The Imperial Japanese Navy

Save for a few torpedo boats lost, the war left the Japanese fleet unimpaired; the ships damaged at Yalu were in trim again when peace was declared. On the other hand, beyond the Chin Yen, Japan gained little in the ships she took. The Tche Yuen is of very small fighting value, the Ping Yuen of none, and none of the gunboats are of any utility. Of the captured torpedo boats, one was superior to any Japanese boat; the rest, from long neglect, were in a bad way.

Towards the end of the war the Esmeralda (now Idzumi), already described, passed from the Chilian to the Japanese Navy, and at its close the Tatsuta, detained en route, proceeded on her way.

Just before war broke out—in May, 1894—the Akaski, a sister to the Suma, had been laid down at Yokosuka; the two battleships Fuji and Yashima, of an improved Royal Sovereign type, were progressing in England, the former at the Thames Ironworks, the latter at Elswick.

The Suma was launched at Yokosuka on March 9, 1895. Unlike the Akitsushima and other ships which had preceded her, she is of entirely Japanese design and workmanship, and nothing more Western than an odd “stand-by man” or two assisted in her construction. Practically, she is the first Japanese-built ship. Particulars of her are:—

Protection is afforded by a steel deck 2 ins. on the slopes and 1 in. on the flat.

The Akashi, launched two years later, is a sister, without fighting-tops and more built-up amidships.

The Yashima was launched at Elswick on February 28, 1896; the Fuji at the Thames Ironworks on March 31st in the same year. Mr. G. C. Mackrow, of the Thames Ironworks, was the designer.

The following are particulars:—

These ships are, as has been before noted, improved Royal Sovereigns. As designed, they would have differed from these ships only in that, being some 1500 tons smaller, they are able to carry less weight in the way of coal, etc. Their big guns, 12 in. against 13.5 in., are lighter, but against this must be put the fact that they carry heavy shields to them. Further, the introduction of Harvey steel in the place of compound armour greatly increased the value of their armour without adding to its weight. Regarded in the light of present-day developments, they are defective in protection to the secondary armament nearly as much as the Royal Sovereigns were before reconstruction. A comparison of the two ships, Fuji and Royal Sovereign, is of interest.

The difference in armour value, caused by the introduction of Harvey process in time to allow of its adoption on the Fuji, is very marked. Since then, of course, Harvey has given place to Harvey nickel, and this in its turn to Krupp process armour, of which 9 ins. would nearly equal 17 ins. of Royal Sovereign armour. But their fine 12-in. guns, as powerful still as any afloat, keep the Fuji class still in the ranks of good fighting ships.

In appearance the two ships are almost identical, the only difference being in the arrangement of the ventilators.

Between them, however, an important difference exists; the Yashima has her dead wood cut away aft, while the Fugi has not. Consequently, the Yashima is much the handier vessel, but, in part from the fact that she was the first ship to have the dead wood aft cut away, in part from inherent weaknesses thereby engendered, the Fuji is regarded as the better ship of the two. The Yashima, being docked without proper precautions suitable to the case, exhibited some dropping aft, in consequence of the effect of the unsupported weight. This led to such sterns being countermanded for subsequent Japanese battleships, though in cruisers it is always applied. The turning circle of the Yoshima, it may be mentioned, is extremely small.

Finally, it may be noted that these two ships were the first to be fitted with the Elswick submerged torpedo tube. They have the earliest pattern, and it will not deliver torpedoes very successfully when the ship is at high speed.

The “After-the-War Programme.”

After the war Japan decided to have a really first-class modern fleet of four battleships, six cruisers, and a proportionate number of smaller craft.

The four big battleships are practically sisters, though differing in appearance and detail. The main differences are as follows:—

Little differences in rig have been purposely introduced; thus the Hatsuse is shorter-masted than the Shikishima, and the Asahi and Mikasa have their funnels differently placed, those of the latter being more amidships.

Also, instead of casemates, the Mikasa has her 6-in. battery protected by a continuous armoured wall. Essentially, however, the ships are sisters.

