Japanese ironclad Kōtetsu (ex-CSS Stonewall)

Type

Ironclad

Period

19th Century

Nation

Japan

Overview: Kōtetsu (甲鉄, "Ironclad"), later renamed Azuma, was the first ironclad warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She began life in France as the Confederate ironclad ram CSS Stonewall before being acquired by Japan's Tokugawa shogunate and, after delivery was delayed, ultimately delivered into Imperial hands. Specifications: The ship displaced 1,390 long tons, measured 186 ft 9 in overall with a 32 ft 6 in beam and 14 ft 3 in draft, and was brig-rigged with two direct-acting steam engines giving 10.5 knots. Armor comprised a 4.5 in waterline belt and 5.5 in turret plating, and armament consisted of one 300-pounder (10 in) rifled muzzle-loader forward and two 70-pounder (6.4 in) rifled muzzle-loaders, making her a formidable armored ram for shallow-water operations. Service History: Built at the Chantiers Arman yard in Bordeaux under the cover name Sphinx (and briefly as the Danish Stærkodder) to evade France's ban on selling warships to the Confederacy, she was commissioned as CSS Stonewall in January 1865 but never reached Confederate waters before the Civil War ended. Sold on to Japan's Tokugawa shogunate, delivery was held up until 1869, by which time the Imperial faction had gained control; renamed Kōtetsu, the ship played a decisive role in the Naval Battle of Hakodate Bay in May 1869, effectively ending the Boshin War and cementing the Meiji Restoration. She was renamed Azuma in 1871 and served until decommissioning in 1888. Notable Facts: The ship's convoluted identity — Sphinx, Stærkodder, CSS Stonewall, Kōtetsu, and finally Azuma — makes her one of history's most renamed warships, having changed names and flags roughly five or six times in a twenty-year career. Her sister ship, Cheops, was instead sold to Prussia and became SMS Prinz Adalbert. A period photograph shows her at the Washington Navy Yard around 1865, still under her Stonewall identity, prior to her sale to Japan.