Japanese Battleship Mikasa Background A State of the art

Mikasa in Yokosuka, Japan in 2004.
Career
Builder:	Vickers, Great Britain
Ordered:	26 September 1898
Launched:	8 November 1900
Commissioned:	1 March 1902
Decommissioned:	20 September 1923
Fate:	Transformed as a memorial ship
General Characteristics
Displacement:	15,140 t
Length:	132 m LOA
Beam:	23.2 m
Draught:	13.2 m
Propulsion:	15,000 hp triple expansion
Fuel:	Coal
Speed:	18 knots
Complement:	860
Armament:	4 x 300 mm (12 inches) guns 14 x 150 mm (6 inches) guns 20 x 80 mm (3 inches) guns
Torpedoes:	4 x 400 mm underwater tubes

Following the 1894–1895 Sino-Japanese conflictJapan and China fought the first Sino-Japanese War during 1894 and 1895, primarily over control of Korea. To distinguish from the second Sino-Japanese War, this war is called "Jiawu War" in Chinese because it occurred in the Chinese year by that name., and the forced return of the Liatung peninsulaThe Liaodong Peninsula ( sim. is a peninsula in the Liaoning province of northeastern China. Liaodong means "Eastern Liaoning". Geography The peninsula lies at the north of the Yellow Sea, between the Bohai Sea to the west and the Korea Bay to the east. to ChinaThis article is on the geographic and cultural entity. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation). China ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , Hanyu Pinyin: Zhongguo, Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a country in continental East Asia with some oute under RussiaThe Russian Federation ( Russian: , transliteration: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya or Rossijskaja Federacija , or Russia (Russian: , transliteration: Rossiya or Rossija , is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of eastern Europe and northern Asia. Withn pressure, Japan began to build up its military strength in preparation for further confrontations. In particular, Japan promulgated a ten-year naval build-up program, with the construction of six battleships and six armored cruiserIn military terminology, a cruiser is a large warship capable of engaging multiple targets simultaneously. Historically they were generally considered the smallest ships capable of independent operations — destroyers usually requiring outside support suchs at its core.

One of these battleships, Mikasa, was ordered from the Vickers shipyard in the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly at the end of 1898, for delivery to Japan in 1902. She took three years to complete, at the great cost of £880,000 (8.8 million yen).

That same year Japan also secured diplomatic and strategic support, by concluding the 1902 Anglo-Japanese AllianceThe first Anglo-Japanese Alliance was signed in London on January 30, 1902 by Lord Lansdowne (British foreign secretary) and Hayashi Tadasu (Japanese minister in London). The alliance was renewed and extended in scope twice, in 1905 and 1911 before its de with the world's first naval power. The UK shared Japan's wish to contain Russian expansionism in the far east, especially to protect her Chinese interests.

2 A state-of-the-art battleship

At the time of her delivery, Mikasa was a state-of-the-art pre-dreadnought battleship, achieving an unprecedented combination of firepower and protective strength. She was adapted from the Royal Navy's latest Majestic-class design, with increased displacement (15,140 tonnes against 14,900), improved speed (18 knots against 17), slightly stronger armamenent (two more 6-inch guns), and much stronger armour: she kept the same armour thicknesses but used high performance Krupp armour, around 50% stronger compared to the Harvey armour used by the Majestic class.

Her main guns, grouped in armoured turrets in a central position, allowed for the rest of the ship to be evenly protected with the heavy Krupp protective steel plates. Thanks to this design, Mikasa was able to withstand a large number of direct hits: she received around 20 hits during the battle of the Yellow Sea on 10 August 1904, and around 30 hits during the battle of Tsushima, with only limited damage. The firepower and the longer range of the guns of Mikasa were also fully exploited by highly trained and effective Japanese gunners.

At Tsushima, the Mikasa led the combined Japanese fleet into what has been called "the most decisive naval battle in history". The Russian fleet was almost completely anihilated: out of 38 Russian ships, 21 were sunk, 7 captured, 6 disarmed, 4,545 Russian servicemen died and 6,106 were taken prisoner. On the other hand, the Japanese only lost 116 men and 3 torpedoe boats.

3 Historical significance

Admiral Togo on the bridge of the Mikasa, before the Battle of Tsushima in 1905 The performance of the Japanese fleet was observed and analysed by Western powers, and played an important role in the definition of the next generation of battleships (the Dreadnoughts), since the conflict "confirmed the greater efficiency of heavy guns and the importance of long-range gunfire." ("The Battleship Dreadnought" Conway Marine).

Also, the defeat of the Russian fleet and the signature of the Treaty of Portsmouth (signed September 5), intensified unrest in Russia. In 1905 there were naval mutinies at Sevastopol, Vladivostok and Kronstadt, peaking in June, with the mutiny aboard the Battleship Potemkin. The Russian Revolution of 1905 culminated in October, when the Tsar was compelled to renounce his absolutist powers, and sign the October Manifesto.

Finally, the Japanese victory confirmed Japan's emergence as the pre-eminent power in east Asia, and a force to be reckoned with on the international scene.

4 Later developments

Ironically, after the peace treaty with Russia was signed on September 5, 1905, Mikasa suffered a fire while in harbour in south Japan, at Sasebo. A magazine exploded and she sunk in 11 meters of water. She was later salvaged to continue service, but she soon became obsolete following the development of newer types of vessels, especially the Dreadnoughts.

Mikasa was decommisionned following the Washington Naval Treaty of 1921. In 1925, she was put on display in Yokosuka, Japan, as a memorial ship.

Following Japan's defeat in World War II, the American occupation forces confiscated Mikasa and dismantled her guns, leaving her in very poor state. By 1948 however, she was reverted to the mayor of Yokosuka. A preservation movement resumed in 1958, to which the US participated through financial support and the direct involvement of Admiral Chester Nimitz. The restoration was completed on May 27, 1961, at a cost of 180 million yen.

Mikasa has been designated as one of the "Three Great Historical Warships of the World", together with Victory in Portsmouth, UK, and Constitution in Boston, USA.

5 See also

6 References

Memorial Ship Mikasa, The Mikasa Preservation Society, Yokosuka, Japan.
"The origins of Japanese trade supremacy. Development and Technology in Asia from 1540 to the Pacific War" by Christopher Howe BooksEnthsiast.com
"The Battleship Dreadnought" Conway Marine BooksEnthsiast.com

7 External links

The Mikasa

Imperial Japanese Navy

Major battles

List of ships

Main admirals

Mikasa Mikasa Mikasa

<Hide>

Home > Japanese battleship Mikasa

1 Background