During the First Sino-Japanese War, Captain Kamimura Hikonojō was assigned command of the new cruiser "Akitsushima" and participated in the Battle of Pungdo even before the start of official hostilities against the Imperial Chinese Beiyang Fleet cruiser . "Jiyuan" escaped, but "Akitsushima" captured the gunboat "Guanyi". Later as part of the flying squadron led by Admiral Tsuboi Kōzō at the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 17 September 1894, "Akitsushima" is credited with sinking the cruiser . During the battle, "Akitsushima" was hit with the loss of five killed (including one officer) and ten wounded. She subsequently participated in the Battle of Weihaiwei, where her role was primarily to provide fire support to assist the Imperial Japanese Army in capturing the landward fortifications. "Akitsushima" was among the Japanese fleet units that took part in the seizure of the Pescadores and the invasion of Taiwan in 1895, and saw action on 13 October 1895 at the bombardment of Cihou Fort at Kaohsiung.