuo. From December 1914 to January 1915, the light cruisers Chikugo and Yahagi patrolled the coast off north Queensland, Australia. On 7 February 1917 the Imperial Japanese Navy formed the First Special Squadron which composed the cruisers Yahagi, Tsushima, Suma and Niitaka, together with the Second Destroyer Flotilla. This squadron was based at Singapore and commanded by Rear Admiral Oguri Kozaburo. On 26 March 1917, the British Admiralty further requested the deployment of the Chikuma and Hirado to Australia and New Zealand to protect shipping against the German raiding operations. The Yahagi and Suma were ordered to the Indian Ocean to continue cooperation with the British China Squadron, and the Tsushima and Niitaka proceeded to Mauritius. The Yahagi continued to patrol the eastern coasts of Australia and New Zealand from May to October 1917. The Yahagi, the last ship deployed by Japan to defend Australia and New Zealand, sailed from Sydney back to Japan on 21 October 1918.
The crew of the Yahagi became stricken with influenza during the Great Influenza Epidemic of December 1918, and had to make an emergency port call at Manila harbor for 46 days, during which time 300 of her crew were incapacitated, and 48 died.
The Yahagi was mostly assigned to guarding the southern approaches to Japan, and made frequent port calls to Manila and Macao. In 1924, the Yahagi was considered a reserve vessel and used as primarily as a moored training ship. Stricken on 01 April 1940 and re-designated Hai Kan Nr 12 at the Etajima (Imperial Japanese Naval Academy), it served as a barracks ship for submarine crews until 1943. The hull was scrapped in 1947.
The Yahagi should not be confused with the short-lived Agano-class light cruiser of the same name from the Pacific War period.
Imperial Japanese Navy  |
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