Shikishima class
 The Shikishima
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The Shikishima class ( Japanese 敷 島 型 戦 艦 , Shikishima-gata senkan ) was a class of two unit lines of the Imperial Japanese Navy , the Shikishima and the Hatsuse , which entered service in 1900 and 1901. In some publications, a third ship, the Asahi completed between these , is assigned to the class. The Asahi was built to the same specification, but differed considerably in silhouette, as it had only two chimneys and simple pole masts.
As with the previous Fuji class , the type ship Shikishima even survived the Second World War , albeit disarmed, while the sister ship Hatsuse was already lost in the Russo-Japanese War in a mine hit in 1904.
history
Design and construction
After the two ships of the Fuji class, four more ships of the line were ordered in Great Britain from 1896. As a result of the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and the return of the Liaodong Peninsula to China , forced by Russian pressure , Japan began arming for conceivable further conflicts. This also included a 10-year program to strengthen the Navy. This envisaged the construction of six ships of the line and six armored cruisers as the core of the Imperial Japanese Navy . The ships to be procured as part of this plan had all come into service before the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 and formed the core of the Japanese fleet. The six ships of the line were the two Fuji- class ships that had already been ordered ( Fuji , Yashima ), which were now followed by the Shikishima and Hatsuse as well as the Asahi and finally the Mikasa . The orders for the two Shikishima- class ships went to the same shipyards ( Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in London and Armstrong-Whitworth in Elswick ) that had already built the Fuji- class ships. The design came from Philip Watts and was an improved version of the Royal Navy's Majestic class, which came into service from 1895 to 1898 and , with a maximum displacement of 16,000 ts, were considered the largest and most modern battleships of their time. This made them more similar to the British Formidable class, which came into service later .
Armament
The main battery of the Shikishima with two twin turrets with 12-inch (305-mm) -L / 40-Type-41 guns of the Elswick Ordnance Company corresponded to the armament of the previous Fuji -class. However, a different type of tower was installed.
The Shikishima's middle artillery now consisted of fourteen 6-inch (152-mm) L / 40 Type 41 rapid-fire guns. These were again set apart and arranged in two decks to limit the effect of individual hits. The guns on the upper deck were also housed in closed casemates.
There were also twenty 3-inch (76-mm) L / 40 Type 41 twelve-pounders and twelve three-pounders. The Shikishima- class also had four Whitehead torpedo tubes underwater and one on deck.
Armor
The Shikishima and her sister ship were armored with Harvey steel . The side armor was 228 mm thick and tapered to the front and top to 152 mm. The armor was 76 mm thick, it was reinforced around the barbeds to 252 mm and in the area of the casemates to 127 mm. Their Harvey nickel steel armor was no longer the best possible standard at the time of completion. The Formidable class of the Royal Navy, which came into service at about the same time, used continuously hardened Krupp steel. This transition was only completed with the last ship in the series of six, the Mikasa .
drive
The Shikishima class machines were triple expansion steam engines on two screws with tubular boilers as steam generators. The machines delivered up to 14,500 PSi to reach the design speed of 17 knots. In its acceptance tests, the Shikishima was even able to achieve 18.7 knots. Unlike the underlying Majestic class, the Shikishima did not have chimneys next to each other, but three chimneys in a row. This also clearly distinguished them and their sister ship Hatsuse from the four other ships of the line in the construction program, which only had two funnels.
Shikishima- class ships
Shikishima
The Shikishima was laid down on March 29, 1897 by Thames Shipbuilding in Leamouth and put into service in 1900. It was used in the Russo-Japanese War and took part in the naval battle in the Yellow Sea in August 1904 and in the naval battle at Tsushima in 1905 . It was damaged by accidents while handling ammunition, first in 1916 and again in 1917, and finally disarmed in 1923 under international fleet agreements. It was scrapped in 1948.
Hatsuse
The hatsuse was laid down on January 10, 1898 by Armstrong-Whitworth in Elswick and put into service in 1901. It was used in the Russo-Japanese War and served there as the flagship of the 1st Squadron. On May 15, 1904, she got into a Russian minefield and sank after two mines and an explosion inside the ship with 496 crew members.
Evidence and references
literature
- Ronald Andidora: Iron Admirals: Naval Leadership in the Twentieth Century . Greenwood Press, 2000, ISBN 0-313-31266-4 .
- DK Brown: Warrior to Dreadnought, Warship Development 1860-1906 . Naval Institute Press, 1999, ISBN 1-84067-529-2 .
- David Evans: Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941 . US Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN 0870211927 .
- JE Hoare: Britain and Japan, Biographical Portraits, Volume III . Routledge Shorton , 1999, ISBN 1873410891 .
- Stephen Howarth: The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945 . Atheneum, 1983, ISBN 0689114028 .
- Jane, Fred T. The Imperial Japanese Navy. Thacker, Spink & Co, 1904.
- Hansgeorg Jentsura: Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945 . Naval Institute Press, 1976, ISBN 0-87021-893-X .
- J. Charles Schencking: Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922 . Stanford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0804749779 .
Web links
Fuji class ( Fuji , Yashima ) | Shikishima class ( Shikishima , Hatsuse ) | Asahi | Mikasa | Katori class ( Katori , Kashima ) | Satsuma class ( Satsuma , Aki ) | Kawachi class ( Kawachi , Settsu )