We haven’t covered any Dragon Empery (both Chinas) shipgirls before. We did, however, reference one of them in Belfast’s post, so time to meet Light Cruiser Yat Sen.
Launched in 1931, Yat Sen had more in common with the pre-World War I area small cruisers than with the light cruisers of the interwar era. Lightly armed with a single 149mm gun backed with a single 140mm gun, four 75mm AA guns, and a single 47mm gun, she would be used for patrols in the Bohai Sea prior to the Japanese invasion of China. She would be sunk in September 1937 while defending Jiangyin Fortress, but that wouldn’t be the end of her story.
Sometimes, sunk doesn’t mean really sunk. The Japanese salvaged Yat Sen, retrofitted her with a larger stern deck and radar, sonar, and more weapons, and renamed her to Atada. The Japanese Navy would use her as a training ship for naval academy cadets heading for the submarine service. Yat Sen/Atada would survive World War II in this role and be returned to the Republic of China in August 1946. The Japanese installed the German-made wooden furniture from Yakumo before returning her, at which point she resumed her previous name.
However, at this point, the Chinese Civil War was in full bloom. The ROC government would take Yat Sen with them to Taiwan, where she would participate in numerous patrols before ultimately being decommissioned in 1961. Not bad for a ship barely bigger than a gunboat.
In Azur Lane, Yat Sen is depicted as one of the wise elder shipgirls of the Dragon Empery. She spends a lot of time looking after her sister ships Ning Hai and Ping Hai, and also advising much of the Dragon Empery’s diplomatic efforts to other factions in the Azur Lane.
