Japanese cruiser Kurama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Japanese battlecruiser Kurama |
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| Career (Japan) |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1904 Fiscal Year |
| Laid down: | 23 August 1905 |
| Launched: | 21 October 1907 |
| Commissioned: | 28 February 1911 |
| Struck: | 20 September 1923 |
| Fate: | Scrapped, 20 September 1923 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Ibuki class battlecruiser |
| Displacement: | 14,636 tons (standard); 15,595 tons (max) |
| Length: | 147.8 meters |
| Beam: | 23.0 meters |
| Draught: | 8 meters |
| Propulsion: | Two-shaft VTE Reciprocating Engines; 22,500 shp (16780 kW) |
| Speed: | 21.25 knots (39 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,000 nautical miles (9,000 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 844 |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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IJN Kurama (鞍馬 巡洋戦艦 Kurama junyōsenkan?) was the second (and final) vessel of the two-ship Ibuki-class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Kurama was named after Mount Kurama located north of Kyoto, Japan. On 28 August 1912, Kurama and its sister ship Ibuki were re-classified as battlecruisers by the Japanese navy.
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[edit] Background
The Ibuki-class cruisers were planned during the Russo-Japanese War and authorized under the 1904 Supplemental Naval Budget, at the same time as the IJN Tsukuba, but with heavier guns. Ibuki was designed with geared turbine engines which promised more power and hence, more speed; however, problems with these engines led the Kurama to be completed with conventional vertical VTE reciprocating engines. Kurama built at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal.
[edit] Service record
Shortly after commissioning, the Kurama, Admiral Shimamura Hayao on board, was sent on a voyage to Great Britain for the coronation ceremony of King George V, visiting Singapore, Aden, Malta, Portsmouth and Spithead on the way. On the way back, it called on France, Italy and Austria.
Kurama played an important role in World War I as part of Japan's contribution to the Allied war effort under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, in protecting British merchant shipping in the South Pacific, and (together with the battleships Kongō and Hiei) supporting the landings to occupy German-held Caroline Islands and Mariana Islands.
In the 1920s, Kurama was assigned to the northern fleet, covering the landings of Japanese troops in Russia during the Siberian Intervention in support of White Russian forces against the Bolshevik Red Army.
After the war, the Kurama fell victim to the Washington Naval Treaty and was scrapped after a short service life of only 15 years.
[edit] References
- Evans, David (1979). Kaigun : Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
- Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-68911-402-8.
- Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
[edit] Gallery
 IJN Kurama old postcard |
 Japanese cruiser Kurama, location unknown |
 Japanese cruiser Kurama, location unknown |
 IJN Kurama in trials |
 IJN Kurama at King George Coronation |
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