They were produced as follows:—

Although she differs considerably from the Shikishima in appearance, the Asahi is practically a sister ship, the sole points of difference being (1) funnels; (2) distribution of the 2½-pounders; (3) absence of a bow torpedo boat; and (4) mounting of the big guns. There are, of course, certain minor structural differences—such, for instance, as the fact that the Asahi has a slightly larger wardroom, and that this wardroom is a trifle further aft—but, generally speaking, for fighting purposes they are identical, save for the points of difference noted above. There are unseen differences of detail also, such as the thickness of the armour deck, but none of these affect the fighting value. There is a difference, too, in the coal carried, but coal capacity does not show to the eye.

The details of the Asahi, with those of the Shikishima and the British Formidable, are as follows:—

There is some doubt about the Asahi’s coal, 1400 tons may be the maximum and 700 the normal. Japanese ships do not need to carry much coal, being designed to operate in waters where friendly coal stations are numerous. True, ships thus kept short are likely to be out of action because they are coaling, about once a week; but, on the other hand, as they get two extra 6-in. quickfirers and four 12-pounders for this sacrifice, they are rather envied by our naval officers. After all, the primary duty of a battleship is to hit the enemy hard, and an extra 6-in. in the broadside is no mean advantage. There are other incidental advantages too—a single 6-in. shell would put all the eight 12-pounders out of action on the upper deck of the Formidable, while, thanks to the casemates acting as screens, the Asahi could only lose four of her 3-in. by a single shell. In the placing of her 3-in. guns she is altogether better off than the Formidable, the sole point in which the British ship is superior being the four guns carried on the main deck forward. The Formidable can fight all these on the broadsides; it is doubtful if the Asahi could, because of the blast from the big guns firing above them. But per contra she has her other 3-in. quickfirers much better placed; they are more distributed.

The positions of these are: four on the main deck forward; four on the main deck aft; four on the upper deck amidships; two on top of the forward upper deck casemates; two beside the fore conning-tower; and four beside the after conning-tower—a total of twenty. Those of the Shikishima are placed in exactly the same fashion. Those of the Formidable are: four on main deck forward (extreme bow); four on main deck aft; and eight on upper deck amidships; a total of sixteen. Three units instead of six; or, to put it another way, work for only three shells instead of six shells.

The Asahi is an improvement on the Shikishima in the matter of the 2½-pounders—a very small detail. In the Shikishima these are grouped on top of the amidship upper-deck casemates; in the Asahi only two are over these casemates, the other four being distributed, a couple on each bridge. Two theories are at work here, and it will need a war to say which is the better. In the Shikishima it is easy to concentrate three 2½-pounders on a single torpedo boat or portion of a big enemy, while, as a price for this, they are at the mercy of a single shell. Those of the Asahi are not thus at the mercy of one shell, but it will be far less easy to concentrate them.

The next point of difference between the Shikishima and the Asahi is that the former carries a bow above-water torpedo tube, with 6-in. Harvey nickel protection to it. This tube, similarly protected, is in the Fuji, Yashima, Asama, Tokiwa, and Yakumo. After some experiments and practice the Japanese authorities decided that this tube was of no use practically, and decreed its abolition. That of the Shikishima had, however, already been built in, so this ship has it. In the Asahi the design was modified, and the bow tube dropped out. It is absent also in the Hatsuse, a sister, and in the Iwate and Idzumo.

Under certain circumstances such a tube might be of great use in action—for instance, approaching an enemy who presented his broadside while the ship possessing the tube wished to make a feint to close. But to use it it would be necessary to slow down or reverse engines—both things that might be awkward to do in an action. Still, the real objection does not lie there, so much as in the trouble with sea that a bow tube causes. Bow guns, even high up, are always liable to get “washed out,” a bow torpedo tube is still more likely to be so. In addition to this, it raises an unnecessary large bow wave.

In comparison with the Formidable, the Asahi and Shikishima have—beside the 6-in. and 3-in. guns—other points of distinct difference. They have (1) complete instead of partial belts; (2) 6-in. instead of 9-in. armour protecting the lower deck; (3) much higher barbettes; and (4) quite differently shaped hoods to the big guns.

