, also transliterated as Nissin, was a 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 . 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.
Background
Nisshin was the last of the 10 Giuseppe Garibaldi-class armored cruisers to be built. The first ship had been completed in 1895 and the class had enjoyed considerable export success, with the base design being gradually improved over the years. The last two ships of the class were ordered on 23 December 1901 by the Royal Italian Navy, and sold in 1902 to the Argentine Navy in response to the order placed to a British shipbuilder by Chile for two second-class battleships. The possibility of war between Argentina and Chile, however, abated before the vessel was completed, and a combination of financial problems and British pressure forced Argentina to dispose of Mariano Moreno and her sister ship Bernardino Rivadavia. The Argentine government attempted to sell the ships to Russia, but negotiations failed over the price demanded by the Argentinians. The Japanese government quickly stepped in and purchased them due to increasing tensions with Russia despite the high price of ¥14,937,390 (£1,530,000) for the two sisters. Already planning to attack Russia, the government delayed their surprise attack on Port Arthur that began the Russo-Japanese War until the ships had left Singapore and could not be delayed or interned by any foreign power.
Design and description
Nisshin had an overall length of , a beam of , a molded depth of and a deep draft (ship) of . She displaced at normal load. The ship was powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam from 8 coal-fired Scotch marine boilers. Designed for a maximum output of and a speed of , Nisshin barely exceeded this, reaching a speed of during her sea trials on 6 November 1903 despite produced by her engines. She had a cruising range of at . Her complement consisted of 560 officers and enlisted men.
Her main armament consisted of four Type 41 guns, in twin-gun turrets fore and aft of the superstructure. Ten of the quick-firing (QF) Type 41 guns that comprised her secondary armament were arranged in casemates amidships on the main deck; the remaining four guns were mounted on the upper deck. Nisshin also had ten QF Type 41 guns and six QF 3-pounder ) Hotchkiss guns to defend herself against torpedo boats. She was fitted with four submerged torpedo tubes, two on each side.
The ship's waterline armor belt had a maximum thickness of amidships and tapered to towards the ends of the ship. Between the main gun barbettes it covered the entire side of the ship up to the level of the upper deck. The ends of the central armored citadel were enclosed by transverse bulkheads thick. The forward barbette, the conning tower, and gun turrets were also protected by 150-millimeter armor while the aft barbette only had of armor. Her deck armor ranged from thick and the six-inch guns on the upper deck were protected by gun shields.