Japanese cruiser Takasago

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Career
The Japanese cruiser Takasago
Built:	Armstrong Whitworth, Great Britain
Ordered:	1896 Fiscal Year
Laid down	April 1894
Launched:	May 18 1897
Completed:	May 17 1898
Fate:	Mined off Port Arthur, December 13 1904
General Characteristics
Displacement:	4,160 tons
Length:	118.2 meters at waterline
Beam:	14.78 meters
Draught:	5.18 meters
Propulsion:	2-shaft, 12 boilers, 15500 HP
Speed:	23.5 knots
Fuel:	1000 tons coal
Complement:	425
Armament:	2 × 203 mm guns 10 × 120 mm guns 12 x 12 pdr guns 6 x 2.5 pdr guns 5 x 450 mm torpedos
Armor:	114 mm deck armor (slope), 63 mm deck armor (flat); 203 mm gun shields (front), 62 mm gun shields (side), 114 mm conning tower

The IJN Takasago (高砂) was a 2nd class protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built by the Armstrong Whitworth shipyards in Elswick, in the Great Britain. It should note be confused with the later Takasago-maru auxiliary hospital ship of the same name. The IJN Yoshino is often regarded as a sister ship to the Takasago, due to the similarity in their design, armament and speed. The name Takasago derives from a location in Hyogo prefecture, near Kobe.

On 07 April 1902, the Takasago and the Asama were sent on an epic 24,718 nautical mile voyage to Great Britain, as part of the Japanese delegation to the coronation ceremonies of King Edward VII, and in celebration of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. After visiting numerous European ports, the ships returned safely to Japan on 28 November 1902.

The Takasago participated in the naval Battle of Port Arthur in the opening stages of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. It is noted for having captured the Russian merchant vessel Manchuria, which was renamed the Kanto by the Japanese. However, the Takasago struck a mine and sank off Port Arthur [38.10N, 121.15E] on 13 December 1904, with the loss of 273 officers and crew.