Japanese battleship Kashima

nihongo|Kashima |鹿島 (戦艦)] |Kashima (senkan) was a Katori class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built by Armstrong Whitworth at the Elswick Yard, in the United Kingdom. The name "Kashima" comes from the famous Kashima Jingu Shinto shrine in Ibaraki prefecture, located to the northeast of Tokyo. Its sister ship was the battleship "Katori".

Background

"Kashima" and "Katori" were ordered in response to the loss of the "Hatsuse" and "Yashima" in the early Russo-Japanese War. Although the armored cruisers "Nisshin" and "Kasuga" successfully held their own in the line of battle during the crucial Battle of Tsushima, the Japanese Navy projected that a fleet of six battleships was the minimum necessary against potential threats from China, Russia or the United States. Although construction was rushed, "Kashima" was not delivered until after the end of the Russo-Japanese War.

Operational History

"Kashima" arrived at Yokosuka on 1906-08-04 after her maiden voyage and shakedown cruise from Portsmouth, England. On 1907-09-17, "Kashima" suffered from a major explosion while off Kure due to an accidental explosion of a shell from one of her convert|10|in|mm|sing=on guns. [New York Times, September 18 1907]

During the visit of the United States Navy's Great White Fleet on its around-the-world voyage, "Kashima" was part of the escort fleet through Japanese waters in October 1908.

Although rendered obsolete by the development of the "Dreadnaught" class battleships, "Kashima" served as part of the Japanese fleet involved in covering the landings of troops and coastal patrol during the Siberian Intervention of 1918-1921.

From March to September 1920 "Kashima" accompanied her sister ship "Katori" in escorting Crown Prince Hirohito in his visit to various European nations, the first such visit ever for a Japanese crown prince.

As a result of the Washington Naval Agreement, the "Kashima" was decommissioned on 1923-09-23, and was sent to the breakers in 1924. However, some of its larger guns were salvaged, and re-used in coastal artillery batteries around Tokyo Bay.

The battleship "Kashima" should not be confused with the light cruiser "Kashima" of the Pacific War era.

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/stc0116.htm Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/japan/kashima-bb.htm Global Security site]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D01E1D7163EE233A2575BC1A96F9C946697D6CF New York Times, September 18 1907]