| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Empire of Japan | |
| Name | Nisshin |
| Ordered | 23 December 1901 |
| Builder | Gio. Ansaldo & C., Genoa-Sestri Ponente |
| Laid down | 29 March 1902 |
| Launched | 9 February 1903 |
| Acquired | 30 December 1903 |
| Commissioned | 7 January 1904 |
| Stricken | 1 April 1935 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Giuseppe Garibaldi-class armored cruiser |
| Displacement | 7,700 t (7,578 long tons) |
| Length | 111.73 m (366 ft 7 in) (o/a) |
| Beam | 18.71 m (61 ft 5 in) |
| Draft | 7.35 m (24 ft 1 in) |
| Depth | 12.1 m (39 ft 8 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 Shafts; 2 triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Range | 5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 600 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
Nisshin (日進), also transliterated as Nissin, was a Kasuga-class armored cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, built in the first decade of the 20th century by Gio. Ansaldo & C., Sestri Ponente, Italy, where the type was known as the Giuseppe Garibaldi class. The ship was originally ordered by the Royal Italian Navy in 1901 as San Rocco and sold the next year to the Argentine Navy who renamed her Mariano Moreno during the Argentine–Chilean naval arms race, but the lessening of tensions with Chile and financial pressures caused the Argentinians to sell her before delivery. At that time tensions between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire were rising, and the ship was offered to both sides before she was purchased by the Japanese.
During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, Nisshin participated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea and was damaged in the subsequent Battle of Tsushima. In addition, she frequently bombarded the defenses of Port Arthur. The ship played a limited role in World War I and was used to escort Allied convoys and search for German commerce raiders in the Indian Ocean and Australasia. In 1918, Nisshin was deployed to the Mediterranean and then escorted the surrendered German submarines allocated to Japan from Britain after the war. She became a training ship in 1927 and was sunk as a target ship in 1936. Her wreck was later refloated and used as a target again in 1942.