Of these differences the armour one is of no immediate moment at present. The Asahi, in the matter of armour, is practically a Majestic with 3-in. stripped off the lower deck amidships and disposed on the ends plus some extra armour paid for in the weight of coal carried. Now, the 6-in. lower deck armour of the Asahi is proof against any 6-in. projectile at any range, and though a steel-pointed 9.2-in. common shell has been through 6-in. Harvey nickel at Whale Island, this is probably an isolated proving-ground case, and nothing but an armour-piercing shell of large calibre is ever likely to get through such armour in actual warfare. Also it is at least doubtful whether such a shell would do more harm than a solid shot, and against a 12-in. solid shot 9-in. armour is no more protection than 6-in. In either case the shot will go through and dance about inside, and it is this “dancing about” that makes shot dangerous, and all armour save the very best a snare and a delusion so far as solid projectiles are concerned. However, medium armour is imperatively needed to keep off shells, for it is good-bye to any ship inside of which a big common shell is comfortably planted. The Admiral class, for instance, would do no more fighting once a big common shell got them amidships.

As for the complete belt, the Formidable, of course, has something on the bow, and this may be considered proof against 6-in. shell in action, save at short range. It is, at any rate, proof against the deadly little shell from 12-pounders and the like. As for any 6-in. shot—well, very few 6-in. shot are carried in any ship, and holes made by them are easily plugged.

The real gain of the Asahi is the extra gun-power, but since it is held essential that British ships shall have a large coal supply, it is useless to decry the Formidable over the two missing 6-in. guns. The defect of the Formidable, and one that might have been remedied, is the position of the 12-pounders. These could and should have been either more distributed, or else placed right up above everything and clear of everything, much as the French place their 4-in. quickfirers. Such a gun is extremely unlikely to be actually hit, whereas if it is crowded about with bulwarks, boats, and so on, a shell coming anywhere near is bound to burst with devastating effect.

In appearance it is difficult to tell the Asahi from our Canopus class, save for colour. A critical eye could detect the much higher barbettes of the Japanese vessel and their different shape, but that is about all, for the extra casemate would hardly be visible at any appreciable distance. Like the Canopus class, the Asahi has the huge after funnel, and the resemblance is increased by the tautness of her masts. The sign manual of a British man-of-war is the rake forward of the top masts, in the smartest Channel Fleet ships this is most noticeable; but the Asahi also is taut.

The Asahi has a slight sheer forward, like all our new ships, in consequence of which, though both pairs of guns are at the same height above the water, the after barbette looks a good deal higher than the fore one. The shields are peculiar. The plan gives a general idea of their appearance—sloping fronts but straight sides. The British pattern slopes all round, and is generally more squat—and of the two is more favourably regarded afloat. If by any off chance a big shot hit the side of the Asahi shield it would get through, from the inclined sides of the British pattern it would rebound at any range. However, a shot is very unlikely to hit the sides of the shield, and probably the mere shock of a big projectile would effectually displace everything and put the turret out of action. Wherever a big projectile hits it must do some harm, whether it gets through or not, and the old American idea of battering in preference to penetration is not so unsound as many folk are now disposed to regard it. Especially must this be so with certain foreign-built ships; the least little thing wrong and the colossal blow will find it out.

The guns and mountings of the Asahi are from Elswick. They embody some slight improvements upon those of the Shikishima, but are on exactly the same general principle. The 12-in. can easily do a round a minute, and should be able to do a round every two minutes in action. The rate of the 12.5-in. Canet gun at Yalu was one round per sixty minutes, but there were special circumstances involved. Still, there is no doubt that big guns have made enormous strides towards quick-fire in the last year or two, and two of the Asahi or Formidable 12-in. are equal to three of those in the Majestic probably.

