, also transliterated as Nissin, was a armored cruiser

Armored cruiser

The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...

 of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

 designed and built by Ansaldo

Gio. Ansaldo & C.

Ansaldo was one of Italy's oldest and most important engineering companies, existing for 140 years from 1853 to 1993.-From foundation to World War I:...

 in Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

 Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, where the type was known as the . Designed as a cross between a battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

 and a cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

, but with a very small displacement, it had the ability to stand in the line of battle

Line of battle

In naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line end to end. A primitive form had been used by the Portuguese under Vasco Da Gama in 1502 near Malabar against a Muslim fleet.,Maarten Tromp used it in the Action of 18 September 1639 while its first use in...

 and the speed to avoid action with battleships. Its armor belt was only 6 inches (152.4 mm) thick, but covered a far greater percentage of the hull than previous armored cruiser designs.

The Nisshin had a sister ship, the .

Background

The Nisshin was the last of the Garibaldi-class armored cruisers to be built. Originally ordered by the Italian Navy

Italian Navy

Italian Navy may refer to:* Pre-unitarian navies of the Italian states* Regia Marina, the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Italy * Italian Navy , the navy of the Italian Republic...

 as the Roca in the spring of 1902, it was sold immediately after launch to the Argentine Navy

Argentine Navy

The Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force....

, who renamed it the Mariano Moreno. However, the possibility of war between Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 and Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 abated before the ship was completed on 7 January 1904, making it surplus. The Japanese quickly purchased it due to increasing tension with Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

.

Service record

Completed in January 1904, the Nisshin was sailed, together with its sister ship the Kasuga, from Genoa to Japan under the command of British captains with combined British, Italian and Arab crews. During the voyage, the Imperial Russian Navy

Imperial Russian Navy

The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...

 shadowed the two vessels with the intention of sinking them as soon as the conflict started, however they reached their destination just as Japan opened up hostilities with its naval attack on Port Arthur

Battle of Port Arthur

The Battle of Port Arthur was the starting battle of the Russo-Japanese War...

. The Nisshin was commanded by Captain J.H. Lea and the Kasuga was commanded by Captain H.H. Paynter, both captains having their Royal Navy commissions temporarily withdrawn by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in order to avoid diplomatic complications in the event that the ships came into conflict with Russian forces.

On their arrival, the officers and men of both ships were welcomed as heroes in Japan, and their British captains had the honor of an interview with Emperor Meiji

Emperor Meiji

The or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...

.

At the start of the Russo-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...

 in 1904, the Imperial Japanese Navy had six modern battleships. This was slightly fewer than the number of Russian battleships at Port Arthur

Lüshunkou

Lüshunkou is a district in the municipality of Dalian, Liaoning province, China. Also called Lüshun City or Lüshun Port, it was formerly known as both Port Arthur and Ryojun....

, but Japan had an edge in armored cruisers. On 15 May 1904 in a major disaster for the Imperial Japanese Navy, two Japanese battleships were lost to Russian mine

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...

s, and the Kasuga accidentally rammed and sunk the cruiser in a fog bank. With a third of Japan's battleships thus depleted, the unprecedented decision was taken to use the Nisshin and Kasuga in the line of battle together with the remaining four first line battleships , , and during Battle of the Yellow Sea

Battle of the Yellow Sea

The Battle of the Yellow Sea was a major naval engagement of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 10 August 1904. In the Russian Navy, it was referred to as the Battle of 10 August. The battle foiled an attempt by the Russian fleet at Port Arthur to break out and form up with counterparts from...

 (10 August 1904). The Nisshin received significant damage but stayed in the fight.

At the subsequent Battle of Tsushima

Battle of Tsushima

The Battle of Tsushima , commonly known as the “Sea of Japan Naval Battle” in Japan and the “Battle of Tsushima Strait”, was the major naval battle fought between Russia and Japan during the Russo-Japanese War...

 on 26 May 1905, Nisshin, as flagship of Vice-Admiral Misu Sotaru (second in command after Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō

Togo Heihachiro

Fleet Admiral Marquis was a Fleet Admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and one of Japan's greatest naval heroes. He was termed by Western journalists as "the Nelson of the East".-Early life:...

), was 6th and last in the line of battle, following the Kasuga. At 14:15, Nisshin opened fire on the , the lead ship in the second column of the Russian fleet at a range of 7000 yards (6,400.8 m).　At 14:40 Nisshin received her first hit as a Russian 12 inches (304.8 mm) shell cut her right 8-inch gun of the forward turret in half. Between 14:57 and 15:05, the Japanese fleet reversed course to block Russian northward movement, which put the Nisshin as first ship in the battle line. At 15:00, a Russian 12 inches (304.8 mm) shell punched through the armor belt of Nisshin one foot below the waterline and flooded a coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 bunker. Another 12 inches (304.8 mm) shell hit the belt about three feet above the waterline but did not penetrate. At 15:06, the Russian cruiser charged the Japanese line for a torpedo

Torpedo

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

 attack but was driven off by fire from Nisshin, Kasuga and at 3300 yards (3,017.5 m).

