Miyako in 1902
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Miyako
Ordered	1893 Fiscal Year
Builder	Kure Shipyards, Japan
Laid down	26 May 1894
Launched	27 October 1898
Completed	31 March 1899
Stricken	21 May 1905
Fate	Sunk bymine 14 May 1904
General characteristics
Type	Unprotected cruiser
Displacement	1,772long tons (1,800 t)
Length	314 ft (95.7 m)
Beam	34 ft (10.4 m)
Draft	14 ft (4.3 m)
Propulsion	2-shaft reciprocating VTE, 6,130 ihp (4,570 kW), 8 locomotive boilers, 400 tons coal
Speed	20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Complement	200
Armament	2 ×QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I–IVs 8 ×QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss guns 2 × 18 in (460 mm)torpedo tubes

Miyako (宮古) was anunprotected cruiser of the earlyImperial Japanese Navy.^[1] The nameMiyako comes from theMiyako Islands, one of the three island groups making up currentOkinawa prefecture.Miyako was used by the Imperial Japanese Navy primarily as anaviso (dispatch boat) for scouting, reconnaissance and delivery of high priority messages.

Miyako was designed under the supervision ofFrench naval architectÉmile Bertin, and built in Japan by theKure Shipyards. With a small displacement, powerful engines, and a 20-knot (37 km/h) speed, the lightly armed and lightly armoredMiyako was an example of theJeune Ecole philosophy of naval warfare advocated by Bertin. Due to her small size the ship is sometimes classified as acorvette orgunboat.

Similar in design toYaeyama and the French unprotected cruiserMilan (1885),Miyako was the first warship produced by the new Kure Naval Arsenal. She had a steel hull, and retained twomasts for auxiliary sail propulsion in addition to hersteam engine.Miyako was armed with twoQF 4.7-inch Gun Mk I–IVs guns and eightQF 3 pounder Hotchkiss guns. In addition, she carried two torpedoes, mounted on the deck.^[2]

Miyako waslaid down on 26 May 1894,launched 27 October 1898 and completed on 31 March 1899.^[3] The ship was not completed in time for theFirst Sino-Japanese War. From June 1900 to October 1902, she was under the command of CommanderYashiro Rokurō.

During theRusso-Japanese War of 1904–1905,Miyako participated in the navalBattle of Port Arthur and subsequentblockade of that port under the command of CommanderTochinai Sōjirō. While engaged in a survey ofDairen Harbor in search of a suitable landing place for the ground forces of theImperial Japanese Army'sIJA 2nd Army,Miyako struck amine and sank within minutes on the night of 14 May 1904, with the loss of two crewmen.^[4] She was officially struck from thenavy list on 21 May 1905. Her wreckage was raised and sold for scrap on 4 July 1906.

• Chesneau, Roger (1979).Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Conway Maritime Press.ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
• Howarth, Stephen (1983).The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum.ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
• Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976).Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Roberts, John (ed). (1983).'Warships of the world from 1860 to 1905 - Volume 2: United States, Japan and Russia. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz.ISBN 3-7637-5403-2.
• Roksund, Arne (2007).The Jeune École: The Strategy of the Weak. Leiden: Brill.ISBN 978-90-04-15723-1.
• Schencking, J. Charles (2005).Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press.ISBN 0-8047-4977-9.

• Nishida, Hiroshi."Materials of IJN".Imperial Japanese Navy.

• Cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy
• 1898 ships
• Ships built by Kure Naval Arsenal
• Naval ships of Japan
• Russo-Japanese War cruisers of Japan
• Maritime incidents in 1904
• Ships sunk by mines
• Shipwrecks in the East China Sea
• Shipwrecks of China
• Shipwrecks of the Russo-Japanese War

• Use dmy dates from March 2021
• Articles containing Japanese-language text