Tsukuba-Klasse
The two Vorlage:Nihongo were battlecruisers operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. They participated in numerous actions during the World War I.
Background
Construction of the Tsukuba class heavy cruisers was ordered under the 1904 Emergency Fleet Replenishment Budget of the Russo-Japanese War, spurred on by the unexpected loss of the Yashima to a naval mine in the early stages of the war. As the new class was the largest design yet attempted independently by Japanese naval shipyards, contemporary American military observers were surprised (and concerned) at the rapid pace of construction, and that Japan had learned to build such large and powerful warships so quickly, and in such a short time. However, with rapid advances in naval technology and with increasing budget constraints on the Imperial Japanese Navy in the period immediately after the end of the Russo-Japanese War, the project was scaled back, and in the end, only Tsukuba and Ikoma were built out of what was intended to be a class of six vessels.
Design
The Tsukuba class cruisers were ordered and laid down before British Royal Navy's HMS Invincible. On the other hand, American Tennessee Class Cruiser of 1903 mounted 10" guns, which previously had been considered battleship guns (such as Russian Peresviet Class Battleship; USS Maine had been designed and built as a battleship, too). The design intent of Tsukuba class was to retain the speed and protection of the latest version armoured cruisers, but mounting battleship-caliber primary armament.
Armament
The main battery on the Tsukuba-class were four Type 41 12-inch 45 caliber naval guns, mounted in twin gun turrets to the fore and aft, along the centerline of the vessel. These were made by Japan Steel Works under licence from Armstrong Whitworth, and were the first large-caliber weapons manufactured in Japan. Secondary armament was provided by twelve Type 41 6 inch 40 caliber naval guns and twelve Type 41 4.7 inch 40 caliber naval guns.
Propulsion
Propulsion was by two vertical triple expansion steam reciprocating engines, two-shafts, with twenty boilers, yielding Vorlage:Auto shp design speed of Vorlage:Convert and a range of Vorlage:Convert @ Vorlage:Convert. During speed trials in Hiroshima Bay prior to commissioning, Ikoma attained a top speed of Vorlage:Convert
Ships in class
Commissioned from Kure Naval Arsenal in 1907, Tsukuba served patrol duty during World War I primarily in the Pacific Ocean and in Southeast Asia. On 1917-01-14, Tsukuba exploded while in port at Yokosuka, and sank with a loss of 305 men.
Ikoma circumnavigated the southern hemisphere of the globe soon after commissioning from Kure Naval Arsenal in 1908. Ikoma served patrol duty during World War I primarily in the Pacific Ocean and in Southeast Asia. Ikoma was a victim of the Washington Naval Agreement of 1923.
See also
References
- David Evans: Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN 0870211927.
- Stephen Howarth: The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum, 1983, ISBN 0689114028.
- Jane, Fred T. The Imperial Japanese Navy. Thacker, Spink & Co (1904) ASIN: B00085LCZ4
- Hansgeorg Jentsura: Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press, 1976, ISBN 087021893X.
- J. Charles Schencking: Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0804749779.