Last Japanese Cruisers

In my last post, I pictured almost the entire Japanese battle fleet, minus some protected cruisers that were either on patrol or not yet in commission.  I have now rectified that lapse.

The first five protected cruisers were, I believe, either manning the various patrol lines in the Yellow Sea and Sea of Japan or were supporting the Japanese Army's advance to Port Arthur.  All of them are older, obsolescent ships that were not included in the main fleet operations.

They are all Panzerschiffe Miniatures models and the catalog number appears after each ship's name.  As usual, please click on the picture for a larger image.

The Izumi (L-333) is the oldest of the five, having been built in the early 1880s as the Chilean Esmeralda.  Panzerschiffe has no designated model for her, so I have used the one for the Suma as they appear to be similar in appearance.

The Akitsushima (L-333) was one of the first cruisers built in Japan in the early 1890s.  Again, I've had to use a model of the Suma for her.

The Takasago (L-353) was a near sister of the Yoshino.  She was built in the UK as an improved design of the Argentine 25 de Mayo.

The Suma (L-333) and her sister, Akashi (below), were built in Japan and were based on the earlier Akitsushima.

The Akashi (L-333), sister of the Suma, above.

The next two protected cruisers were so "modern" that they weren't even in commission by the August 1904 battles.  They were rushed into completion to aid the Japanese fleet in meeting the Russian 2nd and 3rd Pacific Squadrons in 1905.

The Tsushima (L-337) was a sister of the Niitaka and was actually named for the island before it became famous for the battle that destroyed the Russian navy.

The Otowa (L369) was a follow-on to the Niitaka class and was the last major warship launched and commissioned before the Russians approached in the Spring of 1905.

This now completes major combatants for the Japanese battle fleet that I will be using for recreations of actual battles and for realistic (I hope) "could have been" battles over the coming months.  The destroyers that accompanied the battlefleet are being commissioned even now and their pictures (along with those of the Russian destroyers) will soon grace this blog.  I have not attempted to model the large number of Japanese auxiliary cruisers who were used for scouting and sea lane control.  That type of naval operations falls outside the purview of the battles I will be recreating.

Note:  The major combatants of the Russian 2nd and 3rd Pacific Squadrons will be the next to be painted after I finish the destroyers.