Japanese battleship Yamashiro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Yamashiro with Fusō and Haruna (more distant) Tokyo Bay, 1930s |
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Laid down: | November 20, 1913 |
| Launched: | November 3, 1915 |
| Commissioned: | March 31, 1917 |
| Fate: | Sunk, October 25, 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 39,154 tons (39,782 t) |
| Length: | 213 m (698 ft) |
| Beam: | 30.6 m (100 feet 5 inches) |
| Draft: | 9.7 m (31 feet 9 inches) |
| Propulsion: | Four-shaft geared turbines, 24 boilers (40,000 shp) as built. Four-shaft geared turbines, 6 boilers (75,000 shp) as converted. |
| Speed: | 25 knots (46 km/h) |
| Range: | 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h) as built. |
| Complement: | 1,400 |
| Armament: | twelve 14-inch (356 mm) guns, sixteen 6 inch, eight 5 inch DP, up to 37 × 25 mm AA |
Yamashiro (山城) was the Imperial Japanese Navy's second Fusō-class battleship, and was laid down at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on November 20, 1913, launched on November 3, 1915, and commissioned on March 31, 1917. She was the first Japanese vessel equipped with aircraft catapults. The ship was named after the Japanese province where Kyoto is located.[citation needed]
The Yamashiro was reconstructed from December 1930 to March 1935. The original 24 coal-fired Mijabara boilers producing 24,000 hp were replaced with six new Kanpon oil-fired boilers producing 75,000 hp. Torpedo bulges were fitted, increasing beam from 94 feet (29 m) to 100 feet (30 m), 6 inches. The stern was lengthened by 24 feet (7 m) to improve the fineness ratio and restore lost speed. Deck armor was thickened to a total of 7 inches on three decks. Elevation of the main armament was increased from 30 degrees to 43 degrees. The forefunnel was removed, but converted later, the Yamashiro differed slightly from its sister ship Fusō in the arrangement of gun turrets; by altering the "dead angle" of "C" turret from forward training to aft, deck space was left for a larger superstructure (see picture above.) Eight 5-inch/40 heavy anti-aircraft guns were fitted, one twin mount on each side of the bridge forward, and the other pair of twin mounts high up on the tower structure aft.[citation needed]
At the battle of Surigao Strait on October 25, 1944, she came under attack and was sunk by U.S. naval forces, receiving four hits from destroyer torpedoes and numerous 14" and 16" shells from U.S. battleships.
[edit] Commanding Officers
Capt. Suketomo Nakajima - 31 March 1917 - 1 December 1917
Capt. Yujiro Kato - 1 December 1917 - 20 November 1919
Capt. Morishige Ouchida - 20 November 1919 - 20 November 1920
Capt. Takeshi Koyama - 20 November 1920 - 1 July 1922
Capt. Yoshio Takahashi - 1 July 1922 - 10 November 1922
Capt. Yasuzo Torisaki - 10 November 1922 - 1 December 1923
Capt. Ritsuto Takahashi - 1 December 1923 - 1 December 1924
Capt. Naotaro Ominato - 1 December 1924 - 1 December 1925
Capt. Kiyohiro Ijichi - 1 December 1925 - 1 December 1926
Capt. Rokuya Mashiko - 1 December 1926 - 1 March 1927
Capt. Ken Terajima - 1 March 1927 - 1 December 1927
Capt. Iwajiro Torin - 1 December 1927 - 10 December 1928
Capt. Teijiro Toyoda - 10 December 1928 - 5 October 1929
Capt. Kanekoto Iwamura - 5 October 1929 - 30 November 1929
Capt. Wasuke Komaki - 30 November 1929 - 1 December 1930
Capt. Takeji Teramoto - 1 December 1930 - 1 December 1931
Capt. Katsuji Masaki - 1 December 1931 - 1 December 1932
Capt. Soichi Kasuya - 1 December 1932 - 15 November 1933
Capt. Kentaro Kojima - 15 November 1933 - 15 November 1934
Capt. Chuichi Nagumo - 15 November 1934 - 15 November 1935
Capt. Masakichi Okuma - 15 November 1935 - 1 December 1936
Capt. Masami Kobayashi - 1 December 1936 - 20 October 1937
Capt. Kasuke Abe - 20 October 1937 - 15 November 1938
Capt. Kakuji Kakuta - 15 November 1938 - 15 September 1939
Capt. Aritomo Goto - 15 September 1939 - 15 November 1939
Capt. Teizo Hara - 15 November 1939 - 15 October 1940
Capt. Masaki Ogata - 15 October 1940 - 24 May 1941
Capt. Chozaemon Obata - 24 May 1941 - 1 September 1942
Capt. Noboru Owada - 1 September 1942 - 1 March 1943
Capt. Mikio Hayakawa - 1 March 1943 - 2 August 1943
Capt. Soijiro Hisamune - 2 August 1943 - 25 December 1943
Capt. / RADM Yoshioki Tawara - 25 December 1943 - 5 May 1944 (Promoted to Rear Admiral on 1 May 1944; Died of Natural Causes on 5 May 1944.)
RADM / VADM* Katsukiyo Shinoda - 6 May 1944 - 25 October 1944 (KIA)
[edit] External links
- Tabular record of movement from combinedfleet.com
- Location of Yamashiro's wreck
- A diary of Cedric Verdier's successful attempt in July 2006 to dive on Yamashiro. *.pdf edition here
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