The Japanese cruiser Takasago was what passed for a very fast cruiser in 1904. This is a highly massaged photograph of the Takasago at anchor, in prewar livery. The Takasago had been launched at Elswick in 1897. This was typical of a certain type of Elswick cruiser. The Takasago carried 2-8in large QF guns, 10-4.7in QF guns, and 12-3in QF guns. The Takasago also had 5-18in TT. The deck armour was very thick, at 4.5in of Harvey-Nickel steel. The 8in guns also had 4.5in shields. the 4.7in guns had 2.5in shields. The Takasago was rated at 24 knots. Coal was used to augment the protection, but this type of ship was vulnerable to mines and torpedoes. The Takasago was lost due to a mine off of Port Arthur in December 1904. More than half the crew was lost. The Takasago was designed by a top notch warship designer, Sir Philip Watts:
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