The Asahi is fitted with the Barr and Stroud transmitters, each casemate having an indicator—in English and Japanese—to give the range automatically from the conning-tower. The official British view is against these transmitters, on the grounds that action will derange them; but there is no getting away from the fact that, even so, till deranged they will be exceedingly useful. Our methods of passing the range are cumbersome, and, in addition, by the time it is passed it has probably altered. Moreover, gunnery is not so much a matter of good shooting as knowing the range; the wrong range given accounts for most misses—at any rate, in the British Navy.

All the hoists in the Asahi are electrical, with auxiliary hand-power in case of need.

All the ships have twenty-five Belleville boilers each, fitted with economisers.

Full-speed trial results were:—

ARMOURED CRUISERS

The armoured cruisers are of two classes. The first comprises the British (Elswick) built Asama, Tokiwa, Idzumo, Iwate; the second the Stettin-built Yakumo, and the St. Nazaire-built Azuma.

These last were the original Japanese design; Elswick put the extra guns at its own discretion, and rearranged the positions as the plans indicate.

Particulars are:—

All six have four of the 6-in. guns unprotected, the other 6-in. and the 8-in. guns are in casemates and turrets (for the 8-in.).

All have 7-in. belts reduced to 3½ ins. forward, with 5-in. armour on the lower deck side. Their decks reinforce the belts.

The Iwate, Idzumo, Azuma, and Yakumo have Belleville boilers, the other two cylindrical. The type ship had very high horse-power; in the later vessels this was reduced, and the saving effected spent in substituting Krupp process armour for Harvey nickel on the sides.

Trial (full-speed) results were:—

The first two have a pair of funnels only.

The ships are very good ones, equal in many ways to second-class battleships, but not calculated to stand battleship fire, I fancy.

The Kasuga and Nisshin were launched for Argentina in 1902 and 1903 respectively, by Messrs. Ansalds, of Genoa, Italy. They were purchased by Japan immediately before the war with Russia.

Details are—

These ships belong to the well-known Garibaldi class. The belt is 6-in. Terni armour reduced to 4½ ins. at the ends, and reinforced by a deck 1½ in. on the slopes.

Above the main belt is a 6-in. redoubt, with 4¾ in. ends, above again a 6-in. battery containing ten 6-in. guns.

The primary guns are protected by 5½-in. armour.

The remaining 6-in. guns are carried without protection on the upper deck. Six 12-pounders are carried between them, the remainder under the poop and forecastle.

The torpedo tubes are in special casements.

The ships originally had a single military mast, but just before completion the fighting-tops were removed.

They are the heaviest-armed armoured cruisers of their size in the world. Compared to the Russian Bayan, of about the same displacement, this superiority is manifest.

The Bayan is the product of La Seyne. She is somewhat faster, better protected by 2 ins. on the water-line, but less protected on the guns, and with only half as many. She would take more punishment than the Nisshin and Kasuga; but, given equal crews and tactics, the heavy fire of the Nisshin type would seem to convey an immense advantage.

PROTECTED CRUISERS

The three ships Takasago, Kasagi, and Chitose, are slightly improved editions of the Yoshino already described. The first was built at Elswick, the other two in America.

There are slight differences in dimensions, otherwise the description of the Yoshino stands for them. The armament is not quite the same as in the Yoshino, as these three later vessels carry two 8-in. guns in heavy turrets, ten 4.7’s on the broadsides, and 12-pounders instead of 6-pounders.

They are very fast, but the heavy gun turret forward does not improve their behaviour at sea. Per contra, the 8-in. guns give them the power to deal a knock-out blow to other cruisers of their size; so their value depends on whether scouting or fighting is the more important métier for a second-class cruiser. The Yoshino type is intended to be both, and the Yoshino herself in a great measure is; the others are too heavily armed to be ideal scouts.

The Niitaka and Tsushima were launched in 1902. A sister, the Otawa, was laid down in 1903. They are improved Sumas, and entirely of Japanese design and construction.

Particulars are:—

The ships embody no novelty, except in the selection of armament. The Suma’s 4.7’s disappear, and 6-in. and 12-pounders take their place.

TORPEDO GUNBOATS

The Miyako was launched in 1897.

Details are:—

The Chihaya was launched in 1901.

Details are:—

There is no armour protection.