At 15:30, the Japanese line again reversed course, placing Nisshin at the rear again. Another 12 inches (304.8 mm) hit was made on the Nisshin but without any significant damage. At 16:05, Nisshin was hit once more A 9 inches (228.6 mm) hit on the fore turret sent shell splinters into the conning tower

Conning tower

A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....

, wounding Admiral Misu. By 17:07, the Japanese line was firing into the light of the setting sun and the Russian line had better visibility. Nisshin was hit again at 17:20 by another 12 inches (304.8 mm) shell, which cut the left 8-inch gun of the aft turret in half. She was now down to half her main armament. As daylight was dying, Nisshin was hit yet again at 19:00 by a 12 inches (304.8 mm) shell with her left 8-inch gun of the forward turret being cut in half. She now just had a single 8 inches (203.2 mm) gun operable, the right gun of the aft turret. After nightfall, the action of the main Japanese line concluded. Nisshin had expended 181 8 inches (203.2 mm) shells during the battle. Her rate of expenditure obviously decreased significantly as she lost first one, then two and finally three of her four 8 inches (203.2 mm) guns.

While serving on the Nisshin at the Battle of Tsushima, then Ensign

Ensign

An ensign is a national flag when used at sea, in vexillology, or a distinguishing token, emblem, or badge, such as a symbol of office in heraldry...

 Yamamoto Isoroku

Isoroku Yamamoto

was a Japanese Naval Marshal General and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II, a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy and a student of Harvard University ....

 lost two fingers on his left hand.

Of the battle damage received by the Japanese, Nisshin received the second most hits after . Mikasa received over 40 hits, of which ten were from 12 inches (304.8 mm) shells. Nisshin was hit 13 times, including six 12 inches (304.8 mm) and one 9 inches (228.6 mm) hits. Given the number of hits on the Nisshin and the fact that she stayed in line throughout the battle, it can certainly be said that she had validated the hopes of the designer: a cruiser able to stand in the line of battle. The performance of the Japanese armored cruisers during the Battle of Tsushima and that of Nisshin in particular was such that it led to a burst of construction of armored cruisers in the world's navies and also directly led to the battlecruiser

Battlecruiser

Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...

 designs that were shortly to follow.

From 1917, the Nisshin participated in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 in the Mediterranean theater, where she led a group of eight Japanese destroyers based in Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

, in a mission to protect Allied shipping against German

Kaiserliche Marine

The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...

 and Austrian

Austro-Hungarian Navy

The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine , abbreviated as k.u.k. Kriegsmarine....

 submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 attacks, as part of Japan’s contribution to the Allied war effort under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance

Anglo-Japanese Alliance

The first was signed in London at what is now the Lansdowne Club, on January 30, 1902, by Lord Lansdowne and Hayashi Tadasu . A diplomatic milestone for its ending of Britain's splendid isolation, the alliance was renewed and extended in scope twice, in 1905 and 1911, before its demise in 1921...

.

During the 1920s, Nisshin was partially disarmed in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty

Washington Naval Treaty

The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...

. It was used to transport Japanese soldiers and supplies to Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

 in 1922 as part of Japan's Siberian Intervention

Siberian Intervention

The ', or the Siberian Expedition, of 1918–1922 was the dispatch of troops of the Entente powers to the Russian Maritime Provinces as part of a larger effort by the western powers and Japan to support White Russian forces against the Bolshevik Red Army during the Russian Civil War...

. She was then used as a training ship until decommissioned in 1935. In 1936, she was scuttled.

In a strange footnote in history, the Nisshin was later raised, and towed as a target by the battleship Mutsu

Japanese battleship Mutsu

thumb|right|300px|Mutsu shortly after commissioning in c. 1922Mutsu , named after Mutsu Province, as per Japanese ship naming conventions, was the Imperial Japanese Navy's second Nagato class battleship...

 at the Kamegakubi Naval Proving Ground, Inland Sea, 15 miles (24.1 km) SW of Kure

Kure, Hiroshima

is a city in Hiroshima prefecture, Japan.As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 240,820 and a population density of 681 persons per km². The total area is 353.74 km².- History :...

. There, on 18 January 1942, it was sunk again by the battleship with her new 18.1 inch guns

40 cm/45 Type 94

The Japanese was the largest bore gun ever mounted on any warship. They were actually 46 cm guns, but were designated 40 cm in an effort to hide their true size.-Description:...

.

The city of Nisshin

Nisshin, Aichi

is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.As of July 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 83,120, with 32,471 households and a population density of 2,381.66 persons per km². Its total area is 34.90 km².The city was founded on October 1, 1994....

 in Aichi District

Aichi District, Aichi

is a district located in Aichi, Japan.As of September 1, 2008, the district had an estimated population of 91,533 and a density of 2,310.0 persons per km²...

, Aichi prefecture

Aichi Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region. The region of Aichi is also known as the Tōkai region. The capital is Nagoya. It is the focus of the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area.- History :...

was named after the cruiser Nisshin in 1905.