Toba was intended as a replacement for the British-built river gunboats Sumida and Fushimi for operations on the inland waterways of China under the 1910 fiscal year budget.

She was propelled by two reciprocating engines with two Kampon boilers driving three shafts, producing 1,400 hp (1,000 kW) and had a top speed of 15 knots.

[4] During the Battle of Madang on 26 June 1938, Toba assisted the minelayers Nasami, Natsushima and Tsubame in bombarding Chinese positions and in minesweeping operations.

She continued to make patrols on the lower reaches of the Yangzi River from 1942 through 1945, with service and overhaul at increasingly frequent intervals at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai.

[4] Abandoned by Japanese forces in Shanghai at the surrender of Japan in September 1945, she was captured by the Republic of China and incorporated into the Chinese Navy as the gunboat Yong Ji (永济).