Japanese battleship Mikasa

nihongo|"Mikasa"|三笠 is a pre-Dreadnought battleship, formerly of the Imperial Japanese Navy, launched in Britain in 1900. She served as the flagship of Admiral Togo Heihachiro during the Battle of Tsushima in 1905, as well as several other engagements during the Russo-Japanese War. Currently, she is preserved as a museum ship at Yokosuka. "Mikasa" is the last remaining example of a pre-dreadnought battleship anywhere in the world. She was named after Mount Mikasa in Nara, Japan.

Background

Following the 1894–1895 First Sino-Japanese War, and the forced return of the Liaodong Peninsula to China under Russian pressure, Japan began to build up its military strength in preparation for further confrontations. In particular, Japan promulgated a ten-year naval build-up program, with the construction of six battleships and six armored cruisers at its core.

One of these battleships, "Mikasa", was ordered from the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom at the end of 1898, for delivery to Japan in 1902. She took three years to complete, at the great cost of £880,000 (8.8 million yen).

That same year Japan also secured diplomatic and strategic support, by concluding the 1902 Anglo-Japanese Alliance with the world's strongest naval power. The United Kingdom shared Japan's wish to contain Russian expansionism in the Far East, especially to protect its interests in China and India.

A state-of-the-art battleship

At the time of her delivery, "Mikasa" was a state-of-the-art pre-dreadnought battleship, achieving an unprecedented combination of firepower and protective strength. She was adapted from the Royal Navy's latest "Majestic" class design, with increased displacement (15,140 tonnes against 14,900), improved speed (18 knots against 17), slightly stronger armament (two more 6 inch guns), and much stronger armour: she kept the same armour thicknesses but used high performance Krupp armour, around 50% stronger compared to the Harvey armour used by the "Majestic" class.

Her main guns, grouped in armoured turrets in a central position, allowed for the rest of the ship to be evenly protected with the heavy Krupp protective steel plates. Thanks to this design, "Mikasa" was able to withstand a large number of direct hits: she received around 20 hits during the battle of the Yellow Sea on 10 August 1904, and around 30 hits during the battle of Tsushima, with only limited damage. The firepower and the longer range of the guns of "Mikasa" were also fully exploited by highly trained and effective Japanese gunners.

At Tsushima, "Mikasa" led the combined Japanese fleet into one of the most decisive naval battles in history. The Russian fleet was almost completely annihilated: out of 38 Russian ships, 21 were sunk, 7 captured, 6 disarmed, 4,545 Russian servicemen died and 6,106 were taken prisoner. On the other hand, the Japanese only lost 116 men and 3 torpedo boats. But note that the Japanese navy was a highly professional organisation based upon the British Royal Navy; by contrast the Russian navy was ill-prepared to fight and crewed largely by landsmen, not seamen. Admiral Togo, the 'Japanese Nelson', himself spent several years with the Royal Navy in Britain.

Historical significance

The performance of the Japanese fleet was observed and analysed by Western powers, and played an important role in the definition of the next generation of battleships (the Dreadnoughts), since the conflict "confirmed the greater efficiency of heavy guns and the importance of long-range gunfire." ("The Battleship Dreadnought" Conway Marine).

Later developments

Ironically, shortly after the peace treaty with Russia was signed, "Mikasa" sank after a fire and magazine explosion took out a section of hull while in harbor at Sasebo on 1905-09-11. The accident killed 339 crewmen, or approximately three times the number killed in combat during the war and injured some 300 more. The ship settled in convert|11|m|ft|1 of water. Extensive efforts were made to salvage the ship, and after repeated attempts, she was re-floated on 1906-08-08 and towed to Maizuru Naval Arsenal for repairs.

After two years of repairs, "Mikasa" was re-commissioned and restored to active service; however she soon became obsolete following the development of the dreadnought battleships, and was de-rated to a 2nd class battleship, then to a 3rd class battleship, and on 1921-09-01, to that of a 1st class Coastal defence ship.

"Mikasa" ran aground while patrolling in dense fog in the Askold Channel off the coast of Russia during the Japanese Siberian Intervention in the Russian Civil War on 1921-09-16. She was recovered with the assistance of the "Fuji", "Kasuga," "Yodo," and repaired at Japanese-occupied Vladivostok. After her return to Maizuru, her active deployment was terminated, and she was placed in the mothball fleet.

"Mikasa" was decommissioned following the Washington Naval Treaty of 1921 and scheduled for destruction. However, at the request of the Japanese government, each of the signatory countries to the treaty agreed that the "Mikasa" be preserved as a memorial ship. On 1925-11-12, "Mikasa" was put on display in Yokosuka, Japan.

During World War II "Mikasa" was bombed during various air raids by the USAAF. Following Japan's defeat, the American occupation forces confiscated "Mikasa", dismantled her guns, leaving her in very poor state. The government of the Soviet Union made strong demands that "Mikasa" be destroyed completely as a symbol of Russia's humiliation by Japan during the Russo-Japanese WarFact|date=February 2007. The demands were dropped when the Soviet ambassador visited the ship and saw its extremely dilapidated state.

A preservation movement resumed in 1958, with United States participation through financial support and the direct involvement of Admiral Chester Nimitz. Restoration work was completed on 27 May 1961, at a cost of 180 million yen. A substantial quantity of the missing parts and fittings were provided from the Chilean Navy battleship "Almirante Latorre", which was being scrapped in Japan at the time.

The tourist brochure given to visitors boarding the "Mikasa" describes the ship as one of the "Three Great Historical Warships of the World", together with "Victory" in Portsmouth, UK, and "Constitution" in Boston, USA.

In England, at Barrow-in-Furness where JNS Mikasa was built, there is a street of old terraced houses named Mikasa Street.

Gallery

Notes

ee also

*
* List of battleships of Japan
* Russian cruiser Aurora

References

*cite book|title=Memorial Ship Mikasa|publisher=The Mikasa Preservation Society|location=Yokosuka
*cite book|last=Howe|first=Christopher|title=The origins of Japanese trade supremacy. Development and Technology in Asia from 1540 to the Pacific War|id=ISBN 0-226-35485-7
*cite book|title=The Battleship Dreadnought|publisher=Conway Marine|id=ISBN 0-85177-895-X
*cite book|last=Kowner|first=Rotem|year=2006|title=Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War|publisher=Scarecrow|id=ISBN 0-8108-4927-5

External links

* [http://www.oz.net/~markhow/pre-dred/mikasa.htm The "Mikasa"]