Japanese warship Kasuga (1862)

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Career
Builder:	J. Samuel White of Cowes, Isle of Wight
Ordered:
Laid down:
Launched:	1860
Commissioned:
Arrived in Japan:	January 1868
Decommissioned:	1894
Fate:	scrapped
General characteristics
Displacement:	1269 tons
Length:	73 m
Beam:	9 m
Draught:
Propulsion:	Steam engine, 300 hp (220 kW) by Day & Co of Southampton
Fuel:	Coal
Speed:	17 knots (31 km/h)
Complement:	134
Armament:	6 guns

The Japanese warship Kasuga (JPN: 春日) was built in 1860 in Great Britain by J. Samuel White of Cowes, Isle of Wight under the name Keang Soo (after the area of Jiangsu in China). The Keang Soo was purchased by the Satsuma fief on November 3, 1867, for the amount of 160,000 ryō, whence she was renamed Kasuga.

Kasuga was a wooden boat with paddle wheels. She weighed 1269t, her engine had a power of 300 ihp (220 kW), she did 17 knots (31 km/h) and she had 6 guns.

The ship entered Hyōgo harbour on January 1868, where it was blockaded by three ships of the navy of the Bakufu: Kaiyō, Banryō and the Shōkaku. Togo Heihachiro, future Admiral of the Fleet, joined the ship on January 3 as a third-class officer and a gunner.

The night of January 3, Kasuga escaped from Hyōgo harbour with two other ships. She was spotted by the Kaiyō, which chased her into the strait of Awa. The two ships exchanged fire at a distance of 1,200-2,500, without any actual hits. The exchange was named the Naval Battle of Awa and was the first naval battle in Japan between two modern fleets. Kasuga returned to Kagoshima after that exchange.

Officers of the Kasuga, in August 1869. Third-class officer Togo Heihachiro is dressed in white, top right.

In March 1869, Kasuga participated in the expedition against the last Bakufu forces in Hokkaidō, where they had formed the Republic of Ezo with the support of a few French military advisors such as Jules Brunet.

Encounter between the Kasuga of the Satsuma navy (forefront), and the Kaiyo of the Bakufu Navy (background), during the Naval Battle of Awa.

Stationed in the northern bay of Miyako the expedition suffered a surprise attack by the Bakufu ship Kaiten. Kaiten attacked the state-of-the art ironclad ship Kotetsu, but she was repulsed by Gatling guns onboard the Kotetsu and cannon response by Kasuga. The encounter has been named the Naval Battle of Miyako.

After these events Kasuga participated in the Naval Battle of Hakodate in May 1869, until the surrender of the last forces of the Bakufu.

In April 1870, the ship was transferred from the Satsuma fief to the newly formed Meiji Imperial government.

She was demobilized in 1894 and then assigned to the mine-laying group in Tsushima.

She was scrapped in 1902.