View source for Japanese gunboat Ōshima

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|Ship image= Japanese gunboat Oshima in 1892.jpg
|Ship caption= Japanese gunboat ''Ōshima'' off Kobe
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|Ship country=[[Empire of Japan]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|naval}}
|Ship name=''Ōshima''
|Ship ordered=1889
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|Ship builder=[[Onohama Shipyards]]
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|Ship laid down=29 August 1889
|Ship launched=14 October 1891
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|Ship commissioned=31 March 1892 
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|Ship struck=15 June 1905
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|Ship fate= Sunk in collision 18 May 1904
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship type=[[Gunboat]]
|Ship displacement= {{convert|640|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length= {{convert|53.65|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|8.0|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{convert|2.75|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*reciprocating [[steam engine]]
*2 shafts, 4 boilers
*{{convert|1217|hp|abbr=on}} 
|Ship speed= {{convert|13.0|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}
|Ship range=70 tons coal
|Ship boats=
|Ship complement=130
|Ship armament=*4 × {{convert|120|mm|in|abbr=on}} QF guns
*5 × [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss|{{convert|47|mm|in|abbr=on}}]] Hotchkiss guns
*6 × {{convert|37|mm|in|abbr=on}} [[Nordenfelt gun]]s
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{{nihongo|'''''Ōshima'''''|大島|}} was a [[gunboat|steam gunboat]], serving in the early [[Imperial Japanese Navy]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Jentsura  | first = Hansgeorg  | year = 1976 | title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945  | publisher = Naval Institute Press  | isbn = 0-87021-893-X }} page 116</ref> She was named after the island of [[Izu Ōshima|Ōshima]] off [[Shizuoka prefecture]].

==Background and design==
''Ōshima'' was a steel-hulled three-masted gunboat with a triple-expansion reciprocating [[steam engine]] with two boilers driving two screws which gave her a speed of {{convert|13|kn|lk=in}}.<ref name= Conway>Chesneau, ''All the World’s Fighting Ships'', p. 236.</ref> Her design was based on a modified version of the {{sclass|Maya|gunboat|4}} and the [[Oyatoi gaikokujin|French naval architect]] [[Louis-Émile Bertin]] contributed to her design. She is noteworthy in that she was the first ship to be built in Japan with a vertical triple-expansion steam engine.<ref name= Conway />

She was equipped with four {{convert|120|mm|in|abbr=on}} QF guns, one each on the bow, stern, and in [[sponson]]s on either side of the hull. Secondary armament included five [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss|{{convert|47|mm|in|abbr=on}}]] Hotchkiss guns.
''Ōshima'' was [[Keel laying|laid down]] at the [[Onohama Shipyards]] in [[Kobe]] under direction of the [[Kure Naval Arsenal]] on 29 August 1889 and [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 14 October 1891. She was completed on 31 March 1892.<ref name= Nishidah>Nishida, ''Ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy''</ref>

==Operational history==
''Ōshima'' saw combat service in the [[First Sino-Japanese War]], during which time an additional three {{convert|120|mm|in|abbr=on}} guns and an additional three [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss|{{convert|47|mm|in|abbr=on}}]] guns were fitted, patrolling between [[Korea]], [[Dairen]] and [[Weihai]]wei in a reserve capacity in the [[IJN 2nd Fleet]].

On 21 March 1898, ''Ōshima'' was re-designated as a second-class [[gunboat]],<ref name= Nishidah/> and was used for coastal survey and patrol duties. In September 1898, the Chinese reformer and journalist [[Liang Qichao]] fled to exile in Japan aboard ''Ōshima'', which took him to [[Itsukushima|Miyajima]] with the assistance of the Japanese government.<ref>{{cite book | last = Levenson  | first = Josepth Richmond  | year = 1953 | title = Liang Ch'i-ch'ao and the Mind of Modern China  | publisher = University of California Press  }} page 32</ref>

During the [[Russo-Japanese War]], ''Ōshima'' assisted in the [[Siege of Port Arthur]]. On 18 May 1904, under the command of Commander [[Hirose Katsuhiko]] (the elder brother of the famous [[Takeo Hirose]]) she collided in a heavy fog with the gunboat {{ship|Japanese gunboat|Akagi||2}} and sank in the early hours of the following morning in Liaotung Bay off of [[Lüshunkou|Port Arthur]] at position {{coord|39|01|N|121|08|E|display=inline, title}}.

''Ōshima'' was removed from the [[navy list]] on 15 June 1905.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* Corbett, Sir Julian. ''Maritime Operations In The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905''. (1994) Originally classified, and in two volumes, {{ISBN|1-55750-129-7}}
*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}}
*{{cite book | last = Jentsura  | first = Hansgeorg  | year = 1976 | title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945  | publisher = Naval Institute Press  | isbn = 0-87021-893-X }}

==External links==
*{{cite web| last = Nishida| first = Hiroshi| url = http://admiral31.world.coocan.jp/e/stc0631.htm | title = Materials of IJN|  work = Imperial Japanese Navy| access-date = 17 August 2022}}

{{IJNOrder1894-95}}
{{Russo-JapaneseWarJapaneseShips}}
{{1904 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshima}}
[[Category:Gunboats of the Imperial Japanese Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Japan]]
[[Category:1891 ships]]
[[Category:First Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan]]
[[Category:Russo-Japanese War naval ships of Japan]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Yellow Sea]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1904]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Russo-Japanese War]]
[[Category:Ships sunk in collisions]]

[[ja:大島 (砲艦)]]