Japanese battleship Asahi

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Career
Japanese Battleship Asahi in 1905
Ordered:	FY 1896 to Clydebank Engineering (John Brown), Great Britain
Laid down:	August 1 1897
Launched:	March 13 1899
Commissioned:	April 28 1900
Fate:	Torpedoed May 25 1942
Struck:	June 15 1942
General Characteristics (initial – final)
Displacement:	15,200 tons (initial)
Length:	415 feet
Beam:	76 feet
Draught:	27 feet, 3 inches
Propulsion:	Two Shaft Reciprocating Vertical Triple Expansion (VTE) Engines; 2 shafts, 25 Belleville boilers, 15,000 shp; 4 Kampon boilers after 1927 refit.
Range:	9000 miles @ 10 knots
Speed:	18 knots (12 knots after 1923 refit)
Complement:	741
Armament: (removed in 1923)	4-12 inch gun (2x2), 14-6 inch gun (1x14), 20-12 pdr guns, 2-3 inch AA guns(added 1917), 4- torpedo tubes
Armor (removed in 1923):	belt 9 inch, deck 3 inch, barbette 14 inch, casement 6 inch, conning tower 14 inch

The IJN Asahi was the second of the Shikishima-class of battleships. It was laid down in Glasgow, Scotland in Great Britain by Clydebank Engineering & Shipbuilding Company, and completed by John Brown & Company. Upon her launch, she was the heaviest battleship yet built on the Clyde. Her delivery in 1900 was delayed when the vessel ran aground as she left for Japan. Stores and ammunition were removed, the ship pulled clear, and after an inspection in drydock she proceeded to Japan. The name Asahi means rising sun, which by extension is a metaphor for Japan.

The Asahi was very active in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, starting with the Battle of Port Arthur, and subsequent naval blockade. The Asahi participated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea (where she took 1 hit), and she struck a mine in October 1904; repairs were completed in time for the Battle of Tsushima where she took 9 hits, which killed 8 and wounded 23 crewmen. During the Battle of Tsushima, Captain W. C. Pakenham, the Royal Navy's official observer under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, took notes of the battle's progress from a deck chair on the exposed quarterdeck of the Asahi. His reports confirmed the superiority of Japanese training and tactics and publicized the historic victory within Western naval circles.

In 1914, the Asahi became a gunnery training ship, and in 1917, she was re-armed, with Japanese guns replacing her original British guns. Reclassified as a 1st-class Coastal Defense Vessel in 1921, she served as a combatant until 1923. Under the terms of the Washington Naval Agreement, the Asahi was disarmed and converted into a training ship. Her displacement dropped to 11,441 tons with the loss of her armor and guns, and her speed was limited to 12 knots.

From 1926-October 1927 the Asahi's 25 Belleville boilers were replaced with four Kanpon boilers. One of her two funnels was also removed. The Asahi was refitted into a submarine salvage ship and also conducted experiments as Japan's first submarine rescue vessel using the old German submarine 0-1 (ex-U-125). In May 1928 in the capacity of an experimental test bed, the Asahi was fitted with a 19-meter compressed-air Type No. 1 catapult and successfully launched a Nakajima E2N1 Type 15 seaplane. Later, after repeated accidents, the compressed-air catapult was discarded in favor of a gunpowder-propelled one. On the completion of testing, the Asahi was placed in the Naval reserve.

Asahi lived a 7th life as a submarine tender from 1937, providing repair services, supplies, and crew accommodations, until 1938, when the old vessel was once again taken in hand for conversion. Heavy lifting frames were installed on either side amidships, along with machine shops and repair facilities. She began her 8th career as a repair vessel December 18 1938. The Asahi was also fitted with dummy wooden main guns fore and aft to resemble an old battleship and is assigned to “patrols” out of Shanghai from May 29 – November 7 1940. From November 15, 1940 the Asahi was assigned to the Combined Fleet and used as a transport, shuttling between Camranh Bay, Indochina and Kure.

In April 1942, the Asahi performed repairs in Singapore on the light cruiser Naka that had been torpedoed by the USS Seawolf (SS-197) off Christmas Island. Departing back for Kure from Singapore on May 22, the Asahi was sighted by the USS Salmon (SS-182) on May 25, 1942, 100 miles SW of Cape Paderan. The Asahi was torpedoed in a night attack and was hit in her port central boiler room and aft spaces by two of the four torpedoes fired. At 0103, moments after being hit, the Asahi capsized at 10-00N, 110-00E. Sixteen crewmen were killed, but Captain Tamura and 582 crewmen survived.