Japanese battleship Hatsuse
| 300px Japanese Battleship Hatsuse | |
| Career (Japan) | 50px |
|---|---|
| Name: | Hatsuse |
| Ordered: | 1897 |
| Builder: | Armstrong Whitworth, UK |
| Yard number: | 680 |
| Laid down: | 1898-01-10 |
| Launched: | 1899-06-27 |
| Commissioned: | 1901-01-18 |
| In service: | 1901 |
| Out of service: | 1905 |
| Struck: | 1905-05-21 |
| Fate: |
Mined 1904-05-15 38°37′N 121°20′E / 38.617°N 121.333°E. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Shikishima class battleship |
| Displacement: | 15,255 tons |
| Length: |
126.5 metres (415.03 ft) 134 metres (439.63 ft) overall |
| Beam: | 23.4 metres (76.77 ft) |
| Draught: | 8.29 metres (27.20 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Two Shaft Reciprocating VTE steam engine; 25 boilers, 14,500 shp (10,810 kW) |
| Speed: | 18 knots (33 km/h) |
| Range: |
1722 tons coal; 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km) @ 10 knots (19 km/h) |
| Complement: | 836 |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: |
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Hatsuse (初瀬 (戦艦) Hatsuse (senkan)) was a Shikishima-class pre-dreadnought battleship in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and one of the six battleships (Fuji, Yashima, Shikishima, Hatsuse, Asahi, and Mikasa) that formed the main Japanese battle line in the Russo-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 under Russian 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 six battleships and six armored cruisers at its core.
The Hatsuse was ordered to Armstrong Whitworth at the Elswick Yard in Great Britain in 1897. She was designed by Phillip Watts and was similar to the British Navy's Majestic-class. Laid down on 1898-01-10, she was launched 1898-06-27 and completed on 1901-01-18. Before sailing to Japan, she represented the Meiji Emperor at Queen Victoria's funeral.
When the Japanese fleet was reorganized on 1903-12-28 Hatsuse became the flagship of the 1st Squadron, 1st Division of the IJN 1st Fleet, under Rear Admiral Nashiba Tokioki. After the start of the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese had the Russian Far-Eastern squadron bottled up in Port Arthur. On 1904-05-14 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 Russian minelayer 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 38°37′N 121°20′E / 38.617°N 121.333°E.
References
- Andidora, Ronald (2000). Iron Admirals: Naval Leadership in the Twentieth Century. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313312664.
- Brown, D. K. (1999). Warrior to Dreadnought, Warship Development 1860–1906. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1840675292.
- Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887–1941. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870211927.
- Hoare, J. E. (1999). Britain and Japan, Biographical Portraits, Volume III. Richmond, Surrey: Japan Library. ISBN 1873410891.
- Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895–1945. New York: Atheneum. ISBN 0689114028.
- Jane, Fred T. (1904). The Imperial Japanese Navy. London, Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co. OCLC 1261639.
- Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 087021893X.
- Schencking, J. Charles (2005). Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, and the Emergence of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868–1922. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804749779.
External links
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it:Hatsuse (corazzata) ja:初瀬 (戦艦) ru:Уничтожение японских броненосцев «Хацусэ» и «Ясима»
