I.J.N. Mikasa
1902
(Navis 213N)
- Class: Mikasa - 1 battleship of 1899
- Displacement: 15,200 tons
- Dimensions: 415 (wl) 432 (oa) x 75.5 x 27.5 ft.
- Machinery: 2 sets 3 cylinder vertical triple expansion, 2 screws, S.H.P. 15,000 = 18 knots
- Armor: Main belt 9 in., turrets 10 in.
- Armament: 4-12 in. (2x2), 14-6 in. (14x1), 20-12 pdr. (20x1); 4-18 in. T.T.
- Complement:
- Builder: Vickers Sons & Maxim, Barrow-in-Furness, England
- Laid Down: 24 Jan 1899
- Launched: 8 Nov 1900
- Completed: 1 Mar 1902
- Notes: Mikasa was similar in design to Britain's Majestic class, and was the largest warship in the world at completion.
- Service: Flagship of Admiral Heihachiro Togo during the Japanese surprise attack on the Russian Far Eastern Fleet at Port Arthur, 8 Feb 1904. At the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 10 Aug 1904, Mikasa was hit 23 times and required extensive repairs, but the Russian fleet's attempt to break out to Vladivostok was stopped, and Adm.Vitgeft was killed when his flagship Tsarevich was hit by a 12" shell. Remains of the Russian fleet were captured or destroyed when Japanese troops captured Port Arthur in Dec 1904. Meanwhile, the Russian Baltic Fleet was sailing 18,000 miles from Kronstadt, around the Cape of Good Hope, to Valdivostok. Togo intercepted them 27 May 1905 in the narrow Korea Strait. During the course of the Battle of Tsushima, 10 Russian ships, including Borodino and five other battleships, were sunk and four were captured, while three were interned and only one escaped. Although Mikasa was hit 32 times, she had only minor casualties, and no Japanese ships were lost. However, on 12 Sep 1905 a magazine explosion killed 114 of her crew and sank her at her moorings. Refloated Aug 1906. Stricken 20 Sep 1923 and preserved as a memorial. After World War II, she was stripped of her fittings as a compromise between the Soviets, who wanted her scrapped, and the United States. Fifteen years later, she was restored as a memorial at Yokosuka, thanks in large part to help from American Adm. Chester Nimitz.
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