View source for Chinese cruiser Ning Hai

{{Short description|Chinese light cruiser}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = Chinese cruiser NING-HAI in 1932.jpg
| Ship caption = Chinese cruiser ''Ning Hai'' in 1932
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Ship country = Republic of China
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Republic of China|naval}}
| Ship name = ''Ning Hai''
| Ship namesake = 
| Ship ordered = 1930
| Ship awarded = 
| Ship builder = [[IHI Corporation|Harima Shipyards]], Japan
| Ship original cost = 
| Ship yard number = 
| Ship way number = 
| Ship laid down = 20 February 1931
| Ship launched = 10 October 1931
| Ship sponsor = 
| Ship christened = 
| Ship completed = 
| Ship acquired = 
| Ship commissioned = 1 September 1932
| Ship maiden voyage = 
| Ship in service = 
| Ship out of service = 
| Ship renamed = 
| Ship struck = 
| Ship honours = 
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| Ship captured = 
| Ship fate = Sunk 23 September 1937 by Japanese aircraft
| Ship notes = 
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}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = title
| Ship country = [[Empire of Japan]]
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|naval}}
| Ship name = ''Ioshima''
| Ship namesake = 
| Ship acquired = 4 May 1938
| Ship commissioned = 
| Ship reclassified = ''[[kaibokan]]'', 1 June 1944
| Ship fate = Sunk by submarine [[USS Shad (SS-235)|USS ''Shad'']], 19 September 1944
| Ship struck = 10 November 1944
| Ship honors = 
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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| Header caption = 
| Ship class = {{sclass|Ning Hai|cruiser}}
| Ship displacement = {{convert|2526|t|LT|0|abbr=on}}
| Ship length = {{convert|360|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|39|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship height = 
| Ship draught = {{convert|13|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship propulsion = Three-shaft Reciprocating Engines; 4 coal/oil-fired boilers; {{convert|10579|hp|abbr=on}}
| Ship speed = {{convert|23.2|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}
| Ship range = {{convert|5000|nmi|km|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|12|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}}
| Ship endurance = 
| Ship complement = 361
| Ship armament = *6 × [[14 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval gun]]s
*6 × [[8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval gun]]s
*8 × [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|Vickers 2-pounder]] AA guns
*10 × [[Vickers machine gun]]s
*4 × {{convert|533|mm|in|0|abbr=on}} [[torpedo tube]]s
*9 × [[depth charge]]s
| Ship armour = *[[Belt armor|Belt]]: {{convert|25|to|76|mm|abbr=on}}
*[[Deck (ship)|Armour deck]]: {{convert|19|to|25|mm|abbr=on}}
*[[gun turret|Turret]]s: {{convert|25|mm|abbr=on}}
*[[Conning tower]]: {{convert|25|mm|abbr=on}}
| Ship aircraft = 2 × [[floatplane]]s
| Ship aircraft facilities = Hangar and hoist crane
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}
'''''Ning Hai''''' ({{zh|t=甯海|l=Peaceful Seas}}) was a [[light cruiser]] in the [[Republic of China Navy]] (ROCN) before [[World War II]] and the [[lead ship]] of [[Ning Hai class cruiser|her class]]. She was sunk in the early days of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] by aircraft from the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]], and her wreck was raised and repaired by the Japanese, re-entering service with the Japanese Navy in the [[Pacific War]] as the escort vessel {{nihongo|'''''Ioshima'''''|五百島}}. She was sunk again in September 1944 by a [[United States Navy|USN]] submarine.<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 113</ref>

==Background==
By the end of the 1920s, the ROCN had only four antiquated 19th century [[protected cruiser]]s and two training cruisers received before [[World War I]]. The [[Kuomintang]] government had an ambitious re-armament plan but lacked funds, and after extensive negotiations with shipbuilders in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Japan, placed an order with the Japanese for one [[light cruiser]] to be built in Japan, with a second vessel to be built in China with Japanese assistance. Despite the very strained political relations between Japan and China and the strenuous objections of the Japanese military, [[IHI Corporation|Harima Shipyards]] completed the first cruiser in 1932.

==Design==
''Ning Hai'' was based on the experimental Japanese cruiser {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Yūbari||2}}, which combined a small size with heavy weaponry, but in an even smaller displacement of only {{convert|2526|t|LT|0|abbr=on}}. As with ''Yūbari'', ''Ning Hai'' has a single trunked smokestack, and a tripod bridge arrangement. Her weaponry was comparable to ships with a larger displacement:  six [[14 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval gun]]s mounted in three double gun turrets, six [[8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval gun]]s, and dual 533-mm torpedo tubes. ''Ning Hai'' also had a small hangar for two seaplanes; two [[Aichi AB-3]] biplanes, one bought from Japan and one built locally using a spare engine and domestic materials, were assigned to it. There was no aircraft [[Aircraft catapult#Interwar and World War II|catapult]], and the seaplanes were hoisted onto and deployed using a crane.

However, the vessel was underpowered, with three antiquated vertical four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, two of which were coal-fired, yielding a top speed of only 22 knots. The excessive top-weight of the design also created stability problems.  Due to these issues, ''Ning Hai'' was suitable only for coastal operations against gunboats or smaller vessels.

