Kawachi (ship)
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The Kawachi was a Japanese battleship and type ship of the Kawachi class named after her . The ship, built between 1909 and 1912, sank on July 12, 1918 after an explosion in the ammunition chamber in Tokuyama Bay near Yamaguchi . 621 out of 1059 crew members perished.
history
Even before the Russo-Japanese War , the Imperial Japanese Navy pursued the construction of battleships with a uniform caliber of the main armament. Due to the war stresses , the two ships of the Satsuma class were equipped with a mixture of 30.5 and 25.4 cm guns, as the costs for the larger caliber were too high. Due to the position of power that Japan assumed through the course of the war in East Asia, it was necessary to further equip the navy. The Navy therefore continued to develop the Satsuma- class blueprint . The new class of ships to be built was to have a uniform caliber - in the meantime the navies of the United Kingdom , the United States and the German Empire had switched to building dreadnoughts - as well as a turbine drive modeled on the Aki .
Construction of the Kawachi began on April 1, 1909, just under three months after her sister ship Settsu , at the naval shipyard in Kure . Despite the later laying of the keel , the Kawachi was ready for launch five months before the Settsu , which took place on October 15, 1910. This made the Kawachi the type ship in its class. The battleship was put into service by the Navy on March 31, 1912, the Settsu followed a good three months later.
On July 18, 1918, there was a serious explosion in one of the ammunition chambers, as a result of which the Kawachi sank in Tokuyama Bay and became a total loss. Many crew members lost their lives in the process.
technology
The steel hull of the Kawachi measured 152.4 m over all and 149.3 m in the waterline and was up to 25.7 m wide. With a maximum displacement of 20,823 t, the battleship was 8.2 m deep in the water. The ship had a drive from two steam turbine sets based on the turbine system developed by Charles Gordon Curtis , with each turbine set acting on a three-bladed propeller . The necessary steam was generated by 16 coal-fired steam boilers, for which up to 2,500 tons of coal could be bunkered. The fuel supply allowed the ship a range of 2,700 nm at a speed of 10 knots. The maximum speed was calculated at 21.0 kn. Under test drive conditions, however, up to 21.5 kn were reached. The drive system developed 27,300 hp and thus 2,300 hp more than calculated. The exhaust gases from the boilers were discharged through three chimneys, the foremost of which was set a little forward from the others.
As main armament, the Kawachi received twelve 30.5 cm cannons in six double turrets, which were placed in a hexagonal arrangement, i.e. one turret in front and one aft and two turrets on both sides. In this gun setup, the Kawachi class corresponded to the German Nassau and Helgoland classes . However, the guns were not completely uniform, as the tubes built into the side turrets had a caliber length of L / 45, while the front and stern had a caliber of L / 50. The other armament consisted of ten rapid-fire guns 15.2 cm L / 50, eight 12 cm L / 50 cannons and twelve 7.6 cm cannons and three torpedo tubes with 45.7 cm diameter.
The side armor of the ship was 127 to 305 mm, the armored deck 51 mm thick. The heavy artillery was protected with 279 mm on the towers and barbettes , while the casemate of the middle artillery was armored 152 mm thick. The front command tower had armor 254 mm thick, the aft one 152 mm thick. A torpedo bulkhead was not installed.
The nominal strength of the crew was 999 men.
literature
- Breyer, Siegfried: Battleships and battle cruisers 1905–1970 . JF Lehmanns Verlag, Munich 1970, ISBN 3-88199-474-2 .
