- Japanese battleship Hatsuse
nihongo|"Hatsuse"|初瀬 (戦艦)|Hatsuse (senkan) was a "Shikishima"-class
pre-dreadnought battleship in theImperial Japanese Navy , and one of the six battleships ("Fuji", "Yashima", "Shikishima", "Hatsuse", "Asahi", and "Mikasa") that formed the main Japanese battle line in theRusso-Japanese War of 1904-1905. The "Hatsuse" had a very brief career.History
Following the 1894–1895 Sino-Japanese War, and the forced return of the Liaotung Peninsula to
China underRussia n pressure,Japan began to build up its military strength in preparation for further confrontations. In particular, Japan embarked on a ten-year naval build-up program, with the construction of sixbattleship s and sixarmored cruiser s at its core.The "Hatsuse" was ordered to
Armstrong Whitworth at theElswick Yard inGreat Britain in 1897. She was designed by Phillip Watts and was similar to the British Navy's "Majestic"-class. Laid down on1898-01-10 , she was launched1898-06-27 and completed on1901-01-18 . Before sailing to Japan, she represented theMeiji Emperor atQueen Victoria 's funeral.When the Japanese fleet was reorganized on
1903-12-28 "Hatsuse" became theflagship of the 1st Squadron, 1st Division of theIJN 1st Fleet , underRear Admiral Nashiba Tokioki . After the start of theRusso-Japanese War , the Japanese had the Russian Far-Eastern squadron bottled up in Port Arthur. On1904-05-14 Admiral Nashiba put to sea with the battleships "Hatsuse" (flag), "Shikishima", and "Yashima", the cruiser "Kasagi", and the dispatch-vessel "Tatsuta" to relieve the Japanese blockading force. On the morning of the 15th he reached Encounter Rock and continued northwest until he was about 15 miles off Port Arthur. Here Nashiba proceeded to patrol east by north across the mouth of the port. This course brought the fleet into a minefield previously laid by the Russianminelayer "Amur".At 10:50, "Hatsuse" struck a mine and began to heel over with her steering engine compartment flooded and her port main engines useless. Only minutes later, "Yashima" was also struck (and later sank). By 11:30, "Kasagi" came alongside "Hatsuse" but the battleship's stern-walk was under water, and she was heeling four degrees. A hawser passed from "Kasagi" was just being hauled in when "Hatsuse" struck another mine. Her funnels fell; her mainmast broke off; her upper deck flew into the air and within a minute and a half, she had gone down. "Tatsuta" and "Kasagi" managed to save the Admiral and Captain Nakao with 21 other officers and 313 men; however, 38 officers and 458 men went down with the ship at coord|38.37|37|N|121|20|E.
References
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* [http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0108.htm Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/japan/shikishima-bb.htm Global Security site]
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