Name Yat Sen Type Light cruiser Weight 1,650 tons | Completed 1931 Length 82 m Draft 3.78 m | |
Namesake Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, founding father of the Republic of China Fate Sold for scrapping, 19 May 1959 Displacement 1,650 t (1,624 long tons) Builders Jiangnan Shipyard, Shanghai | ||
Yat Sen (Chinese: 逸仙), named after the founding father of the Republic of China and completed in 1931, was a light cruiser—all be it having more in common with the small cruisers of pre–World War I era—in the ROC Navy before World War II. An enlarged design was laid down but never completed due to Japanese occupation of Kiangnan shipyard.
Service record
Yat Sen participated in the defense of Kiangyin Fortress, Yangtze River, near Nanking and took over flagship duties after both Ning Hai and Ping Hai were sunk by Japanese aircraft. Yat Sen was sunk as well on 25 September 1937 after shooting down two of the 16 attacking aircraft, losing 14 of its crew.
The Japanese salvaged the ship after the fall of Kiangyin Fortress. After having its stern deck added by one level and receiving radar, sonar, and Japanese weapons, it was renamed Atada (阿多田) and employed as a training ship for naval academy cadets destined for submarine service. It survived World War II and was returned to its former owner on 9 August 1946. Before its departure, however, the Japanese installed all the German-made wooden furnitures taken from the armored cruiser Yakumo (which by then had been sold for scrapping) into its cabins.
After reverting to its old name and rejoining the ROCN, Yat Sen remained active during the Chinese Civil War and the ROC government's subsequent withdrawal to Taiwan. It participated in numerous patrol cruises but was not involved in any major action until being decommissioned on 1 June 1958 and sold for scrapping on 19 May the following year.