Japanese ironclad warship Fusō

nihongo|"Fusō"|扶桑| Fusō was an ironclad warship of the early Imperial Japanese Navy. She was built by the Samuda Brothers on the Isle of Dogs, London, United Kingdom, and commissioned in January 1878. She was the first armored warship to be built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in England. Tōgō Heihachirō, later a prominent Japanese admiral, supervised its construction. It should not be confused with the later (1914-era) dreadnought battleship "Fusō". The name "Fusō" was taken for an ancient name of Japan in Chinese legend.

Background

"Fusō" was ordered in 1875, as part of Japan's first steps towards building a modern navy. As Japan lacked the expertise and the industrial infrastructure to construct such a vessel, the order was placed to a shipyard in England, and a number of promising young Japanese junior officers were sent to England to supervise the construction, and to receive training in operations and engineering.

The design of "Fusō" was based on a scaled-down version of HMS "Iron Duke", an "Audacious"-class central battery ironclad, familiar to the Japanese as the flagship of the Royal Navy China Station from 1871-1875. As early coal fired steam engines were unreliable, "Fusō" was built with two fully functional sailing masts for auxiliary propulsion.

Operational History

"Fusō" arrived in Yokohama from 1878-06-11 via the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean and was classed as a second-class warship due to her small size. "Fusō" hosted Emperor Meiji for one of the first naval reviews of the Imperial Japanese Navy on 1878-07-11 in Tokyo Bay. Emperor Meiji later made use of "Fusō" on a visit to Kyoto in July 1880, and on a tour of Hokkaidō in August 1881.

"Fusō" collided with the new cruiser "Takachiho" on 1889-12-18, but suffered little damage.

Originally scheduled for retirement in 1891, "Fusō" went into dry dock at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal from November 1891-July 1894 for repairs and upgrades.

With the start of the First Sino-Japanese War, "Fusō" saw front-line combat at the Battle of the Yalu River of 1894-09-17 (during which it took 8 direct hits, with 2 crewmen killed and 12 wounded), and at the Battle of Weihaiwei.

On 1897-10-29, "Fusō" collided with the cruiser "Matsushima" in rough weather off the coast of Iyo (Shikoku) and sank. Captain Uryu Sotokichi was confined to the brig for three months over the incident. Refloated the following year, "Fusō" was repaired at Kure Naval Arsenal and re-classed as a second-class battleship on 1898-03-21, and refitted with new Krupp cannons; repairs continued through April 1900.

"Fusō" again saw combat service during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, where it was assigned to the blockade of Port Arthur, and patrol of the sea lanes around the Strait of Tsushima and the coast of Korea. It served as flagship of Rear Admiral Sukeuji Hosoya, Seventh Division, Third Squadron, and was held in reserve independent of the Combined Fleet until the crucial Battle of Tsushima. Already extremely obsolete, "Fusō" was re-classed as a second-class Coastal defence ship immediately after the Russo-Japanese War, on 1905-12-11, and officially retired on 1908-04-01. It was broken up for scrap in Yokohama in 1910.

References

*cite book
last = Chesneau
first = Roger
year = 1979
title = Conway's All The Worlds Fighting Ships, 1860-1905
publisher = Conway Maritime Press
location = London
id = ISBN 0-85177-133-5
*cite book
last = Howarth
first = Stephen
year = 1983
title = The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945
publisher = Atheneum
location =
id = ISBN 0689114028
*cite book
last = Jane
first = Fred T
year = 1904
title = The Imperial Japanese Navy
publisher = Thacker, Spink & Co
location =
id = ASIN: B00085LCZ4
*cite book
last = Jentsura
first = Hansgeorg
year = 1976
title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 087021893X
*cite book
last = Schencking
first = J. Charles
year = 2005
title = Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922
publisher = Stanford University Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-8047-4977-9