Fusō class
| Fusō- class | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Overview | |
| Type: | Battleship |
| Units: | 2 |
| Predecessor class: | no |
| Successor class: | Ise class |
| Technical data (original planning) |
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| Displacement: | Standard: 29,326 t |
| Length: | over everything: 205.1 m |
| Width: | 28.7 m |
| Draft: | 8.7 m |
| Speed: | Top: 23 kn |
| Crew: | 1400 permanent crew |
| Range: | 8000 nautical miles at 14 knots |
| Drive: | 4 screws over 4 shafts |
The Fusō class ( Japanese 扶桑 型 戦 艦 , Fuso-gata senkan ) was a class of two battleships of the Japanese Empire that were used in the First and Second World Wars .
Development history and technical data
arms race
After the Imperial Japanese Navy had narrowly lost the race for the first "all-big-gun" battleship to the Dreadnought , as the Satsuma and Aki had begun earlier than the British ship, but the heavy artillery pieces due to lack of funding were not available, the next class of ship should clearly outclass any dreadnought-type ship .
Fanned by the political situation, the Fusō class should be Japan's first step in the race for the most powerful superdreadnought. Planned with the New York class and the Nevada class of the US Navy in mind, the Japanese design clearly surpassed these ship classes in terms of armament and speed.
Propulsion systems
At the time the Fusō was built in 1912, the basic drive concept was still based on coal as the primary fuel for the boilers in the engine rooms. Nevertheless, the drive with heavy oil was already known and offered clear advantages. That is why boilers that allowed oil firing were also built into the Fusō class . 24 Mijabara boilers supplied steam to four modern Brown Curtiss turbines with an output of around 40,000 hp, which they then delivered to the propellers via four shafts. The top speed this combination could deliver was 23 knots.
Armament
The main armament consisted of six turrets , each of which carried two 35.6 cm L / 45 guns. Four of the towers were set up in pairs, two on the forecastle and two on the quarterdeck. The other two towers were built amidships, one in front of and one behind the middle chimney.
However, this configuration severely restricted the space available inside the hulls. Each tower stood on a cylindrical barbette made of armored steel, which reached deep into the ship's interior and at the lower end of which was in turn the armored storage rooms for grenades and cartridges . The distribution of the towers over the entire length of the ship resulted in narrow engine rooms, very low tween decks and winding corridors.
The secondary artillery consisted of eighteen 14 cm L / 50 guns, which were combined in nine casemates on port and starboard. The ships originally had six underwater torpedo tubes integrated into the hull. The latter were removed together with two of the 14 cm guns in the course of the first conversion from 1930 to 1933.
Conversions
From 1930 the ships of the Fusō class went for overhaul and received new propulsion systems. The upper deck and the armored citadel were opened to remove the old coal-fired boilers. The old turbines were lifted out of the engine room in the same way. The new systems consisted of six boilers from Kampon, which were fired with oil, and four new turbines, which delivered around 30,000 hp more power than those originally used. The theoretically achievable maximum speed was increased to 24.7 knots.
In the course of the extensive work, the horizontal armor protection was also strengthened, especially above the ammunition chambers. Furthermore, the ships received torpedo bulges to improve the underwater protection on the ship's sides.
The removal of the old boilers also made it possible to dismantle the front of the two chimneys. On a trial basis, the Fusō received a catapult for launching aircraft on the roof of tower "C". The armament was reinforced by 12.7 cm Type 89 anti-aircraft guns, four of which were twin guns. The originally existing three-legged mast structure above the bridge was removed and replaced by a pagoda mast, in which various observation and fire control systems were installed on several floors one above the other. As a result of the larger space available for the bridge structure on the Yamashiro , a conventional, upwardly tapering construction of this new bridge structure was possible, while a complex support structure had to be built on the Fusō in order to initially move upwards from a smaller area on deck to be able to set up widening structure.
Additional light anti-aircraft weapons were in the form of 25-mm machine guns on both ships in the Second World War retrofitted to meet the growing threat from the air. The aircraft catapults were finally installed on the aft of both ships of the class. In the summer of 1944, the ships of the class radar systems were given two Type 13, one Type 21 and two Type 22.
Distinguishing features
Opposite the sister ship Fusō was the third tower (tower "C") on the Yamashiro , mounted in such a way that it pointed aft in the lashing position with its two 35.6 cm L / 45 guns. Due to the longer bridge structure of the Yamashiro, there was simply not enough space to align the tower, as with the Fusō , towards the bow. The bridge superstructures of the Yamashiro are easy to distinguish from those of the Fusō because of the larger base area , which has a narrower structure in the side view, which only widens significantly halfway through the support structure for the air defense rangefinder.
Fusō-class ships
Both ships were mostly used together. Their use in Operation Sho-1 , the Japanese plan to repel the American invasion of the Philippines in October 1944, in which they were also lost, is controversial. While originally only a Japanese bait fleet at Cape Engano was assumed, new findings indicate that both units of the Fusō class were deliberately sent by the Japanese leadership on a course that made their loss likely, to also the second security association To lure Americans, Task Group 77.2, away from the transport fleet and far into Surigao Strait.
Fuso
The Fusō was laid down in March 1912 by the naval shipyard in Kure and was launched in March 1914. In the early morning of October 25, 1944, she was attacked by US speedboats and destroyers while approaching through Surigaostraße and went down after two torpedo hits.
Yamashiro
The Yamashiro was laid down by the Yokosuka naval shipyard in November 1913 and launched in November 1915. She was attacked and sunk by American battleships, cruisers and destroyers at the Battle of Leyte in Surigaostraße on October 25, 1944.
Evidence and references
Individual evidence
- ^ Anthony P. Tully: Battle of Surigao Strait. Indiana University Press, 2009, ISBN 0-253-35242-8 , p. 46.
literature
Sources on the Fusō class:
- Gakkan (publ.): Fusō class. Pacific War Series, No. 30, ISBN 4-05-602444-8 .
- Gakken (publ.): Battleships of Japan. Tokyo 2004.
- Kaijinsha (publ.): The Imperial Japanese Navy. (in 14 volumes), Volume 1 (Battleships 1) Tokyo 1989/1994, ISBN 4-7698-0451-2 .
- Fukui Shizuo: Japanese Naval Vessels Illustrated. 1869–1945 (in three volumes), Volume 1, Battleships and Battlecruisers, Tokyo 1974.
- Todaka Kazushige: Japanese Naval Warship. (so far in 6 volumes) Volume 2, Battleships and Battle Cruisers, Kure Maritime Museum, Kure 2005.
- Ishiwata Kohji: Japanese Battleships. Ships of the World Volume 391, Tokyo 1988.
- Maru Special: Japanese Naval Vessels. (First series in 56 volumes), Volume 13: History of the Fuso and Ise classes, Tokyo 1986.
Sources on the political situation and planning of the Japanese Navy:
- David C. Evans: Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press, 2003, ISBN 0-87021-192-7
- Anthony P. Tully: Battle of Surigao Strait. Indiana University Press, 2009, ISBN 0-253-35242-8 .
