Shikishima-class battleship
 The Japanese battleship Shikishima in 1905
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders | list error: <br /> list (help) Thames Iron Works, UK (Shikishima) Armstrong Whitworth, UK (Hatsuse) |
| Operators |  Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Completed | 2 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Retired | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | pre-dreadnought battleship |
| Displacement | 15,453 tons |
| Length | list error: <br /> list (help) 126.5 metres (415.03 ft) waterline 135 metres (442.91 ft)overall |
| Beam | 23.4 metres (76.77 ft) |
| Draught | 8.29 metres (27.20 ft) |
| Propulsion | Two Shaft Reciprocating VTE steam engine; 25 Belleville boilers, 14,500 shp (10,810 kW) |
| Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h) |
| Range | list error: <br /> list (help) 1722 tons coal; 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km) @ 10 knots (19 km/h) |
| Complement | 836 |
| Armament | list error: <br /> list (help)
|
| Armour | list error: <br /> list (help)
|
The Shikishima class (敷島型戦艦, Shikishima-gata senkan) was a two-ship class of pre-dreadnought battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy designed and built in the UK. The Asahi is included within the Shikishima-class by some authors, due to commonality of specifications, but it has a completely different silhouette.
Background
Combat experience in the First Sino-Japanese War convinced the Imperial Japanese Navy of weaknesses in the Jeune Ecole naval philosophy, and Japan embarked on a program to modernize its fleet with the latest in battleship technology. As with the previous Fuji class battleships, Japan lacked the technology and capability to construct its own battleships, and turned again to the United Kingdom. An order was placed for two vessels in 1896 (Shikishima and Asahi) and one more in 1897 (Hatsuse).
Design
The design of the Shikishima class was a modified version of the Majestic class of the British Royal Navy. With a full load displacement of 16,000 tons, the Majestic class ships were considered the largest and most advanced capital ships at the time of their construction.
Armament
The main battery, on the Shikishima class was the same Elswick Type 41 12 inch (305 mm) / 40 caliber naval guns used on the Fuji class. These guns were mounted in twin gun turrets fore and aft.
Secondary armament on the Shikishima class consisted of fourteen Type 41 6-inch (152 mm)/40-caliber quick firing guns to counter torpedo boat attacks and were widely spaced on two decks so that a single hit would not disable more than one of them. The guns on the upper deck were enclosed within casemates. Tertiary armament consisted of twenty Type 41 3 inch (7.62 cm) /40 caliber naval guns, also known as "twelve pounders" and twelve three pounders.
The Shikishima class was also equipped with Whitehead torpedoes, with four tubes below the waterline, and one more on deck.
Armor
The Shikishima class vessels were armored using 9-inch (229 mm) of Harvey armor on the side belt thinning to 6-inch (152 mm) on the upper hull and tapering at both ends. The deck armor was 3-inch (76 mm) thick, with 10-inch (254 mm) around the barbettes and 5-inch (127 mm) around the secondary turrets.
Propulsion
The engines on the Shikishima class vessels were triple expansion steam engines with water tube boilers and two screws. The engines produced 14,500 shp (10,810 kW), yielding a design speed of 17 knots (31 km/h); in trials Shikishima achieved 18.7 knots (35 km/h). However, unlike the Majestic's side-by-side funnel arrangement, the Shikishima-class had the orthodox three smokestack arrangement along the centerline.
Ships in class
Commissioned on 26 January 1900, Shikishima served with distinction during the Russo-Japanese War in the naval Battle of Port Arthur, Battle of the Yellow Sea and Battle of Tsushima. After the war, she was de-rated to a Coastal defence ship, and was used for training duties in various capacities until disarmed in 1922. Her hulk continued to be used as a floating barracks and training center until 1948.
Commissioned on 18 January 1901, Hatsuse was sunk by a naval mine on 15 May 1904 off Port Arthur in one of the greatest naval disasters of the Japanese navy in the Russo-Japanese War.
See also
Media related to Shikishima class battleship at Wikimedia Commons
- Japanese battleship Mikasa, another Japanese battleship derived from the Majestic-class
References
- Andidora, Ronald (2000). Iron Admirals: Naval Leadership in the Twentieth Century. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-31266-4.
- Brown, D. K. (1999). Warrior to Dreadnought, Warship Development 1860-1906. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-84067-529-2.
- Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870211927.
- Hoare, J.E. (1999). Britain and Japan, Biographical Portraits, Volume III. RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 1873410891.
- Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0689114028.
- Jane, Fred T. The Imperial Japanese Navy. Thacker, Spink & Co (1904) ASIN: B00085LCZ4
- Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 087021893X.
- Schencking, J. Charles (2005). Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804749779.