Japanese battleship Kawachi

The nihongo|"Kawachi"|河内 was the lead ship of the two ship "Kawachi" class of dreadnought battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was built at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal and launched in 1910. The name "Kawachi" comes from Kawachi Province, now a part of Osaka prefecture.

"Kawachi" had a sister ship, the "Settsu", which had a clipper bow as opposed to the straight bow of the "Kawachi".

Background

"Kawachi" was ordered under the 1907 Fleet Expansion Program as one of the first steps in full implementation of the Eight-Eight Fleet Program. The Japanese Navy projected that a fleet of eight front-line battleships was the minimum necessary against potential threats from China, Russia or the United States. Construction was delayed by a severe world economic depression. The convert|12|in|mm|0|sing=on guns were acquired from Great Britain, but the Auto shp|25000|-1 Brown-Curtis turbine engines were built under license by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan.

Operational History

Commissioned on 1912-03-31, "Kawachi" had a short operational history. During World War I, "Kawachi" was assigned to patrol the sea lanes south of Japan, in the South China Sea and the Yellow Sea, as part of Japan’s contribution to the war effort under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. She was also at the Battle of Tsingtao.

"Kawachi" was sunk by an explosion caused by spontaneous ignition of instable cordite in its ammunition magazine on 1918-07-12, while anchored at Tokuyama Bay, with the loss of 621 officers and crew out of a complement of 1059 men. Stricken on 1918-09-02, its hulk was later salvaged and scrapped.

Gallery

References

*cite book
last = Brown
first = D. K.
year = 1999
title = Warrior to Dreadnought, Warship Development 1860-1906
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-84067-529-2
*cite book
last = Evans
first = David
year = 1979
title = Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941
publisher = US Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0870211927
*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 = Jentsura
first = Hansgeorg
year = 1976
title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 087021893X

External links

* [http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0118.htm Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/japan/settsu-bb.htm Global Security site]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B05EEDD143EE433A25754C1A9619C946996D6CF&oref=slogin New York Times 17 July 1918]