==Operational history==
''Ning Hai'' was [[Keel laying|laid down]] at [[IHI Corporation|Harima Shipyards]] in [[Aioi, Hyogo]], Japan on 20 February 1931, [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 10 October 1931 and completed 30 July 1932. She was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 1 September 1932 as the [[flagship]] of the [[Republic of China Navy]] (ROCN), serving in that capacity until the commissioning of ''Ping Hai'' in April 1937. She returned to Japan in May 1933 for repairs, and again in June 1934 for the funeral of Japanese [[Fleet Admiral]] [[Tōgō Heihachirō]]. She again underwent repairs before her return to China<ref name="Combined">[http://www.combinedfleet.com/Isojima_t.htm]  CombinedFleet.com: ''Isojima'' Tabular Record of Movement;</ref>

As one of the more powerful surface combatants within the small ROCN, following the start of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], ''Ning Hai'' was a target of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] since the [[Battle of Shanghai]], but it was not until 23 September, during the Japanese assault on Kiangyin Fortress (which guarded a segment of [[Yangtze River]] near [[Nanking]]), that ''Ning Hai'' came under severe attack by Japanese bombers, sustaining four bomb hits while ''Ping Hai'' was hit by eight bombs and sunk. ''Ning Hai'' escaped but on 25 September when [[Yokosuka B3Y]]1 torpedo bombers scored two direct hits, sinking her in shallow water. These airstrikes were launched from both the aircraft carrier {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Kaga||2}} and airfields around Japanese-occupied Shanghai. The Imperial Japanese Navy captured the wreck on 5 December 1937.<ref name= Combined />

An attempt to re-float ''Ning Hai'' by the Japanese in April, 1938 was unsuccessful with two salvage divers killed. An attempt on 4 May 1938 was successful, and the hulk was towed to Shanghai for basic repairs. Originally the Japanese planned for the vessel to be the flagship of the collaborationist navy established by the [[Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China|Nanjing Nationalist Government]], but instead opted to have her towed to [[Sasebo Naval District]], where on 11 July the vessel was re-classified as the training vessel and coastal defense ship {{nihongo|''Mikura''|御蔵||}}. However the ship was moored permanently at Sasebo as barracks hulk from July 1938 to December 1943.<ref name= Combined />

In December 1943, with Japanese maritime traffic under increasing pressure from [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[submarine warfare]], ''Mikura'' was towed to the Harima Shipyards for reconstruction into a "[[Kaibōkan]]" (escort ship). Reconstruction was completed on 1 June 1944 and she was recommissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy as {{nihongo|'''''Ioshima'''''|五百島}} on 10 June and assigned to the [[Yokosuka Naval District]]. After training in the [[Seto Inland Sea]], she escorted a convoy of transports to [[Iwo Jima]] from 22–31 July, escaping a torpedo attack by an unknown submarine on 26 July. On 10 September, ''Ioshima'' departed Yokosuka on a second escort mission, but was hit by three torpedoes fired by the [[United States Navy]] submarine {{USS|Shad|SS-235|6}} on 19 September 1944 south of [[Omaezaki, Shizuoka|Cape Omaezaki]], about {{convert|85|nmi|lk=in}} from [[Hachijojima]]. She sank at {{coord|33|40|N|138|20|E|name=inline, title}}, and was removed from the [[navy list]] on 10 November 1944 .<ref name= Combined />

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book | last = Brown | first = David | year = 1990 | title = Warship Losses of World War Two | publisher = Naval Institute Press | location =Annapolis, Maryland | isbn = 1-55750-914-X}}
*{{cite book | last = Cressman | first = Robert | year = 2005 | title = The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II| url = https://archive.org/details/TheOfficialChronologyOfTheUSNavyInWorldWarII | publisher = Naval Institute Press | location =Annapolis, Maryland | isbn = 1-55750-149-1 }}
*{{cite book | last = Dull | first = Paul S. | year = 1978 | title = A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945 | publisher = Naval Institute Press | location = Annapolis, Maryland | isbn = 0-87021-097-1 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/battlehistoryofi0000dull }}
* {{cite book|last=Jentsura|first=Hansgeorg|title=Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, MD|year=1976|isbn=0-87021-893-X}}
*{{cite book|last1=Lacroix|first1=Eric|last2=Wells II|first2=Linton |title=Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|date=1997|isbn=0-87021-311-3 |name-list-style=amp |author-link2=Linton Wells II}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Tamura |first1=Toshio |title=The Chinese Light Cruisers ''Ning Hai'' and ''Ping Hai'' (1930–1936) |journal=Warship International |date=1984 |volume=XXII |issue=2 |pages=118–131 |issn=0043-0374}}
*{{cite book | last = Whitley | first = M.J. | author-link =Michael J. Whitley | year = 1995 | title = Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia | publisher = Naval Institute Press | location =Annapolis, Maryland | isbn = 1-55750-141-6}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Ning Hai (ship, 1932)}}
*http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/japan/exchina-cl.htm
*https://web.archive.org/web/20100510015014/http://big5.chinabroadcast.cn/gate/big5/gb.cri.cn/3821/2004/08/26/151@280506.htm
*{{cite web | last = Parshall | first = Jon |author2=Bob Hackett |author3=Sander Kingsepp |author4=Allyn Nevitt |url= http://www.combinedfleet.com/Isojima_t.htm | title = Isojima Tabular Record of Movement }}
*{{cite web| last = Nishida| first = Hiroshi| url = http://admiral31.world.coocan.jp/e/stc0337.htm| title = Materials of IJN| work = Imperial Japanese Navy}}
{{Ning Hai class cruisers}}
{{September 1944 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ning Hai}}
[[Category:Ning Hai-class cruisers]]
[[Category:Ships built by IHI Corporation]]
[[Category:1931 ships]]
[[Category:Second Sino-Japanese War cruisers of China]]
[[Category:Cruisers sunk by aircraft]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by Japanese aircraft]]
[[Category:Escort ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by American submarines]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1944]]
[[Category:Naval ships of the Republic of China captured by Japan during World War II]]