- Yes
- No
With the addition of the second pre-dreadnought era armored cruiser for Japan, I’d like to see a battleship of the same era. So for this suggestion I put forward the Flagship of Admiral Togo during the Battle of Tsushima: Mikasa.
Brief Design Overview and Stats as Built
Spoiler
General:
- Displacement: 15,140 tons
- Length: 432ft (131.7m) oa / 415ft (126.5m) wl
- Breadth: 76ft (23.2m)
- Draft: 27ft (8.2m)
- Propulsion: 2 shafts producing 15k shp via VTE engines
- Speed: 18.45 knots
- 830 enlisted and officers
Armament:
- 2x2 12"/40 41st Year Type Cannon
- 14x1 6"/40 41st Year Type Cannon
- 20x1 3"/40 Elswick Pattern N
- Many 47mm Hotchkiss 3pdr and 2pdr guns
- 4x1 450mm Torpedoes
Armor:
- Main Belt: 4-9 inches Krupp Cemented
- Upper Belt: 6 inches
- Casemates: 2-6 inches
- Barbettes: 8-14 inches
- Deck: 2-3 inches
Brief Ships History
Spoiler
Mikasa was laid down on 24 January 1899 in Barrow-in-Furness, launched on 8 November 1900, and completed on 1 March 1902. Mikasa was assigned to the 1st Division of the 1st Fleet under Admiral Togo by the start of the Russo-Japanese war. She took part in several actions around Port Arthur in 1904.
At 13:55 on 27 May 1905 Mikasa, serving still as Admiral Togo’s flagship leading the 1st Fleet, raised the Z flag indicating that action against the Russian fleet near the island of Tsushima was to begin. Several minutes later Mikasa opened fire on Russian Flagship Knyaz Suvorov, along with other ships, and quickly rendered it a total write off. At the same time Mikasa had lead the fleet across the Russian T. Soon later Mikasa and Fuji laid waste to Borodino. During the battle Mikasa was hit by more than 40 shells of differing caliber, and sent back 124 of her own.
Only 6 days after the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth, she suffered a magazine detonation at Sasebo harbor that sank the ship and took 251 crewmen with her. She was refloated almost a whole year later and during the reconstruction to put her back into service, was re-armed with more powerful 12 and 6 inch guns. Mikasa also participated in World War One and the Intervention in Siberia.
In September 1923 Mikasa was decommissioned, demilitarized, and immobilized in Yokosuka to serve as a memorial ship. The museum first opened on 12 November 1926. During World War Two Mikasa was struck by US bombs during various air raids over Japan. With the victory over Japan, the Russians had demanded the ship scrapped, until the Russian ambassador visited the ship and found her already effectively destroyed.
When Yokosuka was revitalized during the Korean War to serve the US Fleet, some entrepreneurial Japanese businessmen briefly turned her into a recreation hall (and aquarium???), Club Mikasa/Cafe Togo. After that idea failed the ship fell into further disrepair until the 1958 when, upon the urging of a former resident of Barrow, the Japanese public and US Fleet Admiral Nimitz funded a restoration campaign to restore her to her original condition. A number of parts came from former South American dreadnoughts Almirante Latorre and Moreno. The Museum reopened on 27 May 1961 and is still operating today.
More Pictures
Sources:
Spoiler
Conway’s all the world’s fighting ships, 1860-1905
https://navyhistory.au/battleship-mikasa-restoration/
Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945