Katsuragi in 1897
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Katsuragi
Ordered	1882 Fiscal Year
Builder	Yokosuka Naval Arsenal,Japan
Laid down	18 August 1883
Launched	31 March 1885
Commissioned	4 November 1887
Stricken	11 April 1913
Fate	Scrapped, 11 April 1913
General characteristics
Class & type	Katsuragi-classcorvette
Displacement	1,500 t (1,476 long tons)
Length	62.78 m (206 ft 0 in)
Beam	10.7 m (35 ft 1 in)
Draft	4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)
Installed power	1,622 ihp (1,210 kW)
Propulsion	1 × horizontally mounted reciprocatingsteam engine 6boilers, 2 × screws
Sail plan	Barque-riggedsloop (3 × masts)
Speed	13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Capacity	132 t (146 short tons)coal
Complement	231
Armament	2 × 170 mm (6.7 in)Krupp breech-loading guns 5 × 120 mm (4.7 in) Krupp breech-loading guns 1 × 80 mm (3.1 in) Krupp QF gun 4 × quadruple1-inch Nordenfelt guns 2 × 380 mm (15 in)torpedo tubes

Katsuragi (葛城) was thelead ship in theKatsuragi class of threecomposite hulled, sail-and-steam corvettes of the earlyImperial Japanese Navy. The ship was named for a mountain located betweenOsaka andNara prefectures.

Katsuragi was designed as an iron-ribbed, wooden-hulled, three-mastedbarque-riggedsloop-of-war with a coal-fired double-expansion reciprocatingsteam engine with six cylindrical boilers driving a double screw.^[1] Her basic design was based on experience gained in buildingKaimon andTenryū sloops, but was already somewhat obsolescent in comparison to contemporary European warships when completed.Katsuragi was laid down atYokosuka Naval Arsenal 18 August 1883 under the direction of British-educated Japanesenaval architectSasō Sachū. She was launched on 31 March 1885 and commissioned on 4 November 1887.

Katsuragi saw combat service in theFirst Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, patrolling betweenKorea,Dairen andWeihaiwei. She was also at theBattle of Yalu River in a reserve capacity in theWestern Sea Fleet.

On 21 March 1898,Katsuragi was re-designated a third-classgunboat,^[2] and was used for coastal survey and patrol duties.

On 6 October 1900,Katsuragi ran aground off ofIzu Ōshima. It took over a month to refloat her, after which she underwent extensive repairs at Yokosuka, during which time her sail rigging was removed, and she was rearmed with eight QF 2.5 pdr guns and six quadrupleNordenfelt guns, and her torpedoes were upgraded from 15 inch to18-inchtorpedo tubes.^[1]

During theRusso-Japanese War of 1904–1905,Katsuragi served as aguard ship inNagasaki harbor.

Katsuragi was refitted again in 1907, when her guns were replaced with four 3-inch and two 2.5-inch guns,^[1] and she was reclassified as asurvey ship. She was reclassified again as a second-classcoastal patrol vessel on 28 August 1912, and was removed from thenavy list and scrapped on 4 November 1913.^[2]

• Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik (editors),All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905, Conway Maritime Press, 1979 reprinted 2002,ISBN 0-85177-133-5
• Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976).Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Naval Institute Press.ISBN 0-87021-893-X.

• Screw sloops of the Imperial Japanese Navy
• Naval ships of Japan
• 1885 ships
• First Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan
• Russo-Japanese War naval ships of Japan
• Three-masted ships
• Ships built by Yokosuka Naval Arsenal
• Katsuragi-class corvettes

• Articles containing Japanese-language text