Japanese battleship Iwami

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Career
The Russian battleship Orel, which became the Japanese battleship Iwami after the Battle of Tsushima
Builder:	Galernii Island Shipyards, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Laid down:	June 2 1900
Launched:	July 19 1902
Commissioned:	September 1904 (Russia): December 12 1905 (Japan)
Fate:	Expended as target, July 10 1924
General Characteristics
Displacement:	13,516 tons (normal); 15,300 tons (max)
Length:	121.0 meters
Beam:	23.2 meters
Draught:	7.9 meters
Propulsion:	Two Shaft Reciprocating Vertical Triple Expansion (VTE) Engines; 20 boilers, 15,800 shp
Fuel:	2000 tons coal; Range: 8,500 nm @ 10 knots
Speed:	18 knots
Complement:	806
Armament:	4 × 305 mm guns, 6 × 200 mm guns, 16 × 80 mm guns, 20 x 47 mm guns 8 x 37 mm machine guns 2 × 450 mm torpedos
Armor:	belt 100-230mm deck 40-70mm gun mount 127mm casemate 127mm turret 150-280mm conning tower 76-200mm

Japanese battleship Iwami (Japanese: 石見) was one of eight Russian pre-dreadnought battleships captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. It was built as the Borodino class battleship Russian battleship Orel (English: Орёл), and was commissioned into the Imperial Russian Navy's Baltic Fleet. Some naval architects regard the Borodino class as one of the worst battleships ever built. Based on the battleship Tsesarevich, these ships suffered from instability caused by a high centre of gravity (made worse by overloading). The centre line bulkhead led to a danger of capsizing and the narrow armour belt became submerged due to overloading.

The Orel was the only modern Russian battleship to survive the Battle of Tsushima. She was probably hit by five 12-inch, two 10-inch, nine 8-inch, and 28 6-inch shells, and possibly a number of smaller rounds. She suffered only moderate damage, including two 6-inch turrets disabled by 8-inch hits. Her armor was fairly effective: a 12-inch shell hit the 5 3/4 inch belt obliquely and was repulsed, and a main battery turret resisted a 10-inch shell.

She was substantially rebuilt after her capture by the Japanese, reducing her top weight and removing the smaller guns, and

Russian battleship Orel

commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy as the battleship Iwami, taking her name from an ancient Japanese province, of Iwami now part of Shimane prefecture. The name Iwami was chosen as this province was geographically the closest to the location of the Battle of Tsushima.

On 28 August 1912, the Iwami was re-classified as a 1st class Coastal Defense Vessel.

During World War I, the Iwami was active at the Battle of Tsingtao

Under the terms of the Washington Naval Agreement, Japan agreed to scrap the Iwami. It was decommissioned on 09 May 1923, and expended as a target. It was sunk by aircraft from launched from Jogashima island (near Yokosuka) on 10 July 1924.