| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Ryujo |
| Builder: | Alexander Hall and Company, Aberdeen |
| Launched: | 1864 |
| Completed: | 27 April 1869 |
| Decommissioned: | 2 December 1893 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1908 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,429 long tons (1,452 t) standard |
| Length: | 65 m (213 ft 3 in) p/p |
| Beam: | 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in) |
| Draught: | 5.3 m (17 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | 1-shaft reciprocating; 800 hp (600 kW) |
| Speed: | 9 knots (10 mph; 17 km/h) |
| Complement: | 275 |
| Armament: | • 2 × 6.5 in (170 mm) guns • 10 × 5.5 in (140 mm) guns |
| Armour: | Belt: 115 mm (4.5 in) Battery: 100 mm (3.9 in) |
The Ryūjō (龍驤) or Jo Sho Maru, was a steam ironclad warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed by Thomas Blake Glover and built in Scotland for the private navy of the fief of Kumamoto, where it was called the Jo Sho Maru. It was delivered to the new Imperial Japanese Navy on 8 May 1870, and sailed from Nagasaki to Yokohama with a British captain. Until the commissioning of the ironclad Fusō in 1878, she was the flagship (and the most powerful ship) of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The Ryūjō was honored by a visit by Emperor Meiji in 1871, and formed part of the escort of Russian Crown Prince (later Emperor) Nicholas II, when he visited Japan in 1872.
The Ryūjō participated in the battles of the early Meiji Restoration, including the Saga Rebellion, Seinan War and the first Taiwan Expedition of 1874.
On 26 October 1877, the Ryūjō ran aground in high winds off of Kagoshima, but it was successfully refloated the following year and brought to Yokosuka for repairs.
From February—July 1881, the Ryūjō made a successful visit to Sydney, Melbourne in Australia and a circumnavigation of Tasmania. The following year, the Ryūjō made a voyage through the South Pacific, to Honolulu in Hawaii.
On 15 September 1873, 169 crewmen (of a crew of 378) were stricken with food poisoning, of which 23 died. This incident led to the use of bread as the main diet of the Japanese navy.
From February through September 1872, the Ryūjō made a marathon cruise from Shinagawa to Singapore, Batavia, Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland.
Although formally decommissioned on 2 December 1893, the Ryūjō's guns were replaced with the latest Krupp cannons, and the ship continued to be used as a naval gunnery training vessel based at Yokosuka until 1908.
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