Japanese battleship Fuji

nihongo|"Fuji"|富士 (戦艦)| Fuji (senkan) was the lead ship of the "Fuji"-class of early pre-dreadnought battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and one of the six battleships ("Shikishima", "Yashima", "Hatsuse", "Fuji", "Asahi", and "Mikasa") that formed the main Japanese battle line in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. It was named after Japan's famed Mount Fuji.

History

"Fuji" and her sister-ship "Yashima" were the first two battleships built for Japan. As the Japanese were still incapable of building modern steel warships themselves, "Fuji" was ordered from the Thames Iron Works, England in 1894. The work was supervised by a team of over 240 engineers and naval officers from Japan, including by future Prime Ministers Saito Makoto (then a captain) and Kato Tomosaburo (then a lieutenant). [Hoare, Britain and Japan, Biographical Portraits Volume III, pp 187]

After completion, "Fuji" participated in a naval review marking the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Victoria before departing for Japan via the Suez Canal. [Hoare, Britain and Japan, Biographical Portraits Volume III, pp 188]

"Fuji" arrived at Yokosuka on 1897-10-31, too late for combat in the First Sino-Japanese War, and was designated as a 1st class battleship. During trials off of Kobe on 1898-11-19, it had the honor of hosting Emperor Meiji

"Fuji" helped form the core of the Japanese fleet during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. She was hit twice during the bombardment of Port Arthur on 1904-02-09, and also when she again bombarded that port on 22 March, this time so severely that she was forced to return to Japan for repairs. On 1904-08-10, "Fuji" fought at the Battle of the Yellow Sea. In the Battle of Tsushima on 1905-05-27 "Fuji" suffered 11 hits, but in return scored the fatal hit on the Russian battleship "Borodino", causing that ship to explode with the loss of all but one of her crew of 830. [Andidora, Iron Admirals: Naval Leadership in the Twentieth Century pp24] After the Russo-Japanese War ended, "Fuji" refitted by having her fighting tops removed and new boilers installed. "Fuji" was part of the Japanese escort for the American Great White Fleet on the portion of its round-the-world voyage through Japanese waters. In 1910, her British-made main battery was replaced with Japanese-made guns, and she was de-rated to a first-class Coastal defence ship. The development of the "Dreadnaught" class battleships had made the "Fuji" obsolete, and she was assigned to training duties for gunners and seamen.

Far too obsolete for combat service in World War I, "Fuji" spent the entire war at Kure as a training vessel.

In 1922, "Fuji" was disarmed and stricken under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty, but retained as an accommodation ship. Her propellers, main turrets, and all guns were removed, large wooden deckhouses were added to the superstructure, and flat drill platforms covered her main deck. Her hulk remained as a floating barracks and training center at Yokosuka, for over two decades.

From 1944, the old hulk was also used as a development center and observation post to test the effectiveness of various camouflage schemes on 1-meter long models of Japanese aircraft carriers. She suffered from American air raids, but remained afloat, and was broken up for scrap at Uraga Dock Company in 1948.

References

*cite book
last = Andidora
first = Ronald
year = 2000
title = Iron Admirals: Naval Leadership in the Twentieth Century
publisher = Greenwood Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-313-31266-4
*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 = Hoare
first = J.E.
year = 1999
title = Britain and Japan, Biographical Portraits, Volume III
publisher = RoutledgeCurzon
location =
id = ISBN 1873410891
*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
* Jane, Fred T. "The Imperial Japanese Navy". Thacker, Spink & Co (1904) 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 0804749779

External links

* [http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0107.htm Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy]

Notes