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Description
Presumably named for the city or river in Hokkaido, though officially for a Japanese word for "millennium," HIJMS Chitose was the second and last American-built Kasagi-class protected cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). Its construction at the Union Iron Works (San Francisco, California) was paid by Japan with the indemnity China was forced to pay for losing the first Sino-Japanese War. During the launching of the ship, which was filmed by Thomas Edison, a hundred white doves of peace were released in the presence of the Japanese ambassador, the governor of California, and the mayor of San Francisco. Meanwhile, the governor's niece christened the ship with a bottle of California wine.

HIJMS Chitose sailed across the Pacific in the spring of 1899 and reached the Yokosuka naval base on April 30, receiving an armament of thirty guns and four torpedo tubes. In February 1904, as Admiral Dewa Shigeto's flagship, it became one of the first ships to fight in the Russo-Japanese War when it participated in the surprise attack on Port Arthur and sank a Russian destroyer. In August, it worked with HIJMS Tsushima to hunt down and sink the Russian cruiser Novik off the coast of Sakhalin. In the May 1905 Battle of Tsushima, HIJMS Chitose sank a Russian destroyer and forced Izumrud to run aground. After Japan defeated Russia, the cruiser sailed to Korea to support the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) invasion, which led to the Japaneser annexation of Korea in 1910.

From 1906 to 1907, HIJMS Chitose and HIJMS Tsukuba sailed around the world, stopping in the American state of Virginia to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown colony by England. After being reboilered, HIJMS Chitose fought in World War I to honor Japan's alliance with England and ensure that Japan could capture German colonies in China. Its main assignment was to protect the Singapore-Borneo shipping lanes from German commerce raiders. In 1921, HIJMS Chitose was demoted to coastal defense, and was eventually decommissioned in 1928 and sunk as a target ship in 1931. Its name was transferred to a World War II-era seaplane tender, and this waterline model of the old cruiser is on display aboard the museum battleship HIJMS Mikasa in Yokosuka, the same city where HIJMS Chitose entered IJN service.

Description
Presumably named for the city or river in Hokkaido, though officially for a Japanese word for "millennium," HIJMS Chitose was the second and last American-built Kasagi-class protected cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). Its construction at the Union Iron Works (San Francisco, California) was paid by Japan with the indemnity China was forced to pay for losing the first Sino-Japanese War. During the launching of the ship, which was filmed by Thomas Edison, a hundred white doves of peace were released in the presence of the Japanese ambassador, the governor of California, and the mayor of San Francisco. Meanwhile, the governor's niece christened the ship with a bottle of California wine.

HIJMS Chitose sailed across the Pacific in the spring of 1899 and reached the Yokosuka naval base on April 30, receiving an armament of thirty guns and four torpedo tubes. In February 1904, as Admiral Dewa Shigeto's flagship, it became one of the first ships to fight in the Russo-Japanese War when it participated in the surprise attack on Port Arthur and sank a Russian destroyer. In August, it worked with HIJMS Tsushima to hunt down and sink the Russian cruiser Novik off the coast of Sakhalin. In the May 1905 Battle of Tsushima, HIJMS Chitose sank a Russian destroyer and forced Izumrud to run aground. After Japan defeated Russia, the cruiser sailed to Korea to support the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) invasion, which led to the Japaneser annexation of Korea in 1910.

From 1906 to 1907, HIJMS Chitose and HIJMS Tsukuba sailed around the world, stopping in the American state of Virginia to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown colony by England. After being reboilered, HIJMS Chitose fought in World War I to honor Japan's alliance with England and ensure that Japan could capture German colonies in China. Its main assignment was to protect the Singapore-Borneo shipping lanes from German commerce raiders. In 1921, HIJMS Chitose was demoted to coastal defense, and was eventually decommissioned in 1928 and sunk as a target ship in 1931. Its name was transferred to a World War II-era seaplane tender, and this waterline model of the old cruiser is on display aboard the museum battleship HIJMS Mikasa in Yokosuka, the same city where HIJMS Chitose entered IJN service.