[4] The cruisers were fitted with a plough-shaped naval ram of mild steel below the waterline[5] and had a partial double bottom extending between the forward and aft magazines.

The engines were designed to produce a total of 7,500 indicated horsepower (5,600 kW) with forced draught to give the ships a maximum speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).

The Naniwa-class cruisers carried enough coal to gave them a range of about 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) at a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph).

[4] The main armament of the Naniwa-class ships initially consisted of two single 26-centimeter (10.2 in) Krupp cannon on pivot mounts in barbettes fore and aft of the superstructure.

The secondary armament was initially six 15-centimeter (5.9 in) Krupp cannon on pivot mounts in semi-circular sponsons on the main deck, three guns on each broadside.

Amidships, the highly subdivided compartments formed by the sloped portion of the protective deck were filled with coal and the fore and aft areas were fitted with cofferdams to limit any flooding.

The sisters hosted Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken, on 26 November as the ships conducted torpedo-firing exercises.

Together with her sister, she visited ports in the Russian Far East, Korea and China while also participating in fleet maneuvers in the last half of the year.

[13] Takachiho sailed to China in mid-1891 for a diplomatic visit between the fleet commander, Rear Admiral Arichi Shinanojō, and Li Hongzhang, Viceroy of Zhili.

[14] Takachiho was transferred to the First Flying Squadron about 30 July where she joined her sister and the fast protected cruisers Akitsushima and Yoshino,[15] under the command of Rear Admiral Tsuboi Kōzō.

Finding it empty the following morning, Itō ordered his ships to head northeast and search the area around the Yalu River estuary.

[20] Takachiho surveyed the area around the Hai River estuary on 7–11 December to evaluate its suitability for amphibious operations ultimately leading to an attack on the Chinese capital of Beijing.

Combined with pressure by the European nations not to attack Beijing, this forced the Japanese strategists to focus on the destruction of the Beiyang Fleet by assaulting its home port of Weihaiwei and Takachiho spent 23–26 December locating a suitable landing place on the Shandong Peninsula.

[22] Successful night attacks by his torpedo boats in early February sank or damaged the larger ships and the morale of the Chinese crews continued to decline.

During the Boxer Rebellion, the cruiser was dispatched to support Japanese troops in Amoy on the Taiwan Strait on 14 July 1900 and returned to Sasebo on 18 October.

[13] Vice Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, commander of the Combined Fleet, intended that the Fourth Division, under the command of Rear Admiral Uryū Sotokichi, reinforced by the armored cruiser Asama, would escort troop ships to Chemulpo (modern Incheon) and destroy any Russian forces there to clear the way for the IJA units to land.

[26] Chiyoda rendezvoused with Uryū's ships on the morning of 8 February and reported that the Russian protected cruiser Varyag and the elderly gunboat Korietz were anchored in the neutral port of Chemulpo, together with British, French, Italian and American warships.

Just in case, he ordered Takachiho, Asama, and Chiyoda to escort the troop ships into harbor with the two first cruisers to later rejoin the rest of the Fourth Division blockading the port.

[27] After the battle, the Fourth Division was tasked to protect the Korean coast between Chemulpo and Asan and to cover the movement of IJA reinforcements through the former port.

On 10 March the division ineffectually bombarded what the Japanese believed to be a naval mine control station on an island near Port Arthur.

Jessen's ships were only able to depart late the following morning and were out of radio range before they could be told that the Pacific Squadron had been defeated and returned to port.

Kamimura had kept the four armored cruisers of the 2nd Division together under his direct command and was patrolling the southern Part of the Sea of Japan when each side spotted the other around 05:00.

The latter logged Kamimura's message at 05:15, but continued steam west-southwest for another half-hour before she turned northward and increased speed to 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph).

The senior surviving Russian officer ordered Rurik scuttled shortly afterwards and the Japanese ships began rescuing survivors.

About 15:35 Takachiho was struck by a large shell underwater that failed to penetrate the hull, but the shock of the impact disabled her steering gear which forced her to heave to in order to make repairs.

Around 18:00, the cruiser rejoined the Fourth Division and briefly engaged the disabled battleship Knyaz Suvorov and the repair ship Kamchatka a half-hour later.

[13][36] After the Japanese declaration of World War I on the German Empire on 8 August 1914, Takachiho was ordered to load 120 mines and assigned to the Second Fleet.