Japanese battleship Kashima

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The Japanese battleship Kashima
Career (Japan)
Name: Kashima
Builder: Armstrong Whitworth, UK
Laid down: 1904-02-29
Launched: 1905-03-22
Commissioned: 1906-05-23
Fate: Scrapped 1924
General characteristics
Class and type: Katori class battleship
Displacement: 16,400 tons (normal); 17,200 tons (max)
Length: 129.54 metres (425.0 ft) meters at waterline
Beam: 23.81 metres (78.1 ft)
Draught: 8.12 metres (26.6 ft)
Propulsion: 2-shaft VTE steam engine, 15,600 shp (11630 kW); 20 boilers
Speed: 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h)
Range: 2007 tons coal; 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km) @ 10 knots (19 km/h)
Complement: 864
Armament:


  • 4 ×12-inch (305 mm) guns
  • 4 x 10-inch (254 mm) guns
  • 12 ×6-inch (152 mm) quick fire guns
  • 4 x 3-inch (76 mm) 40-cal guns
  • 2 x 3-inch (76 mm) 28-cal guns
  • 5 ×18-inch (457 mm) torpedoes
Armour:


  • 229 mm main belt armor; 100 mm fore belt; 60 mm aft belt; 150 mm upper belt
  • 152 mm-300 mm barbette
  • 76 mm deck armor;
  • 152-230 mm turret, casement
  • 229 mm conning tower

Kashima (鹿島 (戦艦)]] Kashima (senkan)?) was a Katori class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built by Armstrong Whitworth at the Elswick Yard, in the United Kingdom. The name Kashima comes from the famous Kashima Jingu Shinto shrine in Ibaraki prefecture, located to the northeast of Tokyo. Its sister ship was the battleship Katori.

Contents

[edit] Background

Kashima and Katori were ordered in response to the loss of the Hatsuse and Yashima in the early Russo-Japanese War. Although the armored cruisers Nisshin and Kasuga successfully held their own in the line of battle during the crucial Battle of Tsushima, the Japanese Navy projected that a fleet of six battleships was the minimum necessary against potential threats from China, Russia or the United States. Although construction was rushed, Kashima was not delivered until after the end of the Russo-Japanese War.

[edit] Operational History

Kashima arrived at Yokosuka on 1906-08-04 after her maiden voyage and shakedown cruise from Portsmouth, England. On 1907-09-17, Kashima suffered from a major explosion while off Kure due to an accidental explosion of a shell from one of her 10-inch (250 mm) guns. [1]

During the visit of the United States Navy's Great White Fleet on its around-the-world voyage, Kashima was part of the escort fleet through Japanese waters in October 1908.

Although rendered obsolete by the development of the Dreadnaught class battleships, Kashima served as part of the Japanese fleet involved in covering the landings of troops and coastal patrol during the Siberian Intervention of 1918-1921.

From March to September 1920 Kashima accompanied her sister ship Katori in escorting Crown Prince Hirohito in his visit to various European nations, the first such visit ever for a Japanese crown prince.

As a result of the Washington Naval Agreement, the Kashima was decommissioned on 1923-09-23, and was sent to the breakers in 1924. However, some of its larger guns were salvaged, and re-used in coastal artillery batteries around Tokyo Bay.

The battleship Kashima should not be confused with the light cruiser Kashima of the Pacific War era.

[edit] References

  1. ^ New York Times, September 18 1907
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[